Attendees included representatives from service providers across the Shoalhaven and Illawarra.

“In the 12 months to December 2016, the LGA’s of Kiama and Shellharbour where my electorate is located, reported 24 and 234 incident of domestic violence assault respectively. For the Shellharbour LGA, this represents a rate of 340.3 incidents per 100,000, just below the NSW rate of 386.3 incidents per 100,000 population,” Mr Ward said.

“This forum was a terrific opportunity to bring together key industry stakeholders, including government and non-government service providers, to discuss what is one of the most complex social issues facing our local families and communities today.”

Ms Goward discussed what the NSW government was doing to eradicate domestic violence and thanked guests for “discussing how the community could better address the scourge of domestic and family violence”.

“We begin with the very confident assertion which would not have been made 10 or 20 years ago – that domestic violence is a crime, it is a fundamental violation of human rights and that it occurs all too frequently,” she said.

“In 2012, the ABS personal safety survey found 17 per cent of women across Australia had experienced violence at the hands of an intimate partner since the age of 15.

“We know that has been the case for decades and that it is an underreported rate.”

In NSW in the 12 months to December 2016 there was more than 29,000 incidents of domestic assault reported.

“The statistics paint a staggering and completely unacceptable picture of the 13^th largest economy in the world, one of the world’s happiest and most stable countries,” Ms Goward said.