Family violence incidents across Canberra spiked by 24 per cent in the first half of this year compared with the same period last year, posting the highest six months of such incidents since police began regularly reporting this data nine years ago.
In March this year, police recorded 389 incidents, the highest seen for a one-month period in the territory.
The number of FV offences lodged by police in the ACT rose by nearly 17 per cent over the same six months while FV-related assaults, with women as the vast majority of victims, also increased by 35 per cent to 584 - an average of almost 100 per month.
In April, there were 103 domestic-related assaults, the highest since December 2021.
There were 420 family violence offenders taken into custody over the same six-month period, up from 353 for the same period in 2022 according to the latest ACT police crime statistics.
Police charges against ACT offenders who have contravened court-imposed family violence orders have declined in the past six months. There were 167 contraventions in the past six months, compared with 238 for the previous six-month period.
The revolving door of family violence has proved a consistently thorny issue for all support agencies although acting Superintendent David Williams, in charge of the police family violence and vulnerable persons unit, expressed his hope that the increased reporting of incidents was an indication of the confidence that victims now had in coming forward.
"In the last three to six months there has been more public reporting by us [the police] and in the media in relation to family violence matters, particularly those relating to recidivist offenders because we're trying to get that message out to victim-survivors that if you're at home and you feel unsafe, you call us," he said.
"Too many of our family violence offenders are repeat offenders.
"We want to ensure that victim-survivors know that the onus is on that person who is subject to a court order to abide by that direction and if they don't, then to let us know straight away.
"There's no 'oh, it will be OK' context around these repeated offences: if the court has made a direction and that order has been breached, police will intervene and will arrest. Making women and children feel safe in their homes is our absolute priority."
He also noted that the economic environment had changed in the past year, placing families under ever more stress.
"Over the past 12 months, there's more pressure on families, the cost of living has gone up. Access to services has become more difficult. There has to be a social impact to that," he said.
The recent ACT budget committed a further $20 million over four years to expand an "evidence-based" approach to addressing domestic and family violence and supporting an enhanced focus on sexual violence and prevention and response.
This will include $9.4 million for front-line domestic, family and sexual violence services; $6 million to continue the Room4Change program; $3.6 million to expand the Health Justice Partnership program; and a final tranche of funding to deliver the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response steering committee's final report.
The Health Justice Partnership was set up in 2019, and is now up for review.
It is funded through the ACT Treasury's Safer Families Levy, a flat tax and not means-tested, which was $40 this financial year and which will rise $5 per year over the next three years.
All the funds raised from the levy will go toward raising awareness of the issue and providing community support programs for domestic violence victim-survivors in the ACT, together with programs like the male-focused Room4Change, to address contributing factors.
We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on The Canberra Times website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. See our moderation policy here.
