Family Violence & Children

When a child is exposed to violence within their family, this is considered family violence. When children themselves directly experience family violence, the perpetrator is generally the child’s parent/guardian or in a relationship with the child’s parent/guardian. The impacts of childhood exposure to family violence was explored as part of the first national study of child abuse and neglect in Australia, conducted from 2019–2023.

The Australian Child Maltreatment Study

Previously, the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth) had conducted the only study to date to include this demographic.

VicHealth has reported that:

  • There are 128,500 women in Australia who have experienced violence by a current cohabiting partner and had children in their care during the violence.
    • For 58% of these women, the children in their care witnessed (heard or saw) the violence.
  • There are 733,900 women in Australia who have experienced violence by a previous cohabiting partner and had children in their care during the violence.
    • For 77% of these women, the children in their care witnessed (heard or saw) the violence.

In Our Region

From 2018-2022, all LGAs recorded increased numbers, with an average increase of 7% per year.

Stonington, Cardina, and Kingston had the highest increase rate per year, with an average of 11%.

Port Phillip had the lowest increase per year at 1%, with Mornington Peninsula right behind, at 2%.

On average, Casey had the highest incident reports compared to the other LGAs, which is on average 280.5% higher than the other LGAs.

Family Violence & Pregnancy

A unique aspect of family violence is that it appears to escalate when a female partner is pregnant.

The experience of violence before, during and after pregnancy has been associated with physical and psychological health problems for both the mother and child. The World Health Organisation has estimated a 2% prevalence rate for intimate partner violence during pregnancy in Australia.

The ABS Personal Safety Survey (PSS) (AIHW, 2023) reported in 2021-2022 that an estimated 124,000 women who had experienced violence by a current partner since the age of 15, were pregnant during the relationship. Of these women, about:

  • 1 in 7 experienced violence during their pregnancy
  • 1 in 8 experienced violence for the first-time during pregnancy.