{"id":905976,"date":"2026-09-26T08:20:21","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T08:20:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/905976\/"},"modified":"2026-09-26T08:20:21","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T08:20:21","slug":"domestic-violence-when-disaster-strikes-a-national-team-responds-what-about-when-52-women-are-killed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/905976\/","title":{"rendered":"Domestic Violence: When disaster strikes, a national team responds. What about when 52 women are killed?"},"content":{"rendered":"

When a natural disaster strikes, Australia<\/a> has a dedicated national emergency management team that coordinates preparations and a response. <\/p>\n

But when 52 women are killed since January, including three separate deaths in less than 24 hours, there is no such thing, Liberal <\/a>frontbencher and shadow women\u2019s minister Melissa McIntosh says.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Shadow womens minister Melissa McIntosh.\u00a0Alex Ellinghausen<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happens in a national emergency? We have a full process, we have technology, we have preparation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have inputs of data, and we test the system, and we test scenarios, and we test it over and over again to get the outcomes and to predict where things are.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy can\u2019t we be using the technology that we have for disasters and apply that to this?\u201d<\/p>\n

McIntosh is calling for a \u201cwar room\u201d or \u201csituation room\u201d response to the rates of domestic and family violence that would oversee nationally consistent prevention and response measures.<\/p>\n

It would require cooperation from the states and territories and organisations, identify gaps in the system and trends. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf it\u2019s a national emergency, let\u2019s start treating it like a national emergency,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Shaun Azzopardi\u2019s sister Nikkita Azzopardi, 35, was killed by her partner Joel Micallef, 34, at their home<\/a> in Melbourne in 2024. <\/p>\n

Micallef repeatedly struck her with an iron fire stoker. <\/p>\n

She was found dead with severe blunt force injuries to her head and face two days later after she failed to show at a family gathering. <\/p>\n

\"Nikkita<\/p>\n

Nikkita Azzopardi was found dead at her South Morang home, in Melbourne\u2019s north-east, on October 28, 2024.\u00a0Supplied<\/p>\n

Shaun Azzopardi said her death could have been prevented. <\/p>\n

\u201cI look about my sister\u2019s case, if it was well known to the public, and she knew that there was no way of Joel finding out, then maybe she would have made that call,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut the thing is a lot of females are scared of their partners.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving that support network there, I think that will definitely, definitely help.\u201d<\/p>\n

A third of all homicides in 2025, 133 of 435, were domestic and family violence-related, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. <\/p>\n

So far this year, 52 women and 20 children have been killed, the Australian Femicide Watch said. <\/p>\n

That statistic includes three women killed in separate alleged domestic violence-related incidents in less than 24 hours in NSW last weekend.<\/p>\n

They were 90-year-old Valentina Spivak from Bondi Beach, an unidentified 70-year-old woman from Mole River and an unidentified 23-year-old woman from Wagga Wagga.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Map of women and children killed in Australia.\u00a0Australian Femicide Watch<\/p>\n

Women\u2019s Minister Katy Gallagher said her thoughts were with the women and their families. <\/p>\n

\u201cGovernments have to lead and take responsibility and we do that and we\u2019re continuing to do that,\u201d she told the ABC on Monday. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no easy solution. If there was one, we would have already put it in place and more money\u2019s part of it.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Minister<\/p>\n

Katy Gallagher touted the app as a convenient and secure option for Australians.\u00a0Alex Ellinghausen<\/p>\n

Recently in August, following a series of high-profile sexual assault investigations, the federal and state and territory leaders met and agreed to a new national risk assessment framework so that women who seek help for sexual or domestic violence will have their warning signs recognised and acted upon in each jurisdiction. <\/p>\n

Each leader also agreed to establish national standards for the quality, consistency and accessibility of frontline domestic, family and sexual violence responses and will report their progress by the end of the year. <\/p>\n

But others want to see more urgent action from the prime minister. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have these mechanisms when something big happens, the country can act quickly,\u201d McIntosh said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe can act really fast. We acted quickly during the pandemic. It was extraordinary what was done during that time at pace.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy aren\u2019t we doing that now? Why aren\u2019t we acting with speed, with urgency?\u201d<\/p>\n

Azzopardi agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it\u2019s someone within the government cabinet and if it was them, you\u2019d see more swift action,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When a natural disaster strikes, Australia has a dedicated national emergency management team that coordinates preparations and a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":905977,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-905976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=905976"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905976\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/905977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=905976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=905976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=905976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}