Automatic language translation
Our website uses an automatic service to translate our content into different languages. These translations should be used as a guide only. See our Accessibility page for further information.
The Women’s Safety Commissioner works in collaboration with key partners to support targeted research and systems reform to better address domestic, family and sexual violence in NSW. This includes bringing together available data and knowledge to enhance understanding, inform decision-making and measure progress, while also supporting researchers to build the evidence base and identify emerging trends. A selection of these research and reform initiatives is summarised below.
Australia’s National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022–2032 explicitly recognises children and young people as victim-survivors in their own right and identifies recovery and healing as one of four core domains. While the recognition of children and young people as victim-survivors has grown, there remains limited evidence about the specific supports, services and practice approaches that most effectively assist their recovery and healing following experiences of domestic, family and sexual violence (DFSV).
The Commissioner is partnering with Dr Kate Fitz-Gibbon and Griffith University on a research project to better understand how systems, services and practitioners can support the healing and recovery of children and young people who have experienced DFSV. The project will explore what helps children and young people recover, and how support can be improved to better meet their needs. It will also examine how experiences and recovery needs may differ across diverse communities and geographic areas.
The findings will shape multiple outputs, including a final research report, practice guidance framework, youth friendly summary, policy and system reform brief, as well as other targeted dissemination activities. This will help build the evidence based needed to improve recovery and healing supports for children and young people affected by DFSV, both in NSW and nationally.
The Adolescent Man Box research released in November 2025 found that a concerning number of young people reported that they would retaliate and try to “get back at” someone after being rejected. Understanding how young people respond to rejection and relationship breakdown is an important part of preventing the development of harmful attitudes and behaviours that can contribute to gender-based violence.
Against this backdrop, the Commissioner is partnering with Jesuit Social Services to better understand how young people experience and respond to romantic rejection, including the use of retaliatory behaviours. The project will explore the attitudes, experiences and social influences that shape young people’s responses to rejection, including the role of gender norms and expectations. It will include a review of existing evidence, focus groups with adolescents, workshops with teachers and parents, guidance from a project advisory group, and the development of practical resources.
The project will produce evidence-based resources to support trusted adults (parents, carers or teachers) to have informed conversations with young people about rejection, respect, emotional wellbeing and healthy coping strategies. By improving the understanding of how young people cope with rejection, the project aims to strengthen early prevention efforts and support respectful attitudes and behaviours among young people.
The project aligns with the goals of the Pathways to Prevention: NSW Strategy for the Prevention of Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence 2024–2028.
There is growing awareness of the way government systems can be misused by perpetrators of domestic and family violence as part of their control and abuse. This form of ‘systems abuse’ often continues long after a relationship has ended, and it can have a devastating impact.
This issue was highlighted in the 2024 report Unlocking the Prevention Potential: accelerating action to end domestic, family and sexual violence from the Rapid Review of Prevention Approaches to End Gender-Based Violence, with a particular focus on federal systems such as taxation, child support, immigration and the Family Court. The report recommended that all Commonwealth and state and territory governments undertake an immediate audit of how perpetrators are weaponising government systems, and to respond to these findings appropriately.
In line with this recommendation, the Commissioner is leading a program of work to identify and respond to the misuse of NSW Government systems by perpetrators of domestic and family violence. This aims to:
Qualitative research conducted in 2024 with victim-survivors and frontline workers provided important insights into how NSW Government services can be misused in the context of domestic and family violence. Building on that research, the next phase of this project seeks to build the capability of NSW Government employees to embed a Safety by Design into the design of systems, products and services. This will help to prevent future systems abuse and reduce harm to victim-survivors.
The project is guided by the eSafety Commissioner’s ‘Safety by Design’ principles, which have also guided reform in other areas such as the financial and technology sectors.
To support part of this work, the Commissioner engaged Flequity Ventures, a social enterprise led by Catherine Fitzpatrick, which specialises in disrupting financial abuse and gender bias through smarter product and service design across the public and private sectors.
Older women and women with disability have unique life experiences that can impact their experience of domestic, family and sexual violence.
Frontline workers play a critical role in supporting, and advocating for, older women and women with a disability. The Commissioner has partnered with the Ageing and Disability Commission to upskill frontline workers so they can effectively prevent, identify and respond to domestic, family and sexual violence directed at older women and women with disability.
This project has produced a suite of new resources to strengthen the capability of frontline workers across the disability, aged care, and domestic, family and sexual violence sectors. Based on extensive consultation with sector experts as well as people with lived experience, the resources are person centred, disability inclusive and trauma informed. They provide practical guidance about recognising the signs of abuse, safely responding to disclosures, and accessing appropriate reporting and referral pathways.
If you work with older women or women with disability, you can find relevant resources here:
The Commissioner has partnered with the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) to develop a qualitative research study exploring domestic and family violence victim-survivors’ experiences of the criminal justice system.
The study is focused on those who reported domestic and family violence to police following the commencement of the coercive control offence in NSW on 1 July 2024, with a particular focus on marginalised and underrepresented cohorts. It will explore victim-survivors’ experiences reporting to police, their journey through the courts, and the adequacy of support services.
A research team from the University of Sydney has been engaged to conduct this important study. A final report is expected in late 2026.
