Bridging the data gaps for family, domestic and sexual violence

Latest release

Outlines the strategies and actions required to address critical data gaps and improve the evidence base for family, domestic, and sexual violence

Reference period
2013
Released
25/11/2013
Next release Unknown
First release

Introduction

Overview

Many Australians are affected by family, domestic and sexual violence each year and the potential adverse effects of these experiences can be long lasting. Results from the crime victimisation survey in 2011-12 estimated that there were 6.4 million incidents of physical or threatened assault in 2011–12 that affected an estimated 1.1 million people (ABS, 2013a).¹

In 2005, it was estimated that 40% of women (3,065,800) and 50% of men (3,744,900) had experienced some form of violence (ABS, 2006).² This survey also estimated that 19.1% of women (1,469,500) and 5.5% (408,100) of men had experienced sexual violence.³ It is difficult to ascertain from the data what proportion of these acts were family and domestic violence events. What is known is, of the 1.7 million people who experienced violence from a current and/or previous partner in their lifetime three quarters were women (76%). Women were three times more likely than men to experience violence by a current and/or previous partner in their lifetime: 16.6% of women (1,280,000) and 5.7% of men (429,900) (ABS, 2006).

In 2012 it was estimated that 51,000 people aged 18 years and over were victims of sexual assault, and less than a third of these victims reported the incident to police (ABS, 2013a). The low rate of reporting of sexual assault to police is supported by the findings from Recorded Crime, Victims Australia, where police recorded approximately 17,000 victims of sexual assault in 2011 (ABS, 2012).

Acts of violence also attract significant economic costs for the Australian community. It is estimated that violence perpetrated against women alone costs the Australian economy $13.6 billion each year. By 2021 this figure is predicted to increase to $15.6 billion (FaHCSIA, 2009a).

While existing data provide a broad picture of the nature and extent of family, domestic and sexual violence in Australia, there are many aspects of these types of violence that remain unexplored, and questions that remain unanswered. The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) National Plan to reduce violence against women and their children (National Plan) recognises this and is committed to building a strong evidence base. The Commonwealth, states and territories are working together support this through the development of information papers and other tools to assist government and non-government organisations (NGOs) to produce nationally comparable statistics.

The momentum towards developing a sound evidence base in this area mirrors previous trends in demand for robust information to inform government policy in the areas of income, housing, health, education and justice. This process is critical to support governments in monitoring key outcome areas of the National Plan.

¹ Aged 15 years and over.
² Violence includes any incident of: physical assault; physical threat/threatened physical assault; sexual assault and/or; sexual threat/ threatened sexual threat, since the age of 15 years, only asked of respondents 18 years and over.
³ Sexual Violence includes any incident of: sexual assault and/or; sexual threat/ threatened sexual threat, since the age of 15 years, only asked of respondents 18 years and over.
⁴ Current partner is defined as a partner the person is currently living with and includes both married and defacto relationships; ‘Previous partner’ is a partner who the person may or may not have been living with at the time; includes both married and defacto relationships.

Purpose of this publication

The purpose of this publication is to provide an inventory of the current issues for data collection and dissemination in the field of family, domestic and sexual violence statistics. It acknowledges that for some organisations data are collected as a by-product of their day to day operations, and that this poses unique challenges for data improvement activities. It also provides practical next steps to improve the data environment.

This document supports the National Plan by identifying priority themes for data enhancement that can assist in improving the evidence base for family domestic and sexual violence in Australia. It outlines the basis for creating the National Data Collection and Reporting Framework and references the current data environment.

This document aims to:

  1. present a prioritised list of family, domestic and sexual violence policy and research questions that remain unanswered;
  2. outline the information flows through organisations that provide services to those affected by family, domestic and sexual violence;
  3. identify the critical gaps in the existing data and attempt to determine why these exist; and
  4. provide advice about the strategies and actions required to address the critical data gaps.
     

The findings presented are expected to:

  • contribute to governments’ investment in decision-making processes;
  • improve the overall quality of Australia’s official statistical assets;
  • enhance the utilisation of these assets; and
  • enable effective data integration and comparability.
     

The allocation of resources to support investments in response to the identified priority themes remains with governments as well as the respective data custodian organisations.

