After a horrific start to the year for domestic violence related crime, experts from the sector gathered in Brisbane on Tuesday afternoon to discuss how the justice system could better deal with the issue.
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The Queensland University of Technology forum brought together judges, lawyers, social workers and victims of domestic violence, with the judicial system's inconsistency when dealing with family crime top of the discussion priority list.
QUT Associate Professor Molly Dragiewicz said with a record numbers of alleged domestic-related homicides this year - four just in Queensland – there was an urgent need to find solutions.
"Among the most pressing issues at the moment is improving the system's response and dealing with the lack of communication," she said.
"Services do a pretty good job of co-ordinating with one another but then you get to the courts and it's a different story.
"Sometimes we talk about changing attitudes but people have in their heads that we can fix abusers and everything will be fine.
"But there are bigger systemic problems. Structural factors are what help someone leave or get in the way of them leaving."
Systemic issues in the judicial system were identified as a major problem in the Not Now, Not Ever: Ending Domestic Violence in Queensland report, which was handed to Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk by former governor general Quentin Bryce, the head of a specially formed investigative taskforce which produced the report.
Among its 140 recommendations was the formation of a specialised domestic violence court to attempt to quell inconsistency and make the judicial system less distressing for complainants.
The Palaszczuk government is presently considering the report and is expected to announce which of the recommendations it will endorse in the coming months.
The report has already come under fire from the Queensland Police Union for not recommending domestic violence be legislated a criminal offence in the state. At present it is dealt with in the family violence stream, which is in the civil stream, by way of domestic violence orders.
Experts widely agree domestic violence orders largely fail to protect women and others impacted by them.
The QUT symposium was initially scheduled for September this year but was fast-tracked following the heavy spotlight on current inadequacies in dealing with it, not just in Queensland but across Australia.
The spotlight on domestic-related crime in the Sunshine State has largely been fuelled by both the release of the Not Now, Not Ever report and a spate of alleged homicides.
In February, Bribie Island mother-of-two Adelle Collins, 39, and Gold Coast mother-to-be Fabiana Palhares, 34, were both allegedly brutally murdered by former partners, just six days apart.
Both women had taken out domestic violence orders against their respective exes.
On Easter Monday, father-of-two Bruce Monaghan was stabbed to death on his front lawn, allegedly by the estranged partner of his new girlfriend.
Associate Professor Dragiewicz said it was vital the government continued to invest in support services, with the numbers of victims seeking help at an all-time high.
"One of the big problems in Queensland has been the resource cuts. Demand is high for domestic violence services but at the same time funds have been cut," she said.
"The high demand recently is probably in response to the large number of homicides. I know service providers are really struggling."
