This Joint Statement, developed and endorsed by health regulators including the Office of the Health Ombudsman, the Health Professionals Council Authority, Health Care Complaints Commission and Ahpra and the National Boards, sends a strong statement that family violence is unacceptable.
Health practitioners are often the first point of contact for people experiencing family violence and their conduct must reflect the trust and confidence that the public places in them. Health practitioners who are perpetrators of family violence could face suspension, cancellation, the imposition of conditions, or refusal of registration.
Any person who is aware of a health practitioner perpetrating family violence is encouraged to provide information to the police and appropriate regulatory body.
RACS advocates strongly for all victim-survivors of family violence and recognises the critical role of surgeons and trainees in supporting victim-survivors by caring for their immediate injuries, sensitively providing information and identifying relevant resources in their hospitals and wider community. In 2022, RACS together with the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA) and the Australasian College of Emergency Medicine (ACEM), hosted a joint symposium examining the health system's response to family violence.
"The most common cause of assault related hospital admissions, particularly affecting women is due to family violence. Family violence is about 6500 admissions a year in Australia, and interestingly of the admissions the most common cause is head injuries. The other thing is also that if there has been one hospital stay due to family violence, the likelihood that there will be numerous hospital stays is higher", Symposium co-convenor Associate Professor Payal Mukherjee said.
Read RACS' position paper on domestic violence.
