Understanding the Domestic and Family Violence System in the ACT
Updated: Sep 9
Domestic and family violence (DFV) is not managed by a single organisation or through a single process.
In the Australian Capital Territory, the response involves legislation, ACT Policing, the courts, government agencies, health and community services, legal services and specialist domestic and family violence organisations.
Understanding how those different elements work together — and whether they work together effectively — is important for anyone trying to understand the ACT’s response to family violence.
What does the ACT mean by family violence?
The principal legislation is the Family Violence Act 2016 (ACT).
The Act defines family violence broadly. It includes physical and sexual violence or abuse, emotional or psychological abuse, economic abuse, threatening behaviour and coercion. It also includes behaviour that controls or dominates a family member and causes that person to fear for their own safety or the safety of another family member.
Importantly, the legislation is therefore concerned with considerably more than physical assault.
The Act also recognises the exposure of children to family violence. (ACT Legislation Register)
Family Violence Orders
One of the principal mechanisms established by the Family Violence Act 2016 is the Family Violence Order (FVO).
Applications for FVOs are dealt with by the ACT Magistrates Court. Depending on the circumstances, applications may be made by an affected person or on their behalf, including by police in circumstances provided for by the Act. The legislation provides for interim and final orders and specifies the matters the Court must consider. (ACT Legislation Register)
The protection-order system is only one part of the ACT’s overall response to family violence.
Conduct occurring in a family violence context may also engage the criminal law. Family law, child protection, housing, health, financial assistance and other legal and administrative systems may also become relevant depending on the circumstances.
A system, not a single service
It is useful to think of the ACT family violence response as a system of interacting components.
These include:
legislation and government policy;
police;
courts and the justice system;
security risk assessment and risk management processes;
health and mental health services;
specialist DFV services;
legal assistance;
housing and financial support; and
community organisations.
No individual component can manage family violence risk in isolation.
Information has to move between organisations. Risks have to be identified and assessed. Decisions have to be made. Controls and interventions have to be implemented. Outcomes need to be monitored.
That creates an important distinction between having services and having an effective system.
A jurisdiction can have many well-funded and highly capable individual services while still experiencing gaps at the boundaries between them.
Looking at the system through a risk management lens
This is where DFV Risk takes a somewhat different approach.
Rather than attempting to duplicate the work of support organisations, this website examines domestic and family violence through the disciplines of risk management and systems analysis.
That means asking questions such as:
How is risk identified?
How is it assessed?
Who owns particular risks?
What controls are intended to prevent or reduce harm?
How is information shared?
How are decisions made when information is incomplete or uncertain?
How do organisations know whether their controls are working?
How are incidents, failures and unintended consequences identified and learned from?
How is the performance of the overall system measured?
These are ordinary risk management questions. In a domestic and family violence system, however, the consequences of getting them wrong can be profound.
Finding support in the ACT
There are numerous government, legal, health, crisis and specialist domestic and family violence services operating in the ACT.
We have deliberately not attempted to reproduce a directory of those services here. Service names, programs, eligibility criteria, contact details and operating arrangements change, and specialist organisations are better placed to maintain that information.
A web search for “domestic family violence support ACT” will identify current ACT Government and specialist services.
If there is an immediate threat to life or safety in Australia, call Triple Zero (000).
What this website is about
DFV Risk is primarily about examining how domestic and family violence risk is understood and managed as a coherent risk-based, evidence-informed system.
That includes reviewing legislation, policies, frameworks, governance arrangements, risk assessment methods, decision-making processes and evidence about whether the system is achieving its intended outcomes.
The purpose is not to replace specialist DFV organisations, legal services, police, courts or health professionals.
It is to ask a different question:
How well does the system identify, understand and manage risk — and how does it know?
That question is at the heart of the research, analysis and resources published on this website.
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