Preventing Family and Domestic Violence in Fremantle

Executive Summary

Family and domestic violence (FDV) is a significant issue for the Fremantle community. In 2024, the City of Fremantle identified FDV as one of its highest community priorities through its Social Needs Analysis, which highlighted increasing demand for support services and the need to strengthen efforts to prevent violence before it occurs.

To inform future prevention activities, the City commissioned the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre to identify evidence based approaches to primary prevention. This report combines Australian and international evidence, stakeholder consultation, a review of existing initiatives in Fremantle and Australia, and analysis of data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey to identify practical opportunities for strengthening primary prevention.

The findings indicate that:

• Fremantle has a strong network of services supporting people affected by FDV. However, there are opportunities to strengthen primary prevention alongside existing response and support services.
• The HILDA analysis found that traditional gender role attitudes remain more common among men than women, particularly among young men, and that younger women continue to experience greater exclusion from household decision making.
• Young people in the Fremantle region also experience relatively high levels of physical violence. These findings identify adolescents and young adults as a priority group for prevention and reinforce the importance of addressing gender inequality, harmful gender stereotypes and social norms.
• The review of Australian and international evidence found that primary prevention initiatives can improve knowledge, attitudes and confidence, particularly when delivered through schools, sporting clubs and community settings using interactive, sustained and community based approaches. The evidence also highlights the importance of building on existing community partnerships and embedding prevention messages within settings where young people can be reached regularly.

Based on these findings, the report recommends prioritising adolescents and young adults aged 12–25 years in future primary prevention initiatives, strengthening prevention activities through schools, youth programs and sporting clubs, building on existing community partnerships, and embedding evaluation into future programs to strengthen the local evidence base.

To support future implementation, the report proposes a High Level Social Impact Evaluation Framework (Appendix A). The framework provides high level guidance for evaluating participant outcomes and is intended as a practical starting point for future primary prevention initiatives. As it is not designed for a specific program, it should be reviewed and refined once the program objectives, activities, target population and evaluation requirements have been established.

Together, the findings provide an evidence informed foundation for strengthening primary prevention in the City of Fremantle. By building on existing community strengths, investing in prevention and embedding evaluation into future initiatives, the City can strengthen its response to FDV while supporting healthier and more respectful communities.