Deaths by suicide in the context of domestic and family violence: Examining context, prevention and responses

Over the past decade in Australia, policy and practice efforts to address all forms of gendered violence, including domestic and family violence (DFV), have accelerated regarding the nature, prevalence, impacts and responses. DFV has wide-ranging health, social and economic impacts for victim-survivors, which are exacerbated by structural inequalities related to gender as well as experiences of intergenerational trauma, race and ethnicity, class, sexuality, ability and citizenship status (RCFV, 2016). Research shows that DFV disproportionately affects women and that the killing of women by a current or former intimate partner is the most prevalent type of domestic homicide in Australia (Commonwealth of Australia, 2022). Efforts among researchers, practitioners, advocates and other stakeholders to understand and account for women’s deaths are critical to understanding the costs of this violence and how to respond and prevent them (Walklate et al., 2020).

The critical issue of women’s deaths by suicide and the contributory role of DFV has to date received little attention in research, policy and practice in Australia. This is despite the fact that DFV is increasingly being recognised as a risk factor for suicide in international research and through the coronial investigation process in Australia.

Many people who die by suicide or as a result of DFV have had prior contact with mental health, legal or other support services. Yet the fragmented nature of these systems often means their needs go unmet. Greater coordination and information-sharing across services – including mechanisms to flag escalating risk – could increase opportunities for earlier intervention. A persistent challenge remains: how to identify and support those who never come to the attention of any system. This workshop sought to illuminate these gaps, connect critical insights across sectors, and explore emerging trends and systemic challenges. It also offered valuable policy and practice perspectives not yet reflected in the published literature.

Men and children are also dying by suicide and some of these deaths occur in the shadow of DFV. Suicide is a leading cause of death for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, but work is just beginning to be done to trace the connections between their suicide and family violence. Suicides may be interwoven with DFV, the effects of intergenerational violence, mental illness, alcohol and drug use and other factors; and some men threaten suicide, self-harm or suicide as a deliberate and calculated tactic of coercive control and DFV (Fitzpatrick et al., 2022).

There is inconsistency in how Australian states and territories investigate deaths by suicide in the context of DFV. While all premature and unexplained deaths are the subject of a coronial investigation, in some states and territories such deaths are also the focus of a DFV-specific death review process.

Evidence-based understandings of the nature, dynamics and extent of these deaths are vital to inform prevention, early intervention and response efforts. By bringing together national and international scholars, practitioners and policy makers working on this topic, this workshop will propel forward efforts to better understand and prevent deaths by suicide in the context of DFV.

Specifically, the workshop aimed to:

1. critically examine what is known about risk and incidents of deaths by suicide in the context of DFV in Australia and internationally
2. identify and explore the merits and limits of current investigative responses where a death by suicide has occurred in the context of DFV in Australia and internationally
3. advance social science scholarship by bringing together social scientists, relevant practitioners and policy stakeholders to meet and discuss the interdisciplinary knowledge required to inform prevention of, investigation into and response to deaths by suicide in the context of DFV.

Over the course of the two days, the workshop covered a range of intersecting issues relevant to research, policy and practice. These included:

• the need to centre First Nations communities’ experiences in developing responses to suicide in the context of DFV
• the need for community support, justice and health responses to work together
• how the investigative role and reporting approach of death reviews and coronial inquiries could be improved
• keeping children and young people in view when we research and respond to suicide
• improving risk identification and assessment to consider suicide threat, system interventions and responses
• accounting for diversity in our communities – for example migrant and refugee women and communities
• (mis)categorisation of DFV-related homicides as suicides, or failing to see suicides through the lens of DFV
• how first responders and systems respond to perpetrators of DFV and suicide.

The workshop was organised into eight sessions, each structured around three interconnected themes – context, prevention and responses – to explore the factors that shape risk, recognition and possibilities for change. It was also designed to capture a range of interdisciplinary perspectives and points of focus, including experts in prevention, investigation, health and psychology, justice responses, Indigenous studies and First Nations Communities, as well as children and young people.

