Marcia Neave led the nation's first ever royal commission into family violence. She has since labelled the government's response to reform as 'simplistic'.
Marcia Neave has heard some of the darkest stories involving the deaths and abuse of women across Victoria.
"Family violence has been around for hundreds of years. Women have been killed for hundreds of years and sexually assaulted for hundreds of years," Ms Neave said.The question remains, what more could be done to address the issue?Ms Neave is currently the chair of Justice Connect, which helps link people and community groups to free legal services.
"We recommended that somebody be appointed for a period of time to look at the recommendations and how the recommendations were being implemented, and then report to parliament," she said.She said it meant the improvements and failures were in the public domain and people could then "bring to bear pressure on the areas needing fixing".A government spokesperson said it was aware that "there is more work to do to end family violence across this state".
Nowadays, there is a greater awareness of gendered violence, the warning signs and the impacts it has on a person's life, she said.According to Ms Neave it has resulted in more people coming forward and seeking help, which is a positive step in addressing the problem. Cultural change may be the most profound issue to overcome but the former lawyer said it is possible.
She encouraged everyone to have a plan regardless of their circumstances and to think about how they would navigate a violent relationship."No one wants to think about this when they're in love, when they're forming a new relationship, no one wants to contemplate the possibility that this might happen," Ms Neave said.
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