Prevalence of exposure to domestic and family violence among Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children in the Northern Territory of Australia

Introduction: Although there is substantial evidence regarding the detrimental effect exposure to domestic and family violence (DFV) has on healthy child development, there is a paucity of information on the prevalence of childhood DFV exposure. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of DFV exposure among Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children in the Northern Territory (NT) of Australia. 

Methods: This was a retrospective observational cohort study using linked individual-level records. The cohort consisted of all children aged 0-17 residing in the NT and exposed to DFV as recorded in Child Protection Services and police data in 2018. ‘Exposure to DFV’ was defined broadly as being a child in a household in which DFV occurred, including children who were not physically present at the time of the incident. In our main analyses, exposure to DFV was defined as having either any DFV-related notification or any DFV-related substantiated notification with Child Protection Services, or any DFV-related record in police datasets. 

Results: In 2018, 13.3% of NT children had a record of exposure to DFV with the prevalence for Aboriginal children around six times greater than non-Aboriginal children (24.4% compared to 4.2%). Using a single data source, the estimates of exposure to DFV, for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children, varied from: 3.3% and 0.3% respectively, for substantiated child protection notifications; 7.1% and 1.1% for investigated notifications, 15.9% and 2.6% for all notifications; and, 17.2% and 2.9% for police data. Prevalence of exposure varied with age and was highest for Aboriginal children aged from 0-4 years (31.4%) and for non-Aboriginal children aged 14-17 years (4.9%). 

Conclusions: Many NT children are exposed to DFV, with much greater exposure among Aboriginal children. The prevalence estimates varied between sources of data and with the definition of childhood exposure to DFV. Our findings highlight the value of linking records from multiple sources to provide a more comprehensive estimate of the magnitude of exposure of children to DFV, an essential base on which to plan a public health response to DFV prevention.