Anne Ruston promises online tool will ‘get real’ on domestic violence

The full extent of our domestic violence crisis will be laid bare by the end of this year, one of SA’s highest ranking federal MPs says.

A new online dashboard will help Australians “get real” about the extent of the crisis in domestic, family and sexual violence, the federal government says.

The interactive website – developed by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare – aims to be ready by the end of the year and will paint a more detailed picture about the size and nature of the problem.

The site will include the latest figures on murders and sexual assaults, surveys of community attitudes, numbers of hospitalisations, people seeking help because of homelessness, and children who have witnessed violence.

Senator Anne Ruston. Picture: Tom Huntley

Women’s Safety Minister Senator Anne Ruston said getting better information for the public was crucial because it made the problem harder to ignore – and easier to target solutions.

Domestic violence is responsible, on average, for the death of one woman every nine days and for traumatising thousands of other wom-en and children each year.

“Better data can increase understanding of the types and forms of violence women and children experience, the support services accessed, attitudes towards violence and, importantly, changes over time so we can evaluate what is working,” Senator Ruston said.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare would receive $11.6m over four years to build the comprehensive data and reporting system. A further $7.6m would go to collecting data from specialist services working with victims across the country because there was no consistency between states on what these groups collect and report.

“That makes it virtually impossible to understand what services provide the best support,” said Senator Ruston, whose rise from a Riverland rose grower to one of the most powerful women in federal politics is explored in SAWeekend.

Liberal Senator Anne Ruston at Ruston Roses at Renmark. Picture: Tom Huntley

“If we are to truly shine a light on the scourge of violence against women we have to be willing to get real about the level of violence in our community and its impacts.

“If we can talk about the impact of violence against women in an evidence-based way it becomes impossible to ignore.”

She stressed it was also crucial to better understand the intergenerational effect on children who grew up with violence in the home.

“If we are to rid our society of violence we, as adults, must understand the impacts of what we say and do on our young ones,” Senator Ruston said. “The actions and behaviours children learn from us can set us on a path free of violence against women – or set them up to repeat the mistakes of the past.”

The AIHW, which has published detailed national reports on the violence against women and children, said it had identified key gaps in the information available, including how victims used services designed to help.