The new report: demands action

On May 1st 2018, Brain Injury Australia launched a report into Australia’s first research into family violence and brain injury, funded by the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services.

Among the findings; of the 16,000 Victorians who attended hospital over a decade due to family violence, 2 in every 5 sustained a brain injury, nearly 1 in every 3 victims of family violence were children and, of those, 1 in every 4 sustained a brain injury.

The report – launched by 2015’s Australian of the Year Rosie Batty in front of 250 people at Melbourne Town Hall – was researched by a consortium led by Brain Injury Australia comprising Monash University, Domestic Violence Victoria,  No to Violence and the Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare.

The research was part of the implementation of Recommendation 171 of the Victorian Royal Commission Into Family Violence; “The Victorian Government fund research into the prevalence of acquired brain injury among family violence victims and perpetrators.”

Brain Injury Australia is actively seeking partners and funders for pursuit of the report’s four recommendations, which include: the development and distribution of information resources on brain injury; the addition of screening questions for brain injury in family violence risk assessments; the piloting of an integrated brain injury and family violence service; and the mapping, or development of, services and supports for all people with a brain injury, including those at increased risk of perpetrating of family violence.

To download a PDF of the report, click here.