Dear Philip,

When I was starting out in journalism, there was a familiar refrain as details about a violent altercation started to filter into the newsroom. “Oh it’s just a domestic,” the boss would say. “Don’t worry about it.” 

I can only presume the thinking back then was that if the violence was between two people known to each other, such incidents weren’t really in the public interest. How wrong that was.

These days, it’s all of our business. And as journalists, we have a responsibility to report these incidents and raise awareness about how we can reduce the horrifying frequency of domestic violence, in particular that perpetrated against women. It is a crime - and a national disgrace.

Every day, there are news reports involving vicious, abusive or intimidating behaviour, overwhelmingly towards women.  On average, one woman per week in Australia is murdered by a current or former partner; one in four has experienced emotional abuse by a current or former partner since they turned 15. Almost 40 per cent of women experience violence from their partner while separated. 

Just today, we have been covering the horrifying death of Sydney dentist Preethi Reddy, whose body was found in a suitcase in her car last night. She had not been seen by family or friends since she and her ex-boyfriend, Tamworth dentist Dr Harshwardhan Narde, stayed in a hotel in the Sydney CBD on Saturday night. He died after deliberately driving his car into the path of a semi-trailer on Monday night. 

"Every day, there are news reports involving vicious, abusive
or intimidating behaviour, overwhelmingly towards women." 

The political class - much like the media - was slow to act. Things have changed in recent years as a growing focus on the issue slowly revealed the epidemic we face. A funding injection to tackle domestic violence was one of Malcolm Turnbull’s first announcements as prime minister in 2015, and this week the Morrison government and Labor both announced plans for more significant spending on the issue. In committing $328 million to new programs to curb violence against women, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said: “A culture of disrespect toward women is a precursor to violence and anyone who doesn’t see that is kidding themselves.” 

The PM’s announcement followed Opposition Leader Bill Shorten’s promise to spend $60 million over four years to help women cover costs including rent, transport, medication, home security and transport after incidents of domestic violence. 

Earlier this month, the Berejiklian government announced funding for 22 extra police to proactively target offenders and support survivors of domestic violence across the state, among other policy measures. If NSW Labor wins the election on March 23, they have said they will spend $158 million for frontline DV services, including funding for 200 more beds in women’s refuges across the state. As Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne said this week: “Family and domestic violence occurs everywhere, everywhere.”

Money for targeted programs and leadership on this issue are both crucial, but we should also take note of the extraordinarily selflessness by those who have had experiences many of us could never fathom - those who, despite their own pain and loss, turn around to help others by leading support groups and awareness programs.

One of those people is Dr Ann O’Neill. Her story is harrowing, and occurred in the time period I spoke about at the beginning of this note - a time when an ex-husband walking into his wife’s home and shooting dead their two children as they lay asleep beside her could have been classified “just a domestic”. 

Now, almost 25 years later, Ann is the founder of Angelhands, helping survivors of severe trauma. She will join me, Herald crime reporter Lucy Cormack and commentator Jane Gilmore at the All About Women festival on Sunday to tackle our nation’s biggest problem - and look for solutions.