SA taskforce deals with 350 domestic violence cases a week
South Australia’s top-level domestic violence taskforce is receiving hundreds of cases each week — including more than 20 deemed “high risk”.
Almost 350 cases each week are being referred to a top-level taskforce responding to domestic violence across the state, including more than 20 deemed high risk.
In about two-thirds of the worst cases children are at risk of harm.
Drug abuse is reported in 55 per cent and alcohol addiction in one third, according to figures released by SA Police for the first time.
High risk cases - about 6 per cent of cases - often involve severe violence, a long history of abuse or other red flags such as strangulation of a victim.
The Multi-Agency Protection Service, or MAPS, brings together agencies including police, child protection, housing, corrections, health and women’s safety services to intervene in complex cases where families might be experiencing homelessness, mental illness or addiction as well as domestic violence.
In one case late last year MAPS agencies worked together to track down parents who had abducted two of their sons from a Child Protection Department office and fled interstate.
The couple were the subject of repeated reports to authorities about domestic violence, child welfare, mental health and substance abuse concerns.
SA Police Detective Superintendent Mark Wieszyk said without cooperation between MAPS agencies “police in the field would not have located the family in such a timely fashion and the risks to the children may have been extended”.
The number of cases referred to MAPS has fallen slightly from an average of 408 a week in 2017-18, but remains alarmingly high.
Det Supt Wieszyk said police data showed cannabis accounted for about 75 per cent of cases where drug abuse was noted as a factor in domestic violence reports.
The remaining quarter involved other drugs such as methamphetamine or opioids.
While substance abuse is common in violent households, experts caution that it is not the cause of men’s violence against women, which is driven by gender inequality and disrespect.
MAPS data shows men were the abuser in 96 per cent of high risk cases last financial year.
Det Supt Mark Wieszyk said MAPS authorities were considering adding a dedicated representative for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to the taskforce to address the over-representation of indigenous women and children in reports of family violence.
Research from Our Watch shows Aboriginal women are 32 times more likely to be hospitalised because of an assault by their partner than non-indigenous women and three times as likely to have experienced violence in the past year.
Human Services Minister Michelle Lensink said the State Government recognised that preventing violence and providing support “may look different for different population groups, so it is vital that we provide tailored responses”
Based on a UK model, MAPS began operating July, 2014, as an Australian-first and has since been adopted interstate.
Victorian anti-violence campaigner Rosie Batty has praised the approach, saying it could have prevented the 2014 death of her son Luke at the hands of his father Greg Anderson.
For support phone 1800 RESPECT or the Domestic Violence Crisis Line on 1800 800 098.