11.1 Introduction
The Access Economics work considered domestic violence only. The cost estimates in this report attempt to capture the costs associated with the more encompassing definition of violence against women and their children envisaged by the Plan of Action. This requires making a distinction between intimate partner and non-intimate partner violence.
The cost estimates in sections 4 to 10 of this report refer to the cost of domestic violence only. These costs do not include the costs of non-domestic violence, or violence perpetrated by a stranger. This is because the available data prevents a breakdown of the costs of non-domestic violence to the same level of detail as is possible for domestic violence. However, excluding non-domestic violence significantly understates the total cost of violence against women and children.
This section presents the effects of including the costs of non-domestic partner violence on total costs of violence.
11.2 The cost of non-domestic violence
The impact of violence against women and their children where the violence is perpetrated by a non-intimate partner presents different costs than for domestic violence. KPMG has sought to cost non-domestic violence by excluding irrelevant cost categories.
For example, violence perpetrated by a stranger is less likely to occur in the victim/survivor’s home, so the cost of replacing broken and damaged household possessions is generally not an issue. The children of the victim/survivor are also less likely to witness non-domestic violence. The relevant cost categories excluded from non-domestic violence are therefore ‘second generation costs’ and ‘consumption costs’ (see Appendix A for further details).
In order to estimate a total cost to the economy, the $5.7 billion cost of non-intimate partner related violence is allocated proportionally across each relevant cost category. The breakdown of cost by category is presented in Table 21.
Table 21: Domestic violence, non-domestic violence and total costs by category64
| Category of cost |
Domestic
violence
costs
($ million) |
Non-
domestic
violence costs
($ million) |
Total cost
($ million) |
| Pain, suffering and premature mortality |
3,883 |
3,647 |
7,530 |
| Consumption-related |
3,542 |
0 |
3,542 |
| Production-related |
609 |
572 |
1,181 |
| Transfer costs |
569 |
535 |
1,104 |
| Administrative and other |
555 |
522 |
1,077 |
| Health |
445 |
418 |
863 |
| Second generation |
280 |
0 |
280 |
| Total |
9,883 |
5,694 |
15,577 |
Costs of non-domestic violence can also be allocated proportionally by stakeholder group. Removing the costs not associated with non-domestic violence, the allocation of costs is in the same proportion as for domestic violence.
Table 22 shows the total costs by stakeholder.
Table 22: Domestic violence, non-domestic violence and total costs by stakeholder group65
| Affected group |
Domestic
violence
costs
($ million) |
Non-
domestic
violence costs
($ million) |
Total cost
($ million) |
| Victim/survivor |
4,489 |
3,638 |
8,127 |
| Federal, state and territory governments |
1,654 |
1,291 |
2,945 |
| Community |
1,655 |
253 |
1,908 |
| Children |
1,076 |
198 |
1,274 |
| Perpetrator |
764 |
91 |
855 |
| Employers |
235 |
221 |
456 |
| Friends and family |
10 |
2 |
12 |
| Total |
9,883 |
5,694 |
15,577 |