43535 (2025). Hon Ginny Andersen to the Minister of Police

43535 (2025). Hon Ginny Andersen to the Minister of Police: How does the system Police use to record or measure reports or events of family violence and sexual violence work?

Hon Mark Mitchell: I am advised that when Police receive a report relating to family harm or sexual violence – whether via 111, 105, online channels, in person at a station or directly to an officer – it is recorded and triaged. Where appropriate, this may result in the immediate dispatch of officers, particularly in emergency situations. Family harm events are primarily recorded by frontline officers using the OnDuty platform, through the completion of a Family Harm Investigation (FHI) report. These reports are then transferred into Police’s case management system, the National Intelligence Application (NIA), which captures detailed information including the parties involved, the location, time, and incidents and offences (identified in legislation that on the balance of probabilities occurred). Cases then progress through investigation, prosecution, and resolution stages and ultimately closure depending on the individual aspects of the case. A Family Violence flag is applied to any record where the parties involved are in an intimate partner relationship or are family members. This flag can be applied to both criminal offences and non-criminal incidents. The primary measure of Family harm is the number of FHI reports, which are further classified into those involving offences and those that are incident-only. This approach recognises the episodic, coercive and cumulative nature of family harm, which may cause significant harm even when offences are not recorded, hence Police’s focus on FHIs. Family violence is a subset of family harm and includes physical, sexual or psychological abuse within family relationships. Sexual violence is recorded within the NIA system when a victimisation is reported, and the offence is identified within the Australian and New Zealand Standard Offence Classification (ANZSOC) for Sexual Offences. All records are subject to assurance activities including management and internal control measures, quality assurance, and internal and external audit. This is also my response to Written Parliamentary Question 43534 (2025).