SUBMISSION

ANROWS submission to the Inquiry into the relationship between domestic, family and sexual violence and suicide

ANROWS provided a submission to the Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs Inquiry into the relationship between domestic, family and sexual violence (DFSV) and suicide.

The Inquiry examines the relationship between DFSV victimisation and suicide, including the extent to which DFSV contributes to suicide risk and incidence in Australia, as well as opportunities to improve data, service responses, and prevention efforts.

ANROWS welcomes the Inquiry and supports efforts to strengthen understanding of the relationship between DFSV and suicide.

The evidence indicates that while there is a clear link between DFSV and suicide, systems do not routinely identify or record DFSV-related suicides, limiting opportunities for early intervention and prevention.

ANROWS welcomes the opportunity to contribute evidence to support the Inquiry in strengthening how systems recognise, respond to and prevent DFSV-related suicides.

 

ANROWS recommends that the Inquiry:

1. Explicitly recognising the serious risk of death by suicide associated with DFSV will strengthen knowledge on opportunities to intervene early and drive prevention, especially in community and health settings.
2. The Inquiry should prioritise strengthening the identification, recording and response to DFSV within suicide prevention, case review and data systems, to reduce misidentification, address underreporting, and ensure earlier and effective intervention for women and children at risk.
3. The Inquiry should recognise IPV as a major contributor to women’s burden of disease through suicide and self-harm and ensure suicide prevention policy, funding and services are integrated with IPV prevention and response, particularly for women at highest risk.
4. The Inquiry should address key gaps in the evidence base by supporting more consistent, robust research to better understand the relationship between DFSV and suicide and strengthen prevention efforts.
5. Suicide prevention policy and services should explicitly integrate children and young people’s experiences of DFSV into risk assessment, early intervention and trauma-informed responses, to reduce suicide and self-harm.
6. Further research should be prioritised to better understand the relationship between sexual violence and suicide, including sexual violence within and outside the context of DFV.
7. The Inquiry should recommend nationally consistent data standards, and guidelines to ensure DFV-related suicides are systematically identified in coronial data, investigated in depth, and used to inform prevention, learning and system reform across jurisdictions.
8. Emergency department data systems should be strengthened to more accurately identify and record both suicidality and domestic and family violence at the point of care, improved coding practices, using supplementary human-intent injury indicators and text-based analysis.
9. The Inquiry should explore opportunities to extend existing population-based surveys to capture the co-prevalence of DFSV victimisation and suicidal thoughts, behaviours and self-harm.
10. Response to DFSV-related suicide should strengthen early identification and risk assessment across health, justice and housing systems, address both clinical risk and structural drivers, and apply evidence-based approaches that are rigorously tested and grounded in existing best-practice frameworks.
11. Evidence-based screening and risk assessment tools exist for identification of both DFSV and suicidality. The Inquiry should recommend national adoption of, and staff training on appropriate and sensitive implementation within all health services, DFSV specialist and non-DFSV specialist services.
12. The Inquiry needs to focus on understanding of suicide threats and behaviours as potential tactics of coercive control, to support accurate risk identification, avoid practitioner collusion and improve early intervention responses.
13. Suicide prevention policy and services should strengthen early, coordinated access to mental health, social and DFSV supports across the life course, including targeted prevention of child sexual abuse and flexible responses that reflect changing risk over time.

This submission will be of interest to policymakers, legal and justice system professionals, health and mental health practitioners, researchers, and organisations working across domestic, family and sexual violence and suicide prevention.

Download the full submission to explore the evidence and recommendations in detail.

 

If you need immediate help, call 000. You can also access free, confidential support online or by phone through the services below.

Suicide Call Back Service
Phone: 1300 659 467

1800RESPECT
Phone: 1800 737 732

Lifeline Australia
Phone: 13 11 14

Beyond Blue
Phone: 1300 224 636

MensLine Australia
Phone: 1300 789 978

13YARN
Phone: 13 92 76

Kids Helpline
Phone: 1800 551 800

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Phone: 1800 650 890

Suggested citation

Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety. (2026). Re: Inquiry into the relationship between domestic, family and sexual violence and suicide [Submission no. 1]. ANROWS.