JavaScript is required

About the Royal Commission into Family Violence

Australia’s first Royal Commission into Family Violence was completed in 2015. The Commission made 227 recommendations to reduce the impact of family violence in our community.

On 28 January 2023, the Victorian Government announced the implementation of the final recommendations, meeting our commitment to implement all 227 recommendations.

The Royal Commission was established in 2015 after a number of family violence-related deaths in Victoria - most notably the death of Luke Batty.

The role of the Commission was to find ways to:

  • prevent family violence
  • improve support for victim survivors
  • hold perpetrators to account

The Commission included 25 days of public hearings. Community conversations were held with over 800 Victorians and nearly 1,000 written submissions were received.

Areas investigated:

  • criminal law, corrections and courts
  • role of support services
  • health system and alcohol and drug treatment services, as well as those of refuges, housing and education
  • tools available to police

Commission findings

The government is committed to completing all 227 of the Royal Commission’s recommendations to improve Victoria’s response to family violence. The Royal Commission provided its report, including 227 recommendations, to the Victorian Government on 29 March 2016.

The Royal Commission found existing programs were not able to:

  • reduce the frequency and impact of violence
  • prevent violence through early intervention
  • support victim survivors
  • hold perpetrators to account for their actions
  • coordinate community and government services

Government is working to implement every one of the Commission's recommendations, backed with a historic investment of more than $3.86 billion, to keep women, children and families safe.

Royal Commission Report

Visit the Royal Commission website to find the full report and recommendations.

The cost of family violence in Victoria

The Royal Commission into Family Violence called for a rigorous and consistent measurement of the cost of family violence to government, the community and individuals.

The Victorian Government commissioned KPMG to produce this report to fulfil recommendation 219 of the Royal Commission into Family Violence.

The report estimates that in 2015-16 the:

  • total cost of family violence in Victoria was $5.3 billion
  • cost to individuals and their families was $2.6 billion
  • cost to the Victorian community and broader economy was $918 million

Download the report

The Cost of Family Violence in Victoria
PDF 416.63 KB
(opens in a new window)

Updated