The National Plan - building a strong foundation: the first action plan

The National Plan is a long term approach to reducing violence against women and their children in Australia. It is driven by four action plans designed to support long lasting change. The first action plan, Building a Strong Foundation, is supported by strategic projects and actions that target long term results while delivering on high-priority actions in the short-term. All jurisdictions have agreed to work together to implement the four identified priorities of the first action plan (Diagram 1) (FaHCSIA, 2012).

Diagram 1 - the first action plan to support the National Plan to reduce violence against women and their children

Illustrates the National Plan which is underpinned by six national outcomes as measured by 4 high level indicators of change.
The National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010 to 2022 includes six outcomes, four high level national indicators of change, and four action plans. The six outcomes are: 1. Communities are safe and free from violence. 2. Relationships are respectful. 3. Indigenous communities are strengthened. 4. Services meet the needs of women and their children experiencing violence. 5. Justice responses are effective. 6. Perpetrators stop their violence and are held to account. These link to the four high level national indicators of change, which are: Reduce prevalence of family and domestic violence and sexual assault; Increase proportion of women who feel safe in their communities; Reduce deaths related to family and domestic violence and sexual assault; and Reduce proportion of children exposed to their mother or carers' experience of domestic violence. The four action plans are: Building a Strong Foundation; Moving Ahead; Promising Results; and Turning the Corner. The first action plan - Building a Strong Foundation, is comprised of four identified priorities, which include: Building Primary Prevention Capacity; Strengthening Justice Responses; Enhancing Service Delivery; Building the Evidence Base.

Source: Adapted from the National Implementation Plan: First Action Plan 2010-2013 (FaHCSIA, 2012)

Building the evidence base

The current project is one of many initiatives intended to support this building the evidence base priority area, and it provides the foundations for the creation of a National Data Collection and Reporting Framework (see Diagram 2). This Framework is designed to lay a strong foundation to establish data collection strategies aimed at the production of nationally consistent data. It is accepted that the implementation of such a framework will occur over time and will require agreement from all governments (FaHCSIA, 2012).

Diagram 2 - actions to support the identified priority: building the evidence base

Bridging the data gaps is the second stage in building the evidence base as part of the national data collection and reporting framework
Building the evidence base includes the following actions: Establish a National Centre of Excellence (NCE); Build the evidence base through four - yearly PSS and NCAS; Establish evaluation framework for the life of the National Plan; and Commence work on the National Data Collection and Reporting Framework. There are three pillars to support the National Data Collection and Reporting Framework, which comprise of: 1. Defining the Data Challenge. 2. Bridging the Data Gaps. 3. Building the Evidence Base: Data Collection and Reporting Framework.

Source: Adapted from the National Implementation Plan: First Action Plan 2010-2013 (FaHCSIA, 2012)

This paper is the second in a series of information papers which outlines the current data environment, identifies critical data gaps, and provides advice to government on the future priority areas for improving statistics for family, domestic and sexual violence in Australia.

Improving the evidence base

Overview

A cost effective way for organisations to improve the current family, domestic and sexual violence evidence base is through the enhancement of existing sources of data, namely administrative by-product and survey data. Deciding on which of these data types to use depends on the type of information required, and the amount of available investment.

The use of administrative data can provide significant benefits as it uses existing infrastructure, can be timely, available for smaller geographic areas, and, has the potential to yield information about specific target populations. This information can be used to answer questions about service provision, resource capacity and utilisation as well as the impacts and outcomes of contact with services (Ruuskanen and Kauko, 2008). However, access to these data may require changes in legislation that allow for data sharing within current privacy and confidentiality protocols. There are also limitations to the sort of questions that administrative data can answer, as the reliability of information is dependent on the quality of data from operational systems.

Alternatively, surveys can be used to address more specific sociological questions related to prevalence, determinants and those that do not disclose their experience to services or police (Ruuskanen and Kauko, 2008). Through the use of survey methods information about a wide range of experiences of family, domestic and sexual violence can be collected. However, it is noted that not every experience can or will be captured as some people will never disclose their experience of violence. While surveys offer information that are designed to meet specific user requirements, they are often expensive to run, conducted infrequently and may not provide robust information about small geographic areas or subpopulations (e.g. the elderly or women with a disability).

In the context of the National Plan, both survey and administrative data should be combined to create a comprehensive picture of family, domestic and sexual violence in Australia (Chung, 2013). However, developing and conducting new topic-specific surveys may not be a practical option in the short term, and comes at a higher cost compared to administrative data improvements. With this in mind, the remainder of this paper focuses on strategies to improve existing administrative data holdings, but recognises the importance of survey data in this field.

