In addition to this submission, Safe and Equal endorses No to Violence’s (NTV) submission to the inquiry. To minimise duplicating information, our submission is contained to distinct points from the perspective of victim survivor family violence response services, including two points we wish to highlight as underpinning considerations that have informed our response:

1. Data collected on perpetrators for the purpose of assessing and managing family violence (FV) risk to keep victim survivors safe needs to be distinguished from the data and evidence needed to understand why people perpetrate violence and how to shift their behaviour. We support NTV’s call to better understand the motivation behind, and how to shift, perpetrators’ behaviour. For this submission, we will focus on the data needed to inform FV risk assessment and management.
2. It is also important to draw distinctions between the collection of FV perpetrator data and analysis. As highlighted in NTV’s submission, current data on perpetrators of FV is skewed towards over-policed and marginalised perpetrators who are more likely to come into contact with the system and a large segment of perpetrators who manage to avoid the system remain invisible.

A number of recommendations were made which would support the justice system respond in a more victim centred, trauma informed manner to safely support victim survivors of sexual violence and reduce their re-traumatisation by the Justice System’s processes.

The recommendations are consistent with previous submissions and reports on this topic, including Safe and Equal’s submission to the Victorian Law Reform Commission’s inquiry, and the Victim of Crimes Commissioner’s Systemic inquiry – Victim participation in the Justice System released in March 2024.