Use of stalkerware, GPS tracking and other technologies to commit family violence abuse has increased sharply in the past five years but a new tool to detect covert apps on victims’ phones is about to be rolled out. Research with frontline family violence workers by peak domestic violence network Wesnet found tracking and monitoring of women… Read more »

Grace, I was thrilled when your name was announced as Australian of the Year. Thrilled, but filled with worry. I wanted to share with you my concerns because we have more in common than you may realise. You are young and beautiful. When I became Australian of the Year in 2015, I was 53. The… Read more »

In February last year, Hannah Clarke’s estranged husband Rowan Baxter doused her car in petrol and set it alight killing her and their three children – Aaliyah, Laianah and Trey. He then took his own life. The brutal murder stunned the nation and thrust Australia’s domestic violence problem into the global spotlight. Now Hannah’s grieving parents… Read more »

“It sends a very clear message to everyone in the community that coercive controlling behaviour is dangerous and intolerable,” an anti-domestic violence advocate says. Despite coercive control being the most common risk factor present in the lead up to an intimate partner homicide, it’s not yet illegal across most of Australia. Now, a group of… Read more »

Scotland has laws that are considered the “gold standard” for protecting women and children from coercive control and they have caught the eye of Australian politicians. Coercive control is when patterns of abusive behaviours are used by one person to dominate and control another in a relationship. It usually happens gradually and can involve things… Read more »

There are no bruises or broken bones that show they’re being assaulted, or that their lives are at risk. Instead, its victims are subjected to controlling behaviour from their partner, restricting access to money, where they go and who they meet, even telling them what to wear. Its survivors often fear this type of partner… Read more »

A 46-year-old woman allegedly murdered in an alleged domestic violence incident in Alice Springs last week has been identified as an anti-domestic violence campaigner. WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains an image of a person who has died. In a statement, the Tangentyere Women’s Family Safety Group confirmed… Read more »

As May draws to a close we’re left with many sobering statistics. Those related to COVID-19 have dominated the headlines so much so a growing collection of chilling deaths have gone relatively unnoticed. This month eight women have been allegedly killed by domestic violence in Australia. It’s a statistic made even more shocking by the… Read more »