Australia should restrict alcohol sales, ban gambling advertisements and provide a significant funding uplift towards crisis services to reduce high rates of domestic violence, according to the findings of a major review.
An expert panel tasked with conducting a rapid review to inform the federal government's 10-year plan to end violence against women and children handed down its final report on Friday.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese ordered the $1.3 million dollar probe in May, in response to a national uproar over a spate of high-profile killings of women in Australia who were murdered by men they knew.
Experts commissioned to conduct the rapid-fire inquiry include former ABC journalist Jess Hill and former Keating advisor and author Dr Anne Summers.
Of the dozens of recommendations put to the federal government, which included making gendered violence an ongoing priority of national cabinet, the report called for states to introduce tighter restrictions on alcohol sales and delivery times as well as implement a total ban on gambling advertising.
"Alcohol has long been known to increase both the incidence and severity of physical and sexual violence within intimate relationships and families," the report read.
"The review notes that a failure to consider DFSV (Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence) in alcohol policy has allowed unprecedented growth in alcohol availability, both in the density of liquor outlets and the length of online delivery hours."
The report called for alcohol advertising to be restricted during sporting events, citing a significant link between major sporting events and an increase in domestic violence assaults.
Experts added that "minimal attention" had been paid to the connection between problem gambling and domestic and family violence, supporting a growing national push for a blanket ban on gambling ads.
CEO of the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education, Caterina Girogi, said calls to tighten regulations on alcohol and gambling use was a "once in a generation opportunity" to prevent further violence and deaths.
"We encourage National Cabinet to adopt the recommendations relating to alcohol in full," Ms Girogi said.
The government was advised to develop a national response to address a rise in online misogyny and adopt an official definition of healthy masculinity to guide future campaigns and policies.
Crucially, the review called for an immediate funding boost towards legal services and crisis accommodation, highlighting a "dire need" for shelters in regional and remote communities. Experts spoke of an area located in the Torres Strait, where there was only one crisis option to service an entire region.
CEO of Australia's National Research Organisation for Women's Safety (ANROWS) Dr Tessa Boyd-Caine said it was crucial the experiences of young people and Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander communities were prioritised in violence prevention efforts moving forward.
"There is a loud public call for an immediate end to this violence," she said.
