The Commission commenced on 1 July 2024 and concluded 14 August 2025.
Terms of Reference
The Commission was asked to inquire into 5 areas, aligned with the National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children 2022-2032:
- Prevention - How South Australia can facilitate widespread change in the underlying social drivers of domestic, family and sexual violence.
- Early intervention - How South Australia can improve effective early intervention through identification and support of individuals who are at high risk of experiencing or perpetrating domestic, family and sexual violence.
- Response - How South Australia can ensure best practice responses to family, domestic and sexual violence through the provision of services and supports.
- Recovery and healing - How South Australia can embed an approach that supports recovery and healing through reducing the risk of re-traumatisation and supporting victim-survivors to be safe and healthy.
- Coordination - How government agencies, non-government organisations and communities can better integrate and coordinate efforts across the spectrum of prevention, intervention, response and recovery.
Read the Royal Commission's Terms of Reference (PDF, 218.2 KB)
Our approach
The overarching focus for the Commission was to examine existing policies, legislation, administrative arrangements, system structure and funding levers in South Australia so that we could develop recommendations about what needs to change.
Recommendations are directed at designing a domestic, family and sexual violence system to better meet the needs of those who interact with it, and which is capable of delivering the generational change required to bring an end to domestic, family and sexual violence.
To achieve this, we needed to hear from anyone whose advice and ideas could assist our inquiry. The Terms of Reference asked the Commission to have particular regard to the views and experiences of:
- victim-survivors and those with lived experience of domestic, family and sexual violence
- First Nations people, their communities and their organisations
- Culturally and Linguistically Diverse communities
- LGBTQIA+ communities
- people living with a disability
- children and young people
- older South Australians
- people living in regional and remote communities
- experts, service providers and leaders in domestic, family and sexual violence
- medical professionals, including mental health providers
- police and the legal sector, including those involved in court administration and victim support.
Given this remit and timeframe, our focus was on examining the current systems and understanding changes that are needed, rather than investigating individual cases or allegations of violence.
The Commission was granted a brief extension in June 2025 and it delivered its report in August 2025.
