Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1694500289590.pdf (Australia)
Submission to the family, domestic and sexual violence inquiry.

Australian Parliament 8/6/20 To whom it may concern, I am a 56 year old man who works in the social services space in Queensland.

From 19 to 42 years of age, I served Queensland as a Police Officer.

In this time, I worked the streets the whole time, working in both general society, and Aboriginal community.

I served as a Detective for 10 years, and hostage negotiator for 9 years.
In this time, I attended domestic violence incidents both pre and post Domestic Violence legislation.

In 2006, I left the Police to serve as a Pastor in a church, and now manage chaplains in both Aged Care and social housing contexts.

Previously, I was an Ambassador with the White Ribbon movement.

My comments come from ‘on the street’ experience and understanding.

My submission will be short and will relate to terms of reference point a).
a) Immediate and long-term measures to prevent violence against women and their children, and improve gender equality.

For too long, society has had to cope with domestic and family violence.

There are others better placed and educated to offer reasons why this is so.

But matters of gender inequality, power imbalance and control issues name only a few.
Society has exacerbated this through a poor justice system that offers little punishment for offenders, and a hidden culture that won’t actually stand up for the victims.

Add to that the overwhelming realisation of how large this issue is, and people close down and just hope it doesn’t happen in their family.

This is reality.
This is reality.

Society responds to shocking new cases through social media posts calling for urgent action, candlelit vigils for the victims, male celebrities standing up in the media saying ‘No More’, or ‘enough is enough’.

We jump pump money into education through organisations like White Ribbon and tout awareness and education to be the solution.

Yet, today is no better than yesterday.

We continue to see women being killed, or harmed on a daily basis.

2 per week killed.

A shame to our society.


I support awareness.

I support education, particularly the young men.

I support perpetrator education.

I support DV services and refuges.

I support DV courts.

But didn’t we just spend millions on the ‘Not Now, Not Ever’ inquiry where 140 recommendations around such ideas were delivered?

So why is this issue not being solved?

Violence, and particularly domestic and family violence, is a deep cultural issue.

And it will only be addressed by the culture.


It will only be addressed when the overwhelming enormity of this problem is reduced to ‘me and my neighbour’.

My street.

But no further.

Pouring more money into education, awareness and support services will help, but will not reduce.

The only way to reduce this is when each neighbour says, I will hold my neighbour accountable.
For this to happen, neighbours need to know their neighbour by name, have heard their story, and commit to each other that their houses will be safe places.

If I hear loud voices next door to my home, I am more likely to knock on the door to check in if I know them by name, and they know and trust me.

And it will be easier for a women to reach out to their neighbour for help if they know them.

In days gone past, we had low fences between houses where mums could talk.
Maybe we need to lower the fences and encourage neighbourly chit chat again where they can’t hide bruises or emotions.

Inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violenceSubmission 209 Secondly, each street needs to have a ‘House of Peace’ that can offer localised support and education.

Somewhere victims, or people in fear can walk to.

(Often, women in such situations don’t have transport or money to travel).

This is not to be a safe house.


But a proactive place for people to seek support and help outside of a violent encounter.

Police are available for the moment of violence.

Consider previous campaigns around safe houses.

Each safe house had a yellow sign on the letterbox that children knew was a safe place to go if they were worried.

Why not use that same process for DV?


And thirdly, each local town or community needs a ‘Hub of Peace’, that can oversee all the ‘Houses of Peace’ to equip and support them, and provide higher end help to people in need.

A localised response to localised need.

This would be particularly powerful if led by community volunteers.

But paid staff would also be needed with expertise.

This is where DV support services could sit.


What this structure does is build a massive team of DV aware local heroes who multiply the work of a limited number of DV workers.

This all sounds very simplistic.

But it is a framework that can operate as it engages people where they live.

There are many ways the above ideas can be delivered.

But it is the philosophy that DV will only be reduced when it becomes a neighbourhood issue, not a global or national one.
It must be reduced down to something manageable in our minds, and have tools and pathways for action to be taken by neighbours.

This is not a silver bullet.

And my ideas may hold no weight in your eyes.

But the philosophy does.

Provide all the services and support you want as a Government.

But help the people be a community in which we foster and enable a safe environment for all.

Put the issue in the hands of the neighbourhood, and empower them to address it locally.
Inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violenceSubmission 209