The workshop program is set out in Appendix A.

This report uses the term 'domestic and family violence' (DFV) to encompass intimate partner violence, family violence and related forms of gendered violence, where applicable, recognising that terminology varies across jurisdictions.

A central theme that emerged was the way suicide can serve as a ‘veil’ for DFV. Too often, deaths connected to violence are pathologised and individualised – reduced to matters of mental ill health or substance abuse – which obscures the broader relational and structural contexts in which they occur. This is reinforced by institutional processes such as coronial investigations or death reviews, which frequently prioritise psychiatric explanations over patterns of coercive control or failures of system responses. Workshop participants emphasised the importance of disrupting these limiting discourses. Mental health and trauma must be understood and responded to in context: not as isolated vulnerabilities but as experiences shaped by, and connected to, violence and structural inequality. Only by disentangling these narratives can the systemic drivers of suicide in the context of DFV be properly addressed.

Another strong message to emerge from the workshop was the need to centre Indigenous knowledges and culturally grounded practices in both suicide prevention and DFV response. Such approaches were positioned as essential to addressing structural violence and gendered injustices. Healing, prevention and accountability must be trauma-informed, culturally safe, and guided by communities themselves. This requires not only recognition of Indigenous expertise, but also a willingness to reshape mainstream responses to embed these ways of knowing and caring.

Workshop discussions highlighted persistent problems with risk assessment in Victoria as well as other state and territory jurisdictions. Assessment frameworks often remain siloed across health, mental health, justice, DFV and social services. Such siloing is compounded by differing terminologies, competing priorities and limited integration between systems.

Workshop participants emphasised the need for more contextual and relational understandings of risk – approaches that capture the ‘full story’ of victim-survivors’ lives, rather than reducing experiences to disconnected issues. Such practices must be responsive and reflective, grounded in lived experience, and inclusive of community languages, storytelling and trust-building. Importantly, risk cannot be captured through tickbox tools alone; it must be approached as an ongoing, relational process.

The workshop also reinforced the need to recognise children and young people as victim-survivors in their own right. In particular, the threat or experience of child removal was identified as a critical contributor to hopelessness and despair among mothers experiencing DFV. For some, this despair significantly heightens suicide risk. Policies and practices must grapple with the intergenerational effects of violence and the way institutional responses can compound trauma for both mothers and children.

A recurring theme was the need for genuine systems thinking. Suicide prevention, DFV response, mental health and child protection efforts are too often siloed, with each system speaking its own language and failing to integrate meaningfully with the others. This fragmentation not only undermines practice but also weakens opportunities for prevention and accountability. Workshop participants emphasised the importance of a shared narrative across sectors – one that makes suicide visible in the context of DFV and fosters coordinated, compassionate, and holistic responses. Advocacy and survivor voices are critical in shaping this narrative and influencing policy reform.

Design thinking and systems approaches were seen as promising methods for creating the space required for interdisciplinary collaboration, innovation and intersectoral action. Communities of practice were likewise identified as valuable vehicles for bridging research, policy and practice, and for ensuring that survivor experiences directly inform service delivery and systemic change.

The workshop revealed both the urgency and the potential for system transformation and improvements in policy and practice. Key to any transformative reform agenda in this space will be:

• Integrating mental health discourse – including understandings of masculinity – into DFV and suicide prevention agendas.
• Embedding Indigenous knowledges and culturally grounded practice as central, not peripheral.
• Building communities of practice that bridge research, policy and practice.
• Developing integrative, contextual risk frameworks that move beyond fragmented and siloed responses.
• Ensuring children and young people are recognised as victim-survivors in their own right.

The workshop concluded with a strong sense of shared purpose: that suicide connected to DFV victimisation and perpetration must be made visible, understood in context, and addressed through integrated, trauma-informed, culturally grounded and relational approaches. The path forward requires collaboration within and across sectors, and sustained commitment.