A new year, a new opportunity for fresh hope on ending violence against women in Australia. This couldn’t come soon enough, given the horror year of 2024 that saw 101 Australian women killed by violence, according to Australian Femicide Watch.
But unless there’s been some dramatic anomaly, we can safely assume 2025 has already started with a spike in domestic and family violence, with New Year’s Day typically being the most dangerous day for violence against women.
According to NSW Police, a spike in DV assaults and non-DV assaults occur on Australia Day, ANZAC Day, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and the non-public holiday of New Year’s Eve.
New Year’s Day is especially dangerous, according to research based on data covering the years from 2010 to 2023 and excluding 2020 and 2021 (to eliminate COVID-related anomalies). It is the most dangerous day of the year for domestic-related assaults in NSW.
Across the researched period, domestic-related assaults on New Year’s Day reached a median of 157 incidents, 118 per cent higher than usual. The peak time for all assaults, both domestic and non-domestic, is in the first three hours of New Year’s Day, between 12am and 3am.
Some of the factors contributing to higher rates of assaults on public holidays include alcohol consumption, social gatherings and crowded environments — family gatherings and public events increasing potential for conflict — as well as emotional stress and expectations, according to NSW Police. Other state and territory police services also warn of an uptick in the hours before and after the clock ticks into a new year.
So far, the death toll of violence against women for 2025 remains at zero, according to Femicide Watch.
However, sadly, we know just how fast that can change — given the 101 tolls recorded for 2024 at a rate of two women every week. The 2024 death toll started with 68-year-old Janice Walker, who was killed in her home in Queensland on January 2. Just one year and one day ago.
And writing barely three days into the New Year, we also know of at least one incident currently being investigated by police involving the death of a woman, which occurred over the late hours of New Year’s Day and into the early hours of January 2.
On Thursday, a man was arrested after a 39-year-old woman died following a fall from a seventh-story balcony of an apartment block in Parramatta, Sydney. He was later released without charge, pending further investigations by homicide detectives, and after being interviewed by police for several hours. Police told reporters on Thursday that a Triple Zero call was received from the address two hours before the fall at 11.45pm on Wednesday, with no communication from the caller but “raised voices” heard. Triple Zero called back and spoke with a man minutes later, who confirmed his name and address and was told police would be attending the premises. Police were reportedly taking other calls for assistance while en route to the address when they were alerted to a call from a public member saying they could see a woman dangling from the balcony of the address at 1.40am. Police arrived around one minute later to find a woman with critical injuries outside the unit block. She later died in hospital. Investigations are ongoing.
Outside of the deaths of women that often but not always make headlines, we can assume that many more incidents of violence against women have already occurred in the first three days of 2025. Some such incidents will have been reported to police, many will have not. Some occurred behind closed doors, others in public. Some involve current or former intimate partners, others involve perpetrators who are family members. Rarely does physical violence against women involve someone the woman does not know.
2024 was a horror year of violence against women. So much so that the Albanese Government described such violence as a “national crisis”.
But this crisis hasn’t translated into the level of action — notably funding — needed to meet the Albanese Government’s stated target or ending violence against women in a generation.
2025 is an election year. A year of opportunity to build on the momentum that picked up — at least for a few weeks in 2024 — on the current government and Opposition getting serious about addressing the issue.
If you or someone you know is experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, domestic, family or sexual violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732, text 0458 737 732 or visit 1800RESPECT.org.au for online chat and video call services.