The Aboriginal community must tell the truth about their brutal history towards each other.Almost half of all people killed by intimate partners are indigenous or overseas-born, which has prompted calls for a more targeted approach to tackling family violence.
About 23 per cent of intimate-partner homicide victims were indigenous in the 10 years to 2015-16.
A further 22 per cent of those victims whose backgrounds were known were overseas-born, according to previously unpublished figures provided to The Australian by the Australian Institute of Criminology.
In total, there were 1078 domestic homicide victims over the decade to 2015-16, which equated to more than two people killed every week by an intimate partner or family member.
Contrary to community perceptions, the domestic homicide rate, in particular the intimate-partner homicide rate, has been falling since 1989-90 (when data collecting began).
Intimate-partner homicides fell to 0.26 per 100,000 people in 2015-16, the lowest rate recorded in the 27-year period since 1989-90. The rate then was 0.66 per 100,000.
