This article was accepted into the corpus but its outbound wikilinks were never NER-processed — typical at the deepest BFS hop or when the run's entity cap was reached. No expansion funnel to show.
| Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse | |
|---|---|
| Name | Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse |
| Formation | 1991 |
| Type | Research and resource centre |
| Headquarters | Sydney, New South Wales |
| Location | University of New South Wales, Kensington |
| Region served | Australia |
| Leader title | Director |
Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse The Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse was a research, policy and practice centre located at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, established to collate evidence, inform service delivery and influence law and policy on domestic and family violence across Australia. It operated as a hub connecting researchers, advocates and practitioners across institutions such as Australian Institute of Criminology, ANROWS, Australian Human Rights Commission, Legal Aid New South Wales and sector organisations including Domestic Violence NSW, White Ribbon Australia, NAPCAN and Sisters Inside.
The Clearinghouse was founded in 1991 amid rising attention to family violence issues after inquiries like the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and policy shifts following the Fourth World Conference on Women. Its early history intersected with activist groups including Women’s Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Services and research centres such as Australian Institute of Family Studies, Griffith University and Monash University. Over time it contributed to national dialogues alongside inquiries and reviews such as the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, the Bali Treaty negotiations and state-based law reform processes in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland.
The Clearinghouse aimed to synthesise evidence to inform policy, practice and public debate, aligning with objectives similar to those of Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Productivity Commission, Australian Bureau of Statistics and advocacy organisations like Women’s Legal Service NSW. Its objectives included supporting frontline services such as Relationships Australia, improving legal responses involving Family Court of Australia, informing policing practice of agencies like New South Wales Police Force, and shaping indigenous-focused responses used by organisations such as Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT) and Aboriginal Medical Service.
Programs offered or promoted by the Clearinghouse included resource production for practitioners in shelters run by groups like Good Shepherd and Salvation Army, training modules used by universities including University of Sydney and Macquarie University, and policy briefings utilised by departments such as the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. Services encompassed databases referenced by the National Disability Insurance Scheme planners, toolkits used by Health NSW clinicians, and community outreach exemplified by campaigns alongside Our Watch and White Ribbon Australia.
The Clearinghouse produced literature reviews, research digests and briefing papers, collaborating with scholars from University of Melbourne, Australian National University, University of Western Australia, La Trobe University and Deakin University. It disseminated findings through outlets linked to journals like the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, working papers cited in submissions to the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs and reports used by the Human Rights Commission and the Commonwealth Ombudsman. Major topics covered included coercive control examined in the context of laws such as the Family Law Act 1975, intersections with child protection systems such as the Department of Communities and Justice (New South Wales), and risk assessment approaches relevant to the Australian Institute of Criminology.
Partnerships spanned universities, peak bodies and service providers: collaborations with ANROWS and Australian Institute of Family Studies informed evidence syntheses; joint projects with Legal Services Commission and Family Court of Australia supported court-related interventions; and alliances with community organisations like Micah Projects, Women’s Health NSW, Bennelong Society and Shelter NSW extended practice reach. International collaborations involved networks linked to entities like the World Health Organization, UN Women, European Institute for Gender Equality and academic partners at University College London and the University of Toronto.
Evaluations by academic partners, peak bodies and government reviews credited the Clearinghouse with improving access to consolidated evidence for policy development, influencing reforms in domestic violence legislation in jurisdictions such as New South Wales and Victoria, and shaping training used by New South Wales Police Force and magistrates in the Local Court of New South Wales. Citations in submissions to the Royal Commission into Family Violence (Victoria) and references in reports by the Productivity Commission and Australian Law Reform Commission reflected measurable influence on practice, though reviews also highlighted ongoing gaps identified by groups such as Women’s Legal Service NSW and Domestic Violence NSW.
Governance arrangements tied the Clearinghouse to the University of New South Wales research administration and advisory input from representatives of organisations including ANROWS, Australian Institute of Criminology, Attorney-General's Department (Australia), Health NSW and community peaks like Domestic Violence NSW and Women’s Legal Service NSW. Funding streams historically included competitive grants from bodies such as the Department of Social Services (Australia), philanthropic support from foundations like the Ian Potter Foundation and collaborative project funding with research councils including the Australian Research Council.
Category:Domestic violence in Australia Category:Research institutes in Australia