When Systems Fail: Why Australia Must Act to Protect First Nations Women From DFV
This week, The Guardian published a shocking and deeply moving investigation into the catastrophic failures of Australia’s DFV systems, revealing how police and other institutions have continued to let women down even when they are at their most vulnerable. The piece is confronting, heartbreaking and at times explosive, laying bare a pattern of systemic inaction and mistrust that far too many families know intimately.
In the middle of this powerful story, I was unexpectedly yet incredibly proud to see my tidda, Karen Iles of Violet Co Legal and Consulting, appear. Her voice in this moment is not only important, it is urgently needed.
I was incredibly proud to see my tidda, Karen Iles of Violet Co Legal and Consulting, featured in this powerful Guardian investigation about how stakeholders with the power to prevent Domestic and Family Violence (DFV) have repeatedly failed victim survivors.
Karen’s contribution reinforces what many of us have known for a long time. While DFV affects people from all walks of life, First Nations people, especially women, continue to be among those most harmed by violence and least protected by the systems designed to help.
The Data Tells a Devastating Story
A 2024 report by the Australian Institute of Criminology found that over a 34 year period, 476 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women were killed, with First Nations women experiencing homicide victimisation rates up to seven times higher than non Indigenous women.
Recent national health data paints an equally grim picture.
In 2021–22, First Nations women were 33 times more likely to be hospitalised due to family violence than non Indigenous women.
These numbers only reflect what is recorded. The true scale is even greater.
The Silence Behind the Statistics
Many people at risk or experiencing DFV choose not to report violence. For First Nations people, the barriers to reporting are amplified by child removal, racial discrimination, misidentification as perpetrators, homelessness, and racism within policing, courts and mainstream DFV services.
Our communities learn early that these systems cannot be relied on to keep us safe. When women like Kardell Lomas push through these barriers, report violence and are then failed by police, those fears are confirmed. Blak women are still not being protected by systems that were never built with us in mind.
What the Research Has Told Us for Years
Peer reviewed research continues to show that the institutions responsible for keeping Indigenous women safe, policing, child protection, courts and DFV services, are not culturally safe. These systems:
misidentify Indigenous victim survivors as offenders
minimise or overlook risk
misunderstand kinship, community obligations and cultural context
lack trauma informed, culturally grounded responses
continue the impacts of colonisation rather than countering them.
First Nations people and Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations have stated this loud and clear for decades: The system is failing Blak women.
First Nations Led Solutions Must Be Central, Not Optional
Both Karen Iles and Adair Lomas, Kardell’s brother, remind us that DFV reforms will continue to fall short unless they:
address the crisis facing Indigenous women
prioritise First Nations led, culturally strong solutions
involve real accountability
receive proper, long term investment
A one size fits all approach will continue to fail.
We Know Better, Now We Must Do Better
We can no longer say “we didn’t know.” We do know, and now we must act.
If this story affected you, please do not let it end here. Share the article, talk about it, raise it with your networks, email or call your MP. Every action, no matter how small, helps build pressure for meaningful reform that protects all victim survivors, especially First Nations women whose lives depend on these systems doing better.
If You Need Support
The content in this article, and in the linked Guardian investigation, may be confronting or triggering.
Support is available 24/7. If you need to talk to someone, you can call 13YARN (for First Nations people): 13 92 76, and Lifeline: 13 11 14.
Read the full Guardian investigation by Ben Smee here:
https://www.theguardian.com/society/video/2025/nov/17/broken-trust-how-police-failed-hannah-clarke-and-other-women-they-were-supposed-to-protect-video
