8 August 2025

• Domestic violence prevention advocates have described the NT government's criticism of a landmark coronial report into the deaths of four Indigenous women as hurtful, disappointing and distressing.
• The NT government's response to a coroner's report on the deaths of four Aboriginal women fails to address "critical gaps" in combating domestic violence, a coalition of community services says.
• The federal government is being urged to change the law to give the ATO the ability to waive tax debts in situations of financial abuse.
• Domestic violence programs in South Australia get $52 million funding boost.
• WA government must ensure adequate funding improvements in domestic violence response.
• One in five calls to SA domestic violence crisis line goes unanswered despite extra funding.
• Demand for domestic and family violence support services in Launceston on the rise.
• A Queensland medical student has been suspended from study after pleading guilty to domestic violence.
• A new Aboriginal-led refuge is being built in the Walgett Shire.
• In NSW the Victim Rights and Victims of Crime Commissioner Bill 2025 has been introduced in parliament, and the Crimes Act 1900 will be amended to make the production of a sexually explicit deepfake designed to be a genuine depiction of a real, identifiable person an offence punishable by up to three years’ jail.
• The Greens express concern that the ACT Government has scrapped the Women’s Safety Grants.
• In France, President Macron has been asked to intervene over US plans to destroy female contraceptives worth nearly $10 million that are stored in Belgium are reportedly set to be incinerated in France.

• Listen: In a DV NSW podcast Karen Bentley, CEO of Wesnet, discusses coercive control and tech-facilitated abuse.
• Brain injury: A practitioner guide has been designed by Women's Health NSW to support service providers to contextualise medical information about brain injuries for women living in violent and stressful domestic settings.
• New research documents evidence from 225 Victorian frontline workers about their experiences of police responses to family violence.
• The eSafety Commissioner has published A baseline for online safety transparency: Snapshot of the first regular report child sexual exploitation and abuse, and sexual extortion.
• Homelessness Australia's new snapshot, Raising the Alarm: Australia’s Family Homelessness Emergency, shows almost five thousand extra people in families with children turned to homelessness services for help over a two year period, a five per cent spike.
• Australian Women's Health Alliance has published a new policy paper Towards Climate, Health and Gender Justice: Addressing the Intersecting Impacts of Climate Change.
• Major new research has found that men are paid more than women in 98% of occupations, with female workers in Australia typically paid 70 cents for every $1 earned by their male colleague after a decade in work.
• On ABC Listen: Centring First Nations voices in family violence prevention.
• Padma Raman, Executive Director for the Office for Women, attended the third G20 Empowerment of Women Working Group (the Working Group).
• “We Can’t Let This Continue”: A First-Hand Call to Action on Violence Against International Students.
• Victorian Women's Trust asks Maternity Care in Australia: Is the system working?
• Women's Agenda reports Domestic violence, homelessness: The interlinked crises facing women in 2025.
• Crikey writes How ‘believe women’ journalism brought the Epstein story back to life.
• Liz Allen in The Conversation writes Australia’s divorce rate is the lowest it’s been in 50 years. Why?.

Events

• ANROWS has an upcoming webinar based on one of the core Research Agenda's ways of knowing: valuing practitioners' expertise, on 12 August 2025.
• There is a free Our Watch webinar Early years: fostering equality and respect from the start on 20 August 2025.
• The ReGEN Research Group has an upcoming Drink Spiking Research Panel event on 21 August 2025.
• Registration is now open for the 5th Conference of Women’s Shelters (5WCWS), to be held in Sydney from 15-18 September 2025.
• RMIT’s Grad Cert in Domestic & Family Violence invites you to a 1-day in person Policy and Practice Forum on Thursday 27th November 2025. Theme: Nine years after the Royal Commission - what has improved and what challenges remain?
  Find out more and register here.

Consultations

• Public consultation is now open on Australia’s draft National Report for our upcoming Universal Periodic Review (UPR). A draft report is available and comments are invited until 29 August 2025.
• The Mental Health Commission of NSW is leading the development of a new state-wide strategy to improve mental health and wellbeing and are inviting comments until 29 August 2025.
• The Australian Government is reviewing the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and is inviting submissions. Consultation is open until 24 October 2025.

Grants

• The NSW government is committing $100,000 to a new grants program for the 16 Days of Activism to support initiatives that prevent gender-based violence in NSW communities.

Training and development

• Wesnet is offering technology safety training for SADFV professionals. Follow the link for dates and training descriptions.

Share the latest Round Up with a colleague and encourage them to sign up here.

*Articles published do not necessarily reflect the views of Wesnet and are included as items of interest only.

If you would like to submit an item please e-mail [email protected]. Inclusion is subject to time and content constraints.

We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and culture. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.