19 August 2025

The South Australian Royal Commission into Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence has delivered a powerful message that ending violence requires focusing on those who use it, according to Phillip Ripper, CEO of No to Violence, Australia’s peak body for people and organisations committed to ending men’s use of family violence. “The SA Royal Commission calls for ‘sharp and sustained focus’ on those using violence to end domestic, family and sexual violence,” Mr Ripper said.

Welcoming today’s release of With Courage: South Australia’s vision beyond violence and its 136 recommendations, Mr Ripper praised the Commissioner for centring victim-survivor voices while calling for systemic change in responding to people using violence.

“The Commission was unequivocal: ‘If we truly want to end domestic, family and sexual violence, there must be a sharp and sustained focus on those responsible for it,” Mr Ripper said. “This starts with what victim-survivors have been telling us all along –not all victim-survivors want to leave relationships or cut family ties, they just want the violence to stop and we won’t stop men’s family violence without working with those men.”

“Realising an end to men’s family violence requires a strong, sustainable sector working day-in, day-out with men using violence while ensuring the safety and support of victim-survivors, managing risks and facilitating behaviour change. Men’s behaviour change interventions that centre victim-survivor safety, manage risk and enable men to take responsibility for ending their use of violence are crucial,” Mr Ripper said.

“The Commission critically highlighted the challenge of engaging people using violence who don’t come to the attention of police. Men using violence come from all age groups, income brackets, cultural backgrounds, family types and sexualities – so we need a diverse range of service responses to match this diversity.”

“But these responses must operate within a broader ‘web of accountability’ that holds people using violence responsible for their actions across all systems they encounter.”

The Commission calls for a coordinated ‘web of accountability’ – a whole-of-system approach where every agency that encounters people using violence takes responsibility for identifying and responding to risk as early as possible. This ensures people using violence remain visible to services and can’t move between systems without appropriate responses.

No to Violence worked with colleagues across South Australia to inform the Commission’s findings, said the report’s focus on structural reform and integrated systems represents a crucial opportunity for South Australia.

“We will be advocating strongly for full implementation of the recommendations, building on the Premier’s budget commitments to ensure South Australia leads the way in creating effective responses to domestic, family and sexual violence,” Mr Ripper concludes.

For interviews, please contact Rebecca Buys at rebeccab@ntv.org.au or 0415 268 106.

About No to Violence  

No to Violence is the Australian peak body for organisations and individuals committed to ending men’s use of family violence.  We support specialist men’s family violence services and operate the national Men’s Referral Service, a 24/7 telephone and online counselling and referral service to link men to the support they need to get on a pathway of change and end their use of family violence.  We undertake research, training and advocacy and work with governments, employers and business to stop family violence at the source.

Please list the Men’s Referral Service with all Domestic, Sexual and Family Violence stories

• Men’s Referral Service, provides counselling and referrals for men who are concerned about their behaviour: 1300 766 491