Woman dies in Royal Darwin Hospital 35 days after alleged Katherine DV assault

A woman has died in hospital one month after an alleged serious assault, becoming the fourth suspected domestic homicide victim in the region in just four months. Read the latest.

Katherine Police Station. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

A woman has died in hospital a month after an alleged brutal assault by her partner in Katherine, the fourth suspected domestic violence homicide in the Big Rivers region in just four months.

NT Police said the 61-year-old woman was discovered with serious injuries in a Katherine East home during a concern for welfare check at 8.25pm on Saturday, October 12.

It was alleged the assault of the woman began 24 hours earlier, on the evening of Friday October 11.

NT Police alleged her 68-year-old partner attacked her, as well as another man who attempted to stop the violence.

The woman was airlifted to Royal Darwin Hospital in a critical condition, however she succumbed to her injuries on Thursday — 35 days after the alleged attack.

Her partner was arrested and charged with aggravated assault and intending to cause serious harm, with his first appearance set for Darwin Local Court on October 16.

NT Police said following her death, detectives liaised with the Department of Public Prosecution to see if his charges should be elevated ahead of his next appearance in Katherine Local Court on November 27.

Katherine Women’s Information and Legal Service said the outback town was facing an “unprecedented” domestic violence crisis, with its latest annual report stating women in the Big Rivers region were “some of the most at-risk people in the country”.

“We’re shattered,” KWILS chief executive Siobhan Mackay said.

“We share our sorrow and our condolences with her family and community.

“She had a lot of friends and family in Katherine.”

Ms Mackay said in just four months, four Big Rivers region women had been lost to unrelated suspected domestic violence killings.

“To have lost four women in four months in unprecedented,” she said.

Katherine Women’s Information and Legal Service (KWILS) chief executive Siobhan Mackay. Picture: Supplied

In October a 42-year-old woman was allegedly stabbed by her partner in Lajamanu, 560km south west of Katherine.

A month earlier a 22-year-old woman died following a suspected domestic violence incident on the outskirts of Katherine on September 30, with her 36-year-old partner arrested at the scene and charged with murder.

And in July a 36-year-old woman succumbed to her injuries, 12 days after she was allegedly assaulted by her former partner in Katherine.

He was charged with recklessly endangering life, and intending to cause serious harm.

On Friday, Ms Mackay said there was no simple “meaningful” answer to why the Big Rivers region was experiencing the scale of violence inflicted over recent months, with increases in domestic violence related police reports, hospital appearances, and court cases.

“It’s the collision of many, many factors,” she said.

“We have been seeing increasing demand for months — if not years.”

Despite the CLP promising to roll out an additional $180m for domestic violence responses over the next five years, Ms Mackay said Katherine services had not had any information about the timing, focus or scope of the rollout.

“We look forward to hearing from the CLP Government (about) time frames for making those decisions and when we would expect to see that funding coming through,” Ms Mackay said.

The Territory’s Domestic Violence Minister Robyn Cahill. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

She said Big Rivers region women needed crisis accommodation and safe houses, specialist domestic violence police and a family violence court list for Katherine.

“It would be really wonderful to see a stronger presence walking beside the community at this time,” she said.

Ms Mackay said critically the Territory needed to recognise the dual drivers of violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women: gender inequality and the ongoing impact of colonisation.

“Any solutions for our region need to acknowledge that, and work closely and listen deeply to First Nations’ voices,” she said.

A third of the 476 First Nations women killed in Australia since 1989 were from the Northern Territory, according to the Australian Institute of Criminology’s October report.

Coroner Elisabeth Armitage. Picture: Zizi Averill

This rate of abuse has been labelled a “national shame” by the Territory’s coroner Elisabeth Armitage, who is expected to hear final submissions on Australia’s largest ever domestic violence coronial on November 25.

Ms Mackay said she would like to see the new domestic violence minister, Robin Cahill, listening into that final hearing, and using its recommendations to inform future policy.

“It was a huge piece of work honouring those women and everyone who gave evidence about ways that we could work to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” she said.

Prevention of Domestic Violence minister Robyn Cahill said another life lost to domestic violence was an absolute tragedy.

She said the CLP government are committed to reducing DV across the community and were under taking a review of the current framework to identify gaps in service provision and find root causes.

“Over representation of Aboriginal women in domestic violence statistics cannot be ignored,” Ms Cahill said.

“Work to ensure the Territory receives our fair share of National Cabinet’s $4.7 billion package announced last month remains a priority.

“The incidence of domestic violence assaults across the Territory has increased by 82% in the last eight years. This shows us the current system is not just broken, it’s shattered.”

Additionally an audit of the DFSV Reduction Framework 2018 – 2028 is under way to ensure programs and resources are achieving desired outcomes in addressing root causes of DV in our community.

Originally published as Woman dies in Royal Darwin Hospital 35 days after alleged Katherine DV assault