Orofacial Injuries in family violence homicide in Victoria- an epidemiologic and forensic approach

Family violence (FV) is a complex public health issue in Australia and globally. This thesis adopted an epidemiologic and forensic approach to determine FV trends, and injury patterns, with a major focus on orofacial injuries in FV homicide. Based on the Public Health Approach, the research entailed extensive literature reviews, standardisation/pilot study, population studies, and advanced statistics to establish the problem size and complex patterns of abusive orofacial injuries. Notwithstanding legal protective measures, FV homicide is trending upwards in Victoria. This thesis reports key patterns of FV associated orofacial injuries with future recommendations for policy, practice and research.