BRIEFING PAPER AND PRESENTATION

 BRIEFING PAPER AND PRESENTATION
 
Table of Contents
1. Purpose of policy brief	3
2. Concise summary of issue	3
3. Identification of available options of policy	5
4. Recommendations	6
Presentation	7
Reference List	9
1. Purpose of policy brief 
The policy briefs are considered to be distinctive from research paper in communicating practical research implications to the specific audience. In the current policy brief, the focus is made on an increasing number of domestic violence in Australia, which is affecting especially children as well as spouses of the family. Young women, pregnant women and Indigenous women of Australia are at high risk of domestic violence in present days. The purpose of the present policy brief is to highlight domestic violence issue of Australia. In addition to this, policy brief sheds light on different policies set up by Australian Government for mitigating the mentioned issue. 
The issue of domestic violence is highlighted in the current policy brief for emphasizing the condition of Australian people, especially women.  It is noted that domestic violence mostly occurs at a greater rate for the Indigenous Australians communities as compared to non-Indigenous Australian. As per the record of 2014-2015, it is found that Indigenous women were hospitalised to about 32 times because of family violence as compared to women of non-Indigenous family (AIHW, 2018). Moreover, the hospitalisation record of  Indigenous men was about 23 times than non-indigenous communities due to domestic violence (AIHW, 2018). It is seen that domestic violence issue is a great matter of concern, which needs to be reduced for maximising social advantage of Australia. Hence, the main purpose of the policy brief is to demonstrate the need to change the current approach of policy or form a new one for reducing domestic violence to a greater extent.
2. Concise summary of issue 
Domestic violence stands as the violence that exists between spouses in the domestic settings, which includes illegal acts such as emotional, sexual, psychological and physical abuse. Based on the viewpoint of Pahl (2016),  domestic violence destroys the safety of people at their own home or in the community, which destroys the peace of society. Domestic or family violence cuts across economic and social boundaries, besides having numerous risk factors that are associated with it. Fitzgerald & Graham (2016) stated that drug use and alcohol stand as the mostly noticed cause of domestic violence, which hampers the peace of the people living at home. The drinking habits, aggression levels are associated with the partner’s physical violence behaviour. In the indigenous communities, 41% of domestic violence cases are associated with alcohol and drug usage (Parliament of Australia, 2016). In addition to this, it is also found that separation and pregnancy are the other causes of domestic violence in Australia, which also needs to be focused while implementing policy by decision-makers.  
Separation and pregnancy stand vulnerable to family or domestic violence due to differences found in the beliefs and attitudes of partners. As mentioned by Pearlman et al., (2016), violence follows the separation or even the decision of separating is taken because of violence in a relationship. It is considered as the stressful act as it destroys the peace of the domestic settings and community. It is noted that indigenous women experience violence from the partner during the time of pregnancy and are even separated. Moreover, it is also found that the effects of low employment status, income, homelessness and education are the cause of increasing domestic violence issue in the country. Postmus et al., (2018) commented that unemployed and uneducated indigenous women are more likely to experience domestic violence as compared to educated and employed ones. It is found that unemployed spouse suffers more from domestic violence, which has a negative impact on their children well-being.
 
Figure 1: Pro-violence attitude is more in younger age
(Source: Parliament of Australia, 2016)
It is analysed from the figure that indigenous young people holds pro-violence attitudes, which gradually decreases with age. The reason for the increasing domestic violence among indigenous community is the distrust and fear of police, governmental agencies and justice system. Fitzgerald & Graham (2016) opined that indigenous people mostly experience anxiety when they get engaged with any welfare agencies and police. It is noted that improper support provided by NGOs or Governmental policies is increasing the rate of domestic violence in recent days. Improper accessibility to the support services and lack of proper awareness are making indigenous community experience violence at a rapid rate. Therefore, the change in the policy is important for improving the social condition of Australian communities.
3. Identification of available options of policy 
The law highlights no