Public Statement – New collaboration between the Research Hub and the Coroners Court of Victoria
The Monash Deakin Filicide Research Hub, in collaboration with the Victorian Systemic Review of Family Violence Deaths (VSRFVD) at the Coroners Court of Victoria, has commenced a new study on filicide in Victoria, as a follow up to their earlier studies on filicide, in Victoria (2000-2009), and in Australia (2000-2012).
The VSRFVD, headed by the State Coroner, is a dedicated team that conducts in-depth reviews of deaths suspected to be a result of family violence. The VSRFVD has released two reports examining family violence related homicides in Victoria, the first examining data from violence related homicides between 2000-2010 and the second from 2011-2015. As a member of the Australian Domestic and Family Violence Death Review Network, the VSRFVD has also contributed to a 2018 data report examining intimate partner homicide nationally.
The Monash Deakin Filicide Research Hub is a joint venture between Monash and Deakin Universities that is committed to fostering communication and collaboration between researchers, professionals, and services, to producing high quality research about the patterns, risk factors and circumstances of filicide and to building a sound evidence base to inform policy prevention and practice. As part of its knowledge dissemination process, the Monash Deakin Filicide Research Hub convenes a bi-annual Addressing Filicide Conference that provides a forum for researchers, professionals and services within Australia and overseas supporting them to come together to develop and enhance local and global strategies for intervention and prevention.
The new study, focusing on filicide in Victoria, but set against the earlier national study, will extend data collection to 2020 and pursue issues of victim vulnerability, risk factors associated with perpetrators and the role of helping services and their relationship to perpetrators and victims’ families and to potential prevention. With the background of the previous studies this study will examine the dynamics of filicide in greater detail, looking to see if there have been any changes in incidence, perpetrator types and behaviour, and service responses since the first of the studies began in 2000.