Family violence is now making up more than a third of all reported assault cases in Ballarat, with the severity increasing when repeat offenders are affected by drugs and alcohol.
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Crime Statistics Agency data released for the Royal Commission show one of the major problems areas linked to family violence is that most perpetrators are repeat offenders.
Just over half of all perpetrators recorded for a first incident in 2010-11 were recorded for further family violence incidences.
CAFS chief Michael Brandenburg said a man’s desire for power over his partner underpinned the majority of family violence incidences. Commenting on CSA statistics that also showed the majority of repeat offenders used drugs and alcohol, Mr Brandenburg said this was a factor but not the cause of violence.
“Alcohol, drugs, homelessness, are all certainly contributors, but they are not causes. The cause is that people want power,” Mr Brandenburg said.
“In most cases of family violence men have power over their partner and children. They lose that and want to get it back, they tend to try and do that through (re-offending).”
Ballarat Police Superintendent Andrew Allen said responding to family violence continued to create one of the highest demands for police across the division.
He said 36 per cent of all assaults attended by police were family violence matters.
“Consistent elements of family violence revolve around misuse of alcohol and drugs...”
Between April 2015-16 police saw an increase of 141 family violence assaults across the division (per 100,000).
“Over 87 per cent result in charges being laid or were otherwise resolved,” Superintendent Allen said.
“In my experience, this shows whilst there is still increased reporting, over a 12 month period, it is not as great as we were seeing three to four years go.”
Superintendent Allen said Family Violence unit members and other investigators pursued repeat offenders. Mr Brandenburg said the challenge was changing the culture so men did not feel the need to use violence as a means of power.
“The sooner we get to work with men, the better, we can hopefully stop them progressing down the path of recidivism.
“Another thing that stood out to me was the level of fear … and that children were present in 36 per cent of cases.”
Recidvism continues to be a major focus of police work, Superintendent Allen said.
“We are seeing more confidence in victims’ reporting situations to police, as there are more serious consequences under current legislation.”
