This research report recommends the adoption of universal family violence screening by family law practitioners. To support this recommendation, it begins by presenting a definition of family violence, then examines common family dynamics where violence is present and the impact of trauma in a family court litigant. Exploration of the relationship between family violence and family court and a discussion of the importance of screening in the family law context further supports the recommendations.
The report also provides an overview of the methodology used to identify and analyse family violence screening tools, identifies the differences between risk assessment and screening tools, and provides a list and summary of each of the family violence screening tools included in the review as well as an analysis of commonalities in structure, format, content, delivery, frequency of use and results/outcomes across the family violence screening tools.