Terms of Reference and Commissioner announced for SA’s Royal Commission into domestic, family and sexual violence

A decorated advocate will take the reins of a Royal Commission to investigate the “hard truth” when it comes to the murders of women and children in SA.

The state government has released details about a Royal Commission into domestic, sexual and family violence to be held in South Australia, with respected advocate Natasha Stott Despoja AO to lead the inquiry.

Following a roundtable discussion with leaders in domestic violence prevention in December last year, Premier Peter Malinauskas announced a 12-month inquiry would be held to probe how to better protect women and children.

On Monday, Mr Malinauskas announced that Ms Stott Despoja would be leading the 12-month, $3 million probe.

The founding chair of Our Watch, the national foundation to prevent violence against women and children, Ms Stott Despoja served as national Ambassador for Women and Girls from 2015 to 2017 and was a member of the World Bank’s Gender Advisory Council from 2015 to 2017.

Preliminary work on the inquiry will begin immediately, with proceedings to formally commence on July 1.

Watch the press conference below

Mr Malinauskas also revealed that the inquiry would examine five key themes, which are aligned with the National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children 2022-2032.

They are:

• Prevention: How SA can facilitate widespread chance in the underlying social drivers of domestic, family and sexual violence
  
• Early Intervention: How SA can improve effective early intervention through identification and support of individuals who are at high risk of experiencing or perpetrating domestic, family and sexual violence
  
• Response: How SA can ensure best practice response to family, domestic and sexual violence through the provision of services and supports
  
• Recovery and Healing: How SA can embed an approach that supports recovery and healing through reducing the risk of re-traumatisation and supporting victim-survivors to be safe and healthy
  
• Co-ordination: How government agencies, non-government organisations and communities can better integrate and co-ordinate efforts across the spectrum of prevention, early intervention, response and recovery
  

Ms Malinauskas said Ms Stott Despoja’s “formidable CV” would help tackle the “scourge” of domestic violence in the state.

“For most people, the prevalence of domestic violence is hard to fathom,” he said.

“But the hard truth is that one woman a week in Australia is murdered by her current or former partner.”

Ms Stott Despoja said the terms of SA’s inquiry would be broader than its Victorian counterpart and would focus on talking to victims, survivors and agencies on the front line.

The newly appointed commissioner said she was optimistic that it could be possible to eradicate family and domestic violence, but acknowledged that there was a long road ahead.

“The good thing about working in this space is that violence against women and children is preventable,” she said.

“It’s not an inherent part of the biological condition. Can (change) be done overnight? No. Will it take time? Yes, especially when you’re changing attitudes and behaviours.”

She said one of the biggest criticisms of the state’s domestic violence systems was that they were not regularly evaluated.

A roundtable was held into domestic violence in the by Premier Malinauskas (centre) with Rosie Batty and MP Katrine Hildyard. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe

The rates of violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women — who are three times more likely to be impacted by domestic violence – would be investigated in particular, with the inquiry to take an “intersectional approach”, she said.

“We know that disadvantage and discrimination intersect with gender inequality to affect the nature and the experience of violence for different women,” she said.

The leading advocate also urged others to take action day-to-day when it came to early intervention and prevention of family violence.

“One thing I do say is, if you go out today and you think: ‘What can I do?’, do one thing,” Ms Stott Despoja said.

“It might be having a code of conduct in your workplace, it might be supporting someone who you think is not well and need assistance.

“It might be being a better bystander down at the pub when someone’s telling you a sexist joke and we laugh along with it because we’ve got no choice.

“There are ways that we can all make changes everywhere we live love, learn, work and play, because that is how we address the fundamental issues that cause disrespect and can lead to violence against women and children.”

The announcement came after a surge in domestic violence-related deaths, with five South Australian women dying in an 18-day period at the end of 2023 allegedly at the hands of men known to them.

Mr Malinauskas said the government had looked into whether it could have taken on the findings of Victoria’s Royal Commission into Family Violence, but found the South Australian context was too different.

He said the 12-month time frame would be crucial to ensure the process does not “drag on for years”.

High-profile advocate Rosie Batty last year welcomed the announcement.

“A Royal Commission will transform the system and it will save lives,” she said.

“We cannot keep doing the same as what we’ve been doing because we are failing too many people.”

General manager of the Embolden advocacy group Mary Leaker said the Royal Commission would deliver the state “a critical blueprint for change that will keep women and children safer in South Australia”.