National Dowry Abuse Summit 2026

Enhance Awareness. Build Evidence. Strengthen Action.

Dowry abuse is a distinct and often under-recognised form of family violence - and one that Australian law has only recently begun to catch up with. Following a decade of advocacy, dowry abuse was formally recognised as a form of economic abuse under the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) in 2024, coming into effect in mid-2025. This third National Dowry Abuse Summit brings together the people who made that reform possible, and the practitioners, researchers, and policymakers now putting it into practice.

On the day, you'll hear from:

• The Hon Julian Hill MP, Assistant Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, and a video message from the Hon Michelle Rowland MP, Federal Attorney-General

• Professor Manjula O'Connor (AustralAsian Centre for Human Rights and Health) on the process of discovery, research and legislative reform behind dowry abuse recognition

• Leading researchers presenting new findings on dowry expectations, intimate partner violence, and community experiences of dowry abuse in Australia

• A moderated panel of legal, policing, and community sector experts, including Her Honour Judge Catherine Symons and Victoria Police's Claire Waterman

• Lived experience speakers, and a Q&A with panellists

Since its inception, the Summit has driven real reform. The first Summit (2016) called for federal legislation against dowry abuse. The second (2019) followed the Senate Inquiry into dowry abuse and urged the reforms that ultimately passed into federal law in 2024, alongside state-level changes in Victoria (2019) and Western Australia (2020) recognising dowry-related coercion as family violence.

This Summit is for legal professionals, policymakers, family violence, multicultural and settlement sector organisations, researchers, and community leaders and members with an interest in dowry abuse and its legal, health, and human rights implications.

Register now to secure your place.

AustralAsian Centre for Human Rights and Health (ACHRH)

The AustralAsian Centre for Human Rights and Health (ACHRH) founded in 2012 is a community-focused organisation dedicated to advancing gender equity, human rights, social connectedness, and wellbeing in culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities across Australia. ACHRH works collaboratively with researchers, service providers, governments, and community organisations to run primary prevention initiatives relating to mental health, family violence, and community wellbeing. Through its work, ACHRH aims to amplify lived experience voices and promote culturally responsive approaches to health, gender equality, and human rights. ACHRH has been at the forefront of anti-dowry abuse campaigns in Australia, playing the lead advocacy role in instigating legislative response to dowry abuse in Victoria 2018 and Federal Legislation 2024, ACHRH leads community education programs, policy advocacy, public forums, research collaborations, documentaries, in partnerships with lived-experience survivors, academics, legal experts, and policymakers.

The Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (CEVAW) is the world's first Centre to address the full range of forms of violence against women in Australia and the Indo-Pacific region.

Headquartered at Monash University, the CEVAW network comprises 13 Chief Investigators from six Australian universities, and 45 Australian and international partner organisations.

With a $35M investment from the ARC (Australian Research Council), CEVAW is poised to make significant global impact by examining the structural drivers that cause and compound violence against women, and pioneering new, evidence-based approaches to radically improve policy and practice across Australia and the Indo-Pacific.

The Centre mobilises survivor-centric and Indigenous approaches, interdisciplinary collaborations, and Indo-Pacific partnerships to deