Aftershock - Domestic and Family Violence

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This report series Aftershock: Addressing the Economic and Social Costs of the Pandemic and Natural Disasters prepared in partnership with the New South Wales Council of Social Services, explores the impacts of the pandemic and natural disasters across several key domains of wellbeing – domestic violence, mental health, child welfare and development, and housing security.

In this second report in the series, we look at domestic and family violence, documenting a substantial increase in violence during 2020.

Original modelling from Impact Economics and Policy finds that in the first year of the pandemic:

• 60,000 women in NSW experienced family and domestic violence for the first time; and

• 46,000 experienced an escalation in violence.

This increase in family and domestic violence during 2020 is estimated to have resulted in large direct costs, including health, productivity, and consumption costs, totalling $3.3 billion over the period 2020-2025. When ongoing pain, suffering and premature mortality are included, these costs increase to $24.6 billion over the period 2020-25.

The Sydney Morning Herald covered the report in this article.