Key information gaps and development activities

High quality national data are crucial to understanding the extent, nature and impact of family, domestic and sexual violence (FDSV). National data are often used to inform decision-making to improve outcomes for people who are, or may be, affected by violence.

The 2010–2022 National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children drove improvements in national data and reporting on FDSV in Australia. Concurrently, states and territories have worked to improve data collection on services provided in their jurisdictions.

Moving forward, the 2022–2032 National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children (the National Plan) and associated Outcomes Framework will be supported by a Performance Measurement Plan and a data development plan, which will drive the national FDSV data priorities over the next decade.

This topic page provides an overview of key national information gaps and development activities related to research and statistical uses – these will be further refined once the National Plan data priorities are confirmed.

National information gaps

No single national data source can provide all the information needed to report on and understand FDSV. Instead, FDSV data are collated from a range of sources to provide a national picture. For a description of the different types of FDSV data available, see How are national data used to answer questions about FDSV? and Data sources and technical notes.

While there have been substantial improvements in FDSV-related data and reporting over the past decade, several national gaps remain. In broad terms, these overarching national gaps include limited data on:

• The range of health, welfare and other support services people who experience FDSV may access. Information on the quality and integration of service responses is also limited.
• Service pathways, impacts and outcomes for victim-survivors, perpetrators and families.
• Select population groups, including perpetrators.

Table 1 provides further detail on current topics where national data for statistical purposes are not available or limited.

In some cases, data are available at the state and territory level, however comparability across collections is limited as different definitions and methods are used to support different requirements, which can be related to legislation or service scope. Data availability and comparability can also vary across government, non-government and private (for profit) sectors.

Improving national data

A broad approach is required to improve national FDSV data overall, comprising various activities:

• Data development, such as:
  • new national data collections – collections may focus on a new topic or population group, or aim to improve national data comparability across services or jurisdictions.
  • new data items in existing national collections – this may include new items to improve the identification of people experiencing FDSV.
  • A key component of these activities is the development of clear definitions to support the collection of consistent and comparable information.

  
  

• Enhanced analysis of existing data – enhancing the range and complexity of data analysis may help to expand the evidence base (e.g. for a specific population group), or improve FDSV identification (e.g. through specialised analysis of free text fields).
• Integration of existing data – data integration, or data linkage, means bringing together 2 or more sources of data which relate to the same individual, event, institution or place, while preserving privacy. Data integration has the potential to offer the greatest insights into pathways across a range of health and welfare services, and the impacts of FDSV on broader and long-term well-being, for example economic and housing outcomes. Integrated data can also improve the identification of people who have experienced FDSV across data sets.

There are a range of considerations in improving data, including:

• Existing frameworks to guide data collection and reporting, such as the ABS (2014) National Data Collection and Reporting Framework for FDSV and the UN Women (2022) Improving the collection and use of administrative data on violence against women.
• Improvements should be appropriately targeted. For example, in seeking to improve FDSV identification in existing administrative data collections (through new data items, or enhanced analysis of existing items), consideration should be given to the level of relevance, and whether the benefit will outweigh the burden. In doing this, it is logical that improvements should be targeted to services that people who experience FDSV are more likely to come into contact with (e.g. mental health care), or those that women particularly at risk of FDSV may visit (e.g. perinatal services). 
• Safeguarding victim-survivors’ confidentiality, in the context of sharing data for research and statistical purposes.
• The principles of data sovereignty should be considered. Data sovereignty is the idea that people have the right to govern the collection, ownership and use of data about them. For example, the Australian Government is working with First Nations organisations and people to improve the access, relevance and governance arrangements relating to First Nations data (NIAA 2023). In the context of FDSV specifically, the expertise of people with lived experience should be considered, to ensure decisions about data improvements are undertaken in a sensitive and meaningful way.
• Development of new data standards (e.g. for capturing new or better service response data) must be undertaken together with those responsible for funding and delivering services and supports. New data items or collections will generally need to be useful at the client, service, system and population outcome level, to justify investment.

A range of national data development activities are underway to expand and enhance FDSV data. Some examples of key national activities are provided in Table 2.

More information

Family, domestic and sexual violence: National data landscape 2022