We all play a role in ending domestic and family violence in our community, including the media. Media reporting can help victim-survivors to seek support, but it can also hinder. We recommend media follow the national reporting guidelines when reporting on violence against women and their children and the toolkit for reporting on Aboriginal people’s experiences of family violence. Thank you for covering these issues in a safe and respectful way, and thank you for quoting experts and support services in your stories.

Talking to an expert

DFV Specialists and victim-survivors add an important dimension to reporting on domestic, family and sexual violence. We have DFV Specialists available for interview. And we recommend media refer to the Our Watch website for information on interviewing survivors as well as a list of organisations with trained survivor advocates.

We do our best to get back to all media requests, however due to the high volume we receive, we can only respond to those that give a reasonable deadline.

Essentials for reporting on DFV and sexual assault

• Taglines
• Current data and research from reputable sources including the ABS PSS, AIHW and ANROWS.
• Understanding domestic and family violence as a pattern of abuse over a period of time in order to establish power and control over a partner or family members.
• Recognising that all people can experience DFV and sexual assault but that the majority of people who experience DFV and sexual assault are women and children.
• Acknowledging that research shows certain groups of people experience higher rates of DFV and sexual assault than others. Groups include First Nations people, LGBTQ+ people, people with a disability, people from CALD backgrounds, people in rural and remote Australia, people from socioeconomically disadvantaged areas, young women and older people. More research needs to be done in many of these areas so it’s important we keep shining a light on them.

Referencing DVConnect in your stories

• DVConnect is written as one word like in our logo with the first three letters capitalised.
• If you are going to use our logo in your story, please use our current one.
• Use a comprehensive tagline when reporting on domestic and family violence such as: “If you need support for domestic or family violence, call Womensline on 1800 811 811. If you are a man who is using violence in your relationship or are a man who is experiencing violence in your relationship, call Mensline on 1800 600 636.” Note this tagline is Queensland-only.
• About our Service: DVConnect can assist all people living in Queensland who have been impacted by domestic, family, intimate partner and sexual violence, including women and their children, men and the LGBTQ+ community. We support people through our Womensline, Mensline and Sexual Assault Helpline.

Media Do’s and Don’ts

DO discuss domestic and family violence as 100% preventable because the use of violence is always a choice. DON’T report it as an unsolvable or inevitable problem.

DO name abuse for what it is. DON’T call it “a lover’s quarrel”, “leaking nudes”, or use any other minimising language. Call it what it is: violence and abuse.

DO recognise that in cases of domestic, family or sexual violence, there aren’t two sides to the story because one person in the relationship holds a disproportionate amount of power and control over the other. DON’T give more power to someone using abuse in your reporting.

DO consider how media reporting can affect victim-survivors, people using violence, and the rest of the community. DON’T justify abuse, use victim-blaming language, or go into unnecessary details.

DO contact a DFV Specialist via an accredited, specialist organisation like ours if you need a comment or advice about a story.