The Australian Domestic and Family Violence Death Review Network – a collaboration between coroners courts and governments from six states and the Northern Territory – drew upon coroners court and police data to investigate options to prevent family violence homicide.

It found there were 152 intimate partner homicides in Australia between 2010 and 2014, which followed an “identifiable history of domestic violence”.

Of these, 121 were male killers. Of the 121 males, 112 were the primary abuser.

Even when males were the victim of intimate partner homicide, they were the primary abuser in 61 per cent of cases.

Two women pleaded guilty to murder, and 17 pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter.

For men, 58 either pleaded guilty to or were found guilty of murder, and 28 were found to have committed manslaughter.

The report found homicide victims are overwhelmingly likely to be killed by a former intimate partner, or a family member.

Of the 121 female victims of intimate partner homicide, 29 were protected under domestic violence orders.

The organisations involved hope that compiling the data would allow for governments to improve their responses to escalating family violence before it ends in homicide.

“Domestic and family violence deaths rarely occur without warning,” the report reads.

“In many fatal cases, there have been repeated incidents of abuse prior to the homicide, as well as identifiable indicators of risk.

“There have typically also been many opportunities for individuals or agencies to intervene before the death.

“When viewed as the escalation of a predictable pattern of behaviour, domestic and family violence deaths can be seen as largely preventable.”

The Network hopes it can extend its data set in the future to include homicides within family relationships, ‘bystander homicides’, and family violence-related suicide.

In Victoria, data is collected by the Victorian Systemic Review of Family Violence Deaths, positioned within the Coroners Court.