Three decades of data have revealed a unique insight into the average profile of a domestic violence killer in NSW as the state’s coroner warned the “deeply complex and wicked problem” was a persistent driver of homicide.
An Australian-born, non-Indigenous man in his early 30s armed with a knife is the average type of domestic violence (DV) homicide offender, according to data released exclusively to this masthead ahead of this week’s launch of an Australian-first interactive dashboard.
NSW State Coroner Judge Teresa O’Sullivan said the new tool would provide accessible and usable updates that could prove crucial to policymakers, frontline workers, researchers and advocates as she expressed concern about a recent spike in domestic violence homicides.
The state’s Domestic Violence Death Review Team (DVDRT), which created the dashboard, found that nearly one-third of all homicides involve a known history of DV.
In the past 26 years, almost 300 women were killed by their current or former intimate male partner following a history of DV.
Of these women, 99 per cent were the primary domestic violence victims throughout their relationship. Meanwhile, 73 per cent of the 75 men killed by their current or former female partners were the primary abusers – indicating that most women killed in defence of themselves or others.
The statistics also revealed DV homicides in 2024-2025 alarmingly equalled the peak of 36 in 2014-2015.
“Domestic violence is a deeply complex, or wicked problem,” O’Sullivan told this masthead.
“Each case represents a human story, and radiating devastation for those left behind.”
The coroner said the data showed that “domestic violence remains a persistent and complex driver of homicide in NSW”, while noting that statistics did not show the full picture.
According to the figures, men comprised about 80 per cent of all DV intimate partner killers.
About three-quarters of all perpetrators were Australian-born. While Indigenous people were significantly overrepresented, most offenders were non-Indigenous.
Stabbings far outnumbered blunt-force assaults and shootings, followed closely by suffocation or strangulation. The dashboard’s inclusion of weapon use was critical for revealing NSW-specific patterns, O’Sullivan said, noting that much international evidence focused on firearms.
The coroner said the data also showed DV homicide was often perpetrated from within the considered cultural mainstream and by all types of people.
“This is significant because it challenges the misconception that domestic violence is confined to particular groups or occurs only on the margins of society,” she said, while noting that some groups experienced disproportionate harm and needed tailored responses.
The DVDRT is a multiagency committee convened by the NSW state coroner and includes a broad range of government and community experts.
Since 2011, it has interrogated all DV deaths, drawing on decades of specialist research and detailed case reviews that examine the full context of a person’s life, system interactions and pre-death trajectory.
It aims to find missed intervention opportunities, recurring and emerging patterns, and system accountability gaps.
While it releases detailed biennial reports, the new quarterly-updated interactive website provides a concise snapshot of DV deaths in NSW and includes details on perpetrator and victim profiles and dynamics, and how and where the deaths occurred.
“Over time, this more immediate visibility of patterns and trends has the potential to narrow the gap between evidence, insight and action, supporting earlier intervention and more responsive system reform,” O’Sullivan said.
While DV homicides were traditionally viewed as isolated or unpredictable, O’Sullivan highlighted a shift to understanding that they were preventable and indicated a “system failure” that required an integrated solution.
The DVDRT is distinct from the coroner’s court, which independently conducts inquests. However, it can contribute to a broader understanding of DV.
Its research has aided major legal and policy reform in NSW, including criminalising coercive control. O’Sullivan said it was driving outcomes inside and outside the courtroom in areas such as evidence, sentencing and frontline training.
For example, the inquest into the death of Lilie James, who was murdered by colleague Paul Thijssen in the bathroom of St Andrew’s Cathedral School in 2023, drew on the team’s research on promoting healthy masculinity for young men and boys, a key area of the team’s next report.
O’Sullivan said the clear finding that most DV killers were male highlighted the need for early prevention for men and boys.
The DVDRT found that there were often intervention opportunities, but also “significant challenges in recognising risk, responding to escalation and ensuring consistent, coordinated action across services”.
Dr Jane Wangmann, a long-standing non-government expert member of the DVDRT, said the dashboard was “desperately needed” in the fast-moving DV space.
“There’s been calls for better data, generally across the domestic violence sector, not only in NSW, but across the country,” she said.
The associate professor of law at the University of Technology Sydney said that while some people still thought DV perpetrators did not live near them, the data drove home that they were not “others”.
“It’s people that are born here, are relatively young and kill with a knife,” Wangmann said.
She said the research countered common stigma-driven questions about why a victim did not just leave, showing that more than one-third of women were killed after separation.
The peak body for victim support, Domestic Violence NSW, recently expressed concerns that the justice system was “running blind” in spotting DV risks.
Senior policy and advocacy officer Angie Gehle called for better co-ordination of bodies from the justice system to the health sector. More specialist DV knowledge was also needed at police stations and courts, she said, noting survivors often shared crucial information with support services that they might not disclose elsewhere.
Gehle called for preventative work with men and boys and said legislative change alone – such as the recent tightening of DV bail laws – would not prove a “quick fix” without an integrated approach.
While DV data-gathering was improving greatly, Wangmann said gaps remained in understanding why victims underreported, even to loved ones, and around cases involving the Indigenous, LGBTQI+ and disability communities.
The NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR), the state’s official crime statistics source, also releases comprehensive DV data.
BOCSAR’s and DVDRT’s work is complementary – the former provides timely statistical monitoring of trends, while the latter gives detailed contextual analysis.
Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732)
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