Defining the data challenge for family, domestic and sexual violence

Definitional complexities of family, domestic and sexual violence

Family, domestic and sexual violence in Australia - a data snapshot

Determining the data priorities

Overview

There are a range of government agencies and NGOs that respond to family, domestic and sexual violence. Multiple organisations are responsible for different aspects of response, service delivery and policy development and these often operate independently. The ‘Time for Action’ report suggests that an integrated, coordinated and collaborative approach between, and across government, communities and individuals is necessary to address the multi-faceted determinants of violence (FaHCSIA, 2009b).

The National Plan provides the framework for action by the Commonwealth, state and territory governments to reduce the incidence of family, domestic and sexual violence in Australia. In order to set appropriate targets for the reduction of violence in the community, measureable indicators are required to answer key questions in relation to family, domestic and sexual violence. The overarching question to be addressed by the evidence base is:

What is the nature and extent of family, domestic and sexual violence in Australia?

Answering this question is critical to fulfilling the vision of the National Plan; that Australian women and their children live free from violence in safe communities.

To measure the success of this vision, Australian governments set a target for significant and sustained reductions in violence against women and their children. To assess whether this target has been achieved, four high‐level indicators of change were chosen to evaluate progress:

  • Reduced prevalence of domestic violence and sexual assault;
  • Increased proportion of women who feel safe in their communities;
  • Reduced deaths related to domestic violence and sexual assault; and
  • Reduced proportion of children exposed to their mother’s or carer’s experience of domestic violence.
     

Beyond these headline indicators, however, the evidence base must support a comprehensive analysis of family, domestic and sexual violence that informs policy development, operational decision making and research requirements.

High priority questions

Understanding the environment

Overview

Multiple organisations are often involved in the immediate and follow-up responses to a family, domestic or sexual violence event. As a result a myriad of administrative information is collected at a number of entry points for a single event of family, domestic and sexual violence. The range of potential sources of administrative data includes:

  • police;
  • civil courts;
  • criminal courts;
  • health;
  • child protection units;
  • emergency accommodation;
  • family and domestic service provision;
  • sexual assault service provision; and
  • counselling and support services.
     

This data has the potential to inform understandings of, and responses to family, domestic and sexual violence. For the purposes of this project it is essential to assess the utility of the information that is collected, and understand how it moves within and between these organisations. This was achieved by conducting a scan of the family, domestic and sexual violence in Australia data environment (see Appendix 2 for methodology). This chapter presents the key issues and findings from this exercise.

Data environment - key issues

Environment scan - key findings

Transforming data into statistical information

Overview

Family, domestic and sexual violence is a crosscutting issue (by sector and jurisdiction) and as a result, statistical information is fragmented and dispersed amongst a range of sectors and organisations. To improve current information sources, an understanding of the quality of data held by organisations is required. Once this has been achieved, steps can then be taken to improve the comparability and consistency of these datasets.

A first step towards data consistency in this field is to be clear on what data exists, and the type of information that is required to inform decision making. Information requirements should be outlined to provide answers to as many research and policy questions as possible in a timely manner, and to the appropriate level of geographic detail. As a consequence a number of issues should be considered when determining information requirements for family, domestic and sexual violence that inform:

  • the creation of nationally consistent data;
  • a flexible evidence base that can respond to changing needs;
  • the facilitation of ongoing data collection; and
  • increased information sharing and improved communication practices.
     

To understand how data are transformed into statistical information, findings from the priority setting exercise and environment scan have been examined from a data perspective. These were then drawn together to highlight how this information could be used to turn data into statistical information about family, domestic and sexual violence.

Answering the priority questions

Building a flexible evidence base

How current data support identified information units

How to address deficiencies in existing datasets

Priority themes for enhancement

Overview

A number of challenges and constraints exist for the development of a family, domestic and sexual violence evidence base. These require mitigating strategies to make the most of the opportunities and available data.

This chapter presents three priority themes (Diagram 8) each containing a number of strategies that may be implemented to improve the evidence base for family, domestic and sexual violence. The priority themes were identified through the following process:

  • determining the priority questions about family, domestic and sexual violence;
  • reviewing the current data sources and the information flows between organisations; and
  • assessing the current priority questions against information requirements.
     

