They are the hidden toll of Australia’s domestic violence crisis: women who take their own life after years of abuse, and perpetrators are never held to account.
One of the nation’s leading domestic violence experts has called for a rethink on how these suicides – sometimes called “slow femicides” – are treated, saying Australia is falling behind other countries in dealing with a group of victims who are often missing from official figures.
Heather Douglas, a professor at the University of Melbourne law school, has called, in a paper released on Monday, for Australia to adopt measures such as California’s “Joanna’s Law”, which mandates that police thoroughly investigate a suicide where there has been a history of domestic violence.
Under this law, California police must look for 10 red flags that can trigger a domestic homicide investigation. These include if the partner was the last person to see the victim alive, if one partner wanted to end the relationship and if there was a history of family violence.
“There should be some accountability to the perpetrator who carried out that violence,” said Douglas. “Often what we see with suicides is once the victim of family violence has died, the police often don’t follow up on charges if they determine it is suicide, and that’s a bit different to what happens in other countries. We could learn from them.”
Douglas’ call is part of a growing push to better respond to domestic violence-related suicides, including from institutions such as the Coroners Court of Victoria and state-based domestic violence death review committees. A federal parliamentary inquiry is also looking at the issue.
The most visible domestic violence toll is that paid by the women who are killed by their abusive partner or ex-partner. Australian Institute of Criminology statistics show there were 32 of these killings in 2024-2025. It is unknown how many women kill themselves in the context of violence and coercive control.
Douglas said that when coroners investigate women’s suicides, they find that between a quarter to half have some history of domestic and family violence. About 15 Australian women die by suicide each week.
In her paper, Douglas said the United Kingdom’s criminalisation of coercive control – a form of domestic violence – had led to men being charged with manslaughter following a partner’s suicide.
Recent high-profile cases in the UK include that of Lee Milne, who was found guilty of culpable homicide after his abused wife, Kimberly, died by suicide, and that of Ryan Wellings, who was acquitted of manslaughter but convicted of assault and severe controlling and coercive behaviour after his partner Kiena Dawes took her own life in 2022.
Douglas said she was not aware of any Australian being charged with manslaughter after the suicide of a partner, but new coercive control laws were likely to change that.
Queensland and NSW have recently brought in laws against coercive control, while South Australia’s law is due to come into effect next year and other states are considering the same.
Douglas also urged policy changes so that family members can get better access to loved ones’ records after suicides. She said police should be more alert to the fact that in relationships where domestic violence is present, partners may stage their victim’s suicide.
“We know that there’s quite a high number of homicides that are disguised by abusive partners as suicides, and there’s a risk that cases get cold, and so evidence gets lost if police have tunnel vision on the suicide issue,” she said.
The peer-reviewed paper is published in the International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy.
If you are worried about your own or someone else’s mental health, you can contact the Mental Health Line on 1800 011 511.
If someone has attempted, or is at immediate risk of attempting, to harm themselves or someone else, call Triple Zero (000) immediately.
Lifeline 13 11 14.
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Carla Hildebrandt is a journalist with WAtoday. She previously worked on ABC’s Four Corners and as a court reporter at The Daily Telegraph in Sydney. For secure contact: carlahildebrandt@proton.me.Connect via email.
