TASMANIAN RESEARCH
University of Tasmania – Violence and Abuse Research Unit (VARU)
The Violence and Abuse Research Unit at the Tasmanian Institute of Law Enforcement Studies (TILES) brings together researchers interested in family violence, sexual assault, elder abuse, and child abuse from disciplines including sociology, criminology, psychology and health economics.
Recent projects they’ve worked on include:
- Evaluation of Project Vigilance (electronic monitoring of family violence offenders)
- Developing risk frameworks for family violence response
- Research on preventing gender violence
Tasmanian Government Monitoring and Evaluation
The government conducts monitoring and evaluation through Tasmania’s Third Family and Sexual Violence Action Plan 2022-2027 called “Survivors at the Centre” , which includes progress reporting and data collection.
Sector Organizations
Tasmanian Family and Sexual Violence Alliance serves as the peak body for the family and sexual violence sectors, working to ensure Tasmanian lived expertise and practice knowledge is incorporated across service design
Engender Equality has been actively involved in research and advocacy to address gender inequality and family violence in Tasmania. Published reports are available in their resource centre
AUSTRALIAN RESEARCH
ANROWS (Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety)
ANROWS is an independent, national research organization established by Australian and state governments that produces research on violence against women and their children, with a mission to deliver evidence that drives policy and practice
Australian Bureau of Statistics
The ABS records and collates police data from each state about proceedings against offenders and court actions.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW)
The family, domestic and sexual violence page of the AIHW website brings together information from a range of sources to provide a comprehensive picture of FDSV in Australia and summarises changes in key measures over time. Regular updates are made to include the latest available data for key national data sources.
Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS)
- Conducts research on domestic and family violence patterns, prevention, and responses
- Focus on regional, rural, and remote communities
Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC)
- Research on intimate partner violence, homicide, and intervention programs
UNIVERSITY RESEARCH ON FAMILY AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN AUSTRALIA
In addition to the University of Tasmania’s VARU, the following university research centres and researchers in 2025 were producing research that directly influenced government policy, legal reforms, and support services for victim-survivors across Australia.
Queensland Centre for Domestic and Family Violence Research (QCDFVR) (Central Queensland University)
Based at CQUniversity in Mackay this Centre has 3 core areas
- Research
- Education/Training
- Sector Development
Current Research Projects (2024-2026)
- Integrated Service System Evaluation – Assessing Queensland’s high-risk teams and responses across 10 locations
- AI and Trauma-Informed Approaches – Co-designing AI framework for social services
- Indigenous Framework Development – Building resources with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporation
- Women Who Use Force – Understanding Indigenous women’s experiences in justice system
Leadership
- Associate Professor Heather Lovatt
- Associate Professor Xanthe Mallett
- Professor Annabel Taylor
Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre (Monash University, Melbourne )
This Centre is at the forefront of research and education dedicated to preventing gender-based violence with an evidence-based, interdisciplinary, applied, practical, and collaborative approach. It has 35 research projects of which 7 are active and 28 have been completed.
Current Research Projects (2024-2026)
- Technology-Facilitated Abuse Prevention – partnering with No to Violence
- Long COVID and Intimate Partner Violence – exploring health impacts (with Safe+Equal)
- Men’s Behaviour Change Programs – Victorian Government evaluation
- Indigenous Family Violence – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander specific research
- Women with Disability – Justice access and service gaps research
- Temporary Migration and Violence – Structural inequality research (300+ visa holders)
Key Leadership
- Professor Kate Fitz-Gibbon – Former Director, World Economic Forum Young Global Leader (2024), Chair of Respect Victoria, research cited by High Court of Australia
- Dr Jasmine McGowan – Gendered violence, disability, economic abuse
- Dr Naomi Pfitzner – COVID-19 and violence, long COVID research
- Professor Marie Segrave – Technology-facilitated abuse, temporary visa holders
- Dr Bridget Harris – Indigenous family violence
University of Melbourne has three main research centers that are working on Family and Domestic Violence
- MAEVe (Melbourne Research Alliance to End Violence) – Network of researchers using participatory research co-designed with survivors
- Safer Families Centre – Partnership focused on transforming health sector responses
- Social Work Research Group – Applied research informing policy and practice
Current Research Projects (2024-2026)
- Safe at Home Approach – Keeping women and children in their homes safely
- Behaviour Change Programs – Long-term evaluation of programs for men who use violence
- Primary Care Response – The Readiness Program training GPs nationwide (funded until June 2026)
- Sexual Violence Against Older Women – study of this hidden issue (2025)
- Children’s Perspectives – Fathering Challenges project examining children’s experiences
- Out-of-Home Care – Breaking cycles for vulnerable children
- Family Violence Index – measure of government effectiveness
Innovative Approaches
- The WEAVERs – Survivor group “weaving” lived experience into research and training
Key Researchers
- Professor Kelsey Hegarty – Leading Family Violence Index, Safer Families Centre
- Professor Cathy Humphreys – Safe at Home, children’s research
- Professor Laura Tarzia – Sexual violence against older women
Queensland Institute of Technology QUT. Professor Michael Flood is an Australian sociologist who specializes in preventing violence against women and girls, with a particular focus on engaging men and boys in that work.
