Domestic Violence Homicide Review: preventable deaths
Betty Green
NSW Domestic Violence Committee Coalition
Contact Email:   robyn.edwardsunsw.edu.au

On average up to 58% of murders committed in Australia are intimate partner homicides. In March 2006 the NSW Domestic Violence Committee Coalition was formed in response to the increased number of domestic violence murders of women in NSW. The DV Coalition has consistently advocated for the establishment of a Domestic Violence Homicide Review to help understand why women die, and help prevent further deaths.

When domestic violence related deaths are seen as the escalation of a predictable pattern of behaviours with increasing risk factors, then domestic violence homicides can be viewed as preventable deaths. There is much to learn from overseas jurisdictions where Homicide Reviews have been established, in some cases from 1994. Currently Victoria and New South Wales are the only states in Australia that have announced the establishment of a domestic violence homicide review.

This paper will explore the concept of a domestic violence homicide review and what differences the process can make including strengthening policing and criminal justice systems, establishing new practices and understandings in responding to domestic violence and the capacity to encourage interdisciplinary collaboration and conversation.

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