Family, domestic and sexual violence service responses in the time of COVID-19

Family, domestic and sexual violence is a major health and welfare issue in Australia and can have lifelong impacts on victims and perpetrators. It can affect people of all ages and backgrounds, but predominantly affects women and children.

Since early 2020, there has been growing concern about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on family, domestic and sexual violence (FDSV). The impacts of a pandemic can be wide-ranging and situational stressors, such as victims and perpetrators spending more time together, or increased financial or economic hardship, can be associated with increased severity or frequency of violence (Nancarrow 2020; Payne et al. 2020).

Pandemics can also affect the ‘responses’ to violence—the actions taken after an incident of violence has occurred. These responses include informal support (such as disclosure to a friend or family) and formal support (such as assistance from police, legal services, health professionals or housing assistance). While data on formal service responses only capture part of the picture, understanding how these services have been affected by the pandemic can shed light on changes in demand for services and possible service gaps.

This report brings together data from a range of national sources to show how service responses to FDSV changed at the onset, and during, the COVID-19 pandemic. The report focuses on data from January to June 2020, to cover the initial period of the pandemic in Australia. 

This report complements the large body of research on COVID-19 impacts, and also highlights key gaps in service response data. New and updated data are available in the FDSV and COVID-19 topic of the Family, domestic and sexual violence website, which compiles national data on FDSV from a range of sources.