Lived experiences at the intersection: Understanding the overlap of family violence and mental health for victim-survivors and consumers in Victoria, Australia
| Published date | 01 June 2024 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/26338076231213090 |
| Author | Alexandra Macafee,Ellen Reeves |
| Date | 01 June 2024 |
Lived experiences at the
intersection: Understanding
the overlap of family violence
and mental health for victim-
survivors and consumers in
Victoria, Australia
Alexandra Macafee
Faculty of Arts, Monash University and Mental Health Victoria,
Melbourne, Australia
Ellen Reeves
Department of Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology, University of
Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
Abstract
Family violence and mental health are pervasive and wicked problems, and the state of
Victoria (Australia) has emphasised these areas of focus through two dedicated Royal
Commissions. Despite the increased prioritisation of mental health and family violence
and recognition of existing systems and policy failures, research into the overlap of
these two areas remains limited. This article examines the unique and elevated risk factors
of mental health consumers experiencing coercive control and poor system experiences/
intervention outcomes as victim-survivors. Utilising lived experience accounts from the
Royal Commission into Family Violence and the Royal Commission into Victoria’s
Mental Health System, this study qualitatively analyses 60 submissions and draws compel-
ling parallels between consumer and victim-survivor experiences, and examines how they
intersect at critical junctures to exacerbate risk. The findings suggest that mental health
consumers have existing experiences and identity aspects that put them at high risk of
being targeted by coercive control and experiencing unique tactics of abuse related to
their mental health diagnoses. This article highlights that lived experience expertise is
essential for bridging the gap in policy and practice.
Corresponding author:
Alexandra Macafee, Mental Health Victoria, Level 6, 136 Exhibition Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia.
Email: a.macafee@mhvic.org.au.
Article
Journal of Criminology
2024, Vol. 57(2) 221–239
© The Author(s) 2023
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/26338076231213090
journals.sagepub.com/home/anj
Keywords
Lived experience, coercive control, family violence, mental health, social policy, public health
Date received: 16 March 2023; accepted: 24 October 2023
Introduction
In the Victorian (Australia) policy landscape, mental health and family violence are critical pri-
orities for the State government. The 2022–23 State budget refers to both the Royal
Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System (RCVMH), committing an additional
$1.3 billion (AUD) in funding to build on the foundations of its $869 million investment in
2020–21, and the 2015 Royal Commission into Family Violence (RCFV), with a further
$241 million investment contribution to an existing $3.5 billion in funding (Department of
Treasury and Finance, 2022). These pervasive health and social issues have a complex relation-
ship with each other and with the systems in which they present. This article is concerned with a
specific aspect of that relationship—the unique risk factors of people with mental health chal-
lenges and/or psychosocial disability as they relate to family violence, specifically to coercive
control. This relates not only to experiences of abuse, but also to system responses to victim-
survivor consumers. Drawing on data from both Royal Commissions, this article is the first of
its kind internationally to specifically examine the distinctive needs of people with lived experi-
ence of mental illness, mental health challenges, and psychosocial disability in this space. This
community will be referred to throughout this paper as “consumers”, the prevailing term in the
mental health service user movement in Australia (Our Consumer Place, n.d.; Juntanamalaga
et al., 2019, p. 857).
Both Royal Commissions have recognised that existing services and systems are not
equipped to handle the family violence and mental health crises both current and emerging
(RCFV, 2016a; RCVMH, 2021a). Similarly, the Commissions have each emphasised the
importance of lived experience consultation and leadership (RCFV, 2016a; RCVMH,
2021a). These likewise overwhelmed and ill-equipped systems have a critical relationship
with each other and their shared service users, with coordination between family violence
and mental health services being a key recommendation of the RCFV (2016a). Accessibility
is also a shared concern of the Royal Commissions, with both recommending improved and
accessible data and information resources (RCFV, 2016a; RCVMH, 2021a). This study posi-
tions itself at these key intersections, seeking to better illuminate the unique experience of con-
sumer victim-survivors and how service delivery, policy design, and research can progress.
Policy initiatives in Victoria have acknowledged the difficulties faced by mental health con-
sumers in interacting with family violence systems since at least the early 2000s, with the
Women’s Safety Strategy of 2002–2007 naming women with disabilities and women living
with mental illness as particularly disadvantaged in their ability to access information and
family violence support services (Office of Women’s Policy, Department of Premier and
Cabinet, 2002). State-wide strategies and subsequent projects—including the Department of
Premier and Cabinet’s action plan to expand and reform mental health and family violence
systems and frameworks developed by the Department for Victorian Communities—have
emphasised the need for collaborative and integrated supports for consumer victim-survivors
(Victorian Government Department of Human Services, 2006). These resources and services
require special attention be paid to address access difficulties and the lack of capacity
222 Journal of Criminology 57(2)
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