There is general recognition of the association between exposure to domestic and family violence (particularly intimate partner violence) and deteriorations in mental and physical health. However, our understanding of the relationship between domestic and family violence and suicide remains limited.
The 2024 report Unlocking the Prevention Potential: accelerating action to end domestic, family and sexual violence of the Rapid Review of Prevention Approaches to End Gender-Based Violence acknowledged this gap and called for an urgent inquiry into the relationship between domestic and family violence victimisation and suicide. A federal inquiry commenced on 28 October 2025.
To support this recommendation and inquiry, the Commissioner has partnered with BOCSAR to conduct quantitative research about the relationship between domestic and family violence and suicide. This builds on the qualitative work undertaken by the NSW Domestic Violence Death Review Team.
This research will provide unique population-level information about the risk of suicide among individuals exposed to domestic and family violence in NSW. It involves constructing a linked administrative dataset, which will contain information on each individual’s interaction with the child protection system, social housing, specialist homelessness services, health services, and the criminal justice system (including domestic and family violence victimisation and perpetration). Three broad research themes will be explored:
This study will be the first in Australia to provide detailed information on state government touchpoints for people who died by suicide after recent known domestic and family violence incidents. It is anticipated that this research will provide insights to guide further qualitative inquiry, with a view to informing prevention initiatives and systems improvement.
There is currently limited understanding of the supports available for young people using intimate partner violence that account for their unique developmental needs.
To address this gap, the Commissioner is partnering with Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety and the Australian Department of Social Services to support a research project aimed at better understanding services, intervention initiatives and care available for young people using intimate partner violence.
This national project is led by Elena Campbell, Associate Director, Research, Advocacy and Policy, Centre for Innovative Justice at RMIT University. It seeks to:
More information about this project, including the research team, can be found on the Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety website.
There is considerable evidence indicating that many women do not feel safe in public spaces, or on the public transport network, at night. For example, the Safer Cities Survey by Transport for NSW found that almost 60 per cent of women in NSW do not feel safe in public spaces after dark, and their sense of safety has a significant influence on where they go and how choose to get there.
To address this issue, the Commissioner has partnered with Transport for NSW and the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure to launch and implement the Women’s Safety Charter for the Public Domain – Places and Transport. This initiative brings together government agencies, the non-government sector, advocates and industry to take collective action to improve the safety of women in public places and on the transport network across the Greater Sydney metropolitan area and regional NSW.
In addition, the Commissioner has established an ongoing partnership with the NSW 24-Hour Economy Commissioner, Michael Rodrigues, to enhance women’s safety in the night-time economy. In May 2025, Commissioner Tonkin and Commissioner Rodrigues co-hosted a roundtable focused on improving women’s safety in the hospitality industry, with a particular focus on sexual harassment. These discussions contributed to the implementation of important reforms, shaped by the lived experience of women in the industry, including the passage of the 24-Hour Economy Legislation Amendment (Vibrancy Reforms) Act 2025, which included initiatives to support a safer environment for employees and patrons.
Separately, work to strengthen prevention and education has also progressed through regulatory training reforms, including the inclusion of new content on sexual harassment and sexual violence prevention in Liquor and Gaming NSW’s Responsible Service of Alcohol training.
Commissioner Tonkin also provides ongoing support for the delivery of the NSW 24-Hour Economy Strategy, through her membership on the 24-Hour Economy Strategy Implementation Steering Committee.
Housing is a critical issue for victim-survivors of domestic and family violence. Across regional and metropolitan areas, the inability to access safe housing is an enormous hurdle that prevents many women from leaving violence. Women who are renting often face particular challenges in leaving an abusive relationship, finding new accommodation and rebuilding their lives.
Recognising these challenges, the Commissioner has been pleased to support the reforms driven by the NSW Rental Commissioner, Trina Jones, and the team at NSW Fair Trading to better support victim-survivors of domestic and family violence in the rental market.
These changes seek to reduce the stress, risks and costs for renters leaving violence through practical reforms including:
As part of consultation on these reforms, Commissioner Tonkin and Commissioner Jones co-convened two roundtables with representatives from frontline services, housing providers, community legal centres and peak bodies.
The ongoing collaboration between Commissioner Tonkin and Commissioner Jones recognises the fundamental importance of safe and secure housing, and seeks to reduce the risk of harm and liability for victim-survivors in rental accommodation.
Children and young people who lose a close family member to domestic and family violence often experience a range of profound and lifelong impacts. Their needs are complex and they require support that is trauma-informed, focused on their rights, and culturally safe.
To support better outcomes, in collaboration with the NSW Domestic Violence Death Review team, the Commissioner initiated a short-term, foundational service mapping project to better understand the service pathways available to children and young people (aged up to 25) who have lost a close family member to domestic and family violence homicide in NSW.
The project involved consultation with government and non-government agencies, as well as victim-survivors of domestic and family violence, including those who have lost a close family member to homicide.
This project aims to make the needs of this group of children and young people more visible, and to better understand their current experience of the service system, with a view to improving responses and care in the future.
Miranda Moir was engaged to develop a practice resource to help support professionals who may come into contact with this group of children and young people.
You can read the guide here: Supporting a child or young person bereaved by domestic violence homicide - Tips for professionals (PDF, 999.4 KB)
Last updated: