The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs has established a new inquiry into the relationship between domestic, family and sexual violence (DFSV) victimisation and suicide, and how to ensure Australian governments are accurately counting the DFSV death toll.
Chair of the Committee, Ms Louise Miller-Frost MP, said: "Suicides related to DFSV victimisation are not currently counted in conventional assessments of Australia's national DFSV crisis. This may mean that the true death toll is much higher than previously thought."
"Developing a methodology for more accurately counting the DFSV death toll across Australian, state and territory jurisdictions could enable better policy and programs, including prevention and early intervention, and the delivery of more effectively targeted legal, justice, health, mental health, and specialist DFSV services."
The inquiry responds to a recommendation of the Rapid Review of Prevention Approaches, which called for Australian governments to develop a consistent approach to death review processes. The Rapid Review recommended further investigation of the relationship between DFSV victimisation and suicide, with a view to developing a methodology for accurate counting of the DFSV death toll across Australian, state and territory jurisdictions. The Rapid Review said that capturing this data will enable the true scale of what the Review considers is a state of national emergency to finally be understood.
Ms Miller-Frost said: "The Committee is seeking written submissions by 30 January 2026 to inform our understanding of the relationship between DFSV victimisation and suicide, and how more accurate data and trends on DFSV deaths can be obtained."
"The Committee is focussed on systemic issues and cannot investigate or assist with individual cases. The Committee will not be publishing contributions that provide personal details or include information relating to individual circumstances."