Flood studies how to get men and boys involved in stopping violence against women. Rather than just working with women who experience violence, he researches how to change attitudes and behaviours among men to prevent violence from happening in the first place.
Key areas of his research:
- How to prevent violence before it occurs by changing social norms and attitudes about gender
- Understanding what drives violent behaviour in relationships and families
- How masculinity and cultural attitudes about being a man relate to violence
- Designing education programs that work to change harmful behaviours
Practical applications: He’s developed prevention programs for organizations like the National Rugby League, Australian Football League, and the Australian Defence Force. He’s also contributed to national frameworks that guide violence prevention policies in Australia.
His work essentially helps organizations, schools, and communities understand how to talk to men and boys about respectful relationships and preventing violence, rather than just responding after violence has already occurred.
Recent publications
- Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety. (2026). Inner resource map [Practitioner resource] ANROWS.
- Pfitzner, N., McCook, S., Phelan, A., Wescott, S., Roberts, S. & Scott, B. (2026). An Introductory Guide to the Manosphere and the Impacts for Young People, Teachers and Schools (ANROWS Insights 01/2026). ANROWS.
- Engender Equality (2025) Systems Abuse and Family Violence in Tasmania: Evidence and recommendations for Action Systems Abuse and Family Violence in Tasmania: Evidence and recommendations for Action
- Our Watch (2025) Primary prevention of violence against women in Tasmania: Data Snapshot
- Tasmanian Family and Sexual Violence Alliance (2025) Consultation Summary Report – 2024-2025: Shaping a Peak Body for Family and Sexual Violence in Tasmania
- Tasmanian Government, Dept of Justice, Child Abuse Royal Commission Response Unit (2024)
- Flood, M. (2024). Effective Practice in Violence Prevention Education with Boys and Young Men. Effective Practice in Violence Prevention Education with Boys and Young Men. Queensland University of Technology.
- Crabbe, M., Flood, M. & Adams, K. (2024). Pornography exposure and access among young Australians: a cross-sectional study. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, Article 100135, 48(3).
- Flood, M., Hewson-Munro, S. & Keddie, A. (2024). A Critical Stocktake of Community-Based Healthy Masculinities Programs in Victoria, Australia. Journal of Men’s Studies, 32(3), 595–615.
- Shelter Tasmania and Hobart Women’s Shelter (Nov 2023) Somewhere To Go Meeting the housing needs of women & children in Tasmania
- Flood, M., Brown, C., Dembele, L. & Mills, K. (2023). Who uses domestic, family, and sexual violence, how, and why? The State of Knowledge Report on Violence Perpetration. Who uses domestic, family, and sexual violence, how, and why? The State of Knowledge Report on Violence Perpetration Queensland University of Technology.
- Perales, F., Kuskoff, E., Flood, M. & King, T. (2023). Like Father, Like Son: Empirical Insights into the Intergenerational Continuity of Masculinity Ideology. Sex Roles, 88(9-10), 399–412.
- Flood, M. & Burrell, S. R. (2023). Engaging men and boys in the primary prevention of sexual violence. In Horvath, M. A. H. & Brown, J. M. (Eds.), Rape (pp. 221–235). Routledge.
- Keddie, A., Hewson-Munro, S., Halafoff, A., Delaney, M. & Flood, M. (2023). Programmes for boys and men: possibilities for gender transformation. Gender and Education, 35(3), 250–266.
- Flood, M. (2023). Community-level Prevention: A vital next step in ending domestic and sexual violence. QUT Centre for Justice Briefing Papers, 37, QUT Centre for Justice.
- Flood, M. (2023). Engaging Men Online: Using online media for violence prevention with men and boys. In Boyle, K. & Berridge, S. (Eds.), The Routledge Companion to Gender, Media and Violence (pp. 491–500). Routledge.
Shelter Tasmania and Hobart Women’s Shelter (Nov 2023) Somewhere To Go Meeting the housing needs of women & children in Tasmania