Existing family, domestic and sexual violence data sources provide a vast repository of information. A number of key issues have been identified and are as follows:

  • no consistent data definition or identification method for family, domestic and sexual violence;
  • multiple entry points into data collection, therefore increased likelihood of double counting;
  • large number of agencies involved in service provision;
  • information collected differently across and within agencies;
  • IT systems and infrastructure varies between agencies;
  • standards and classifications are disparate and organisation specific, and
  • data are not interpretable from a family, domestic and sexual violence perspective.
     

Priority themes

Potential pathways for enhancements

Summary

The development of robust family, domestic and sexual violence statistics requires support and commitment from a range of organisations, both government and non-government, not only for the life of the National Plan, but into the future. Responding to family, domestic and sexual violence incurs costs to the community and to individuals, and improving information across sectors and jurisdictions will enhance the understanding of these financial and personal costs. An improved understanding of family, domestic and sexual violence will also provide the foundations for the creation and measurement of effective prevention measures.

As discussed in this paper, there are two ways in which the evidence base can be improved through data; the first is to build new surveys that are specific to a topic, and the second is to augment existing administrative data holdings. Increasing the utility of administrative data are crucial in light of current fiscal demands and has the potential to provide interim data in the time periods between surveys. Accordingly, the findings and key themes outlined in this paper focus on how to improve administrative data holdings and facilitate transformation of existing data into statistical information to inform prevention and policy activities.

Any attempt to build a picture of family, domestic and sexual violence in Australia must consider information from a range of sources. While a range of existing data sources were identified, a number of gaps were also noted, and a major challenge being the consistent identification of family, domestic and sexual violence events both in the data, and in the field. Moreover, information about the provision and utilisation of services is needed along with the performance and cost of the systems providing these services.

The key themes in this paper provide guidance on possible actions to address the issues that are impacting on the improvement of the current evidence base. The potential long term outcomes of implementation of the key themes contained in this paper is the creation of an environment where comparable data are collected across jurisdictions and sectors and reported at the national level.

It is important to note that there are data limitations in this field and significant constraints to establishing a national evidence base. It is unlikely that the ‘real number’ of family and domestic and/or sexual violence events will ever be known. Different collection methods, definitions and scope will often produce different levels of estimates. It is vital that data producers and users are aware of the strengths and limitations of the data that they are using. While it is acknowledged that limited resources are generally available, the ability of organisations to improve current data practices and enhance staff capabilities will depend on the priority given to investing in statistical assets and infrastructure.

The way forward

The establishment of a flexible evidence base requires data to be collected in a consistent way that enables its transformation into statistical information. Therefore it is essential that information is collected in a systematic and standard way, across organisations and jurisdictions.

The forthcoming National Data Collection and Reporting Framework will form the basis for a shared understanding of family, domestic and sexual violence and be one of the tools that will empower organisations to improve their data collection practices. A data collection framework is neither a national statistical collection nor a national dataset. Rather it is a tool that will assist and guide organisations when implementing new systems or considering measurement issues.

In the short term, the ABS has committed to developing a collection framework that can be used for the creation of new information collection activities as well as the alignment of existing collections. A shift in the components of the current information environment may require intellectual effort, IT system improvements and/or behavioural change at the operational level, all of which would incur a cost to organisations. Funding arrangements for the long term development of statistical assets that support a robust family, domestic and sexual violence evidence base will require negotiation and agreement by Australian governments.

Appendices

Appendix 1 - project methodology - the priority questions

Appendix 2 - environment scan - methodology

Appendix 3 - environment scan - detailed findings

Appendix 4 - integrated approaches

Appendix 5 - risk assessments

Acknowledgements

This paper was completed in partnership with a range of Commonwealth, State and Territory governments and other organisations that operate in the field of family, domestic and sexual violence policy, research, service provision and prevention. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) acknowledges the support and input of the Department of Social Services (DSS) which, under the auspices of the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children (2010-2022) (National Plan), provided funding support for the development of this paper by the ABS.

ABS publications draw extensively on information provided freely by individuals, businesses, governments and other organisations. A range of groups provided support in developing this paper, including the National Plan Implementation Panel (NPIP). The ABS thanks the members of the Panel, as well as other individuals and organisations for their contributions to this publication.

The ABS would also like to acknowledge the contribution of the Select Council on Women’s Issues (SCWI) for their support and endorsement of ABS activities during the development of this publication.

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Abbreviations

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Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 4529.0.00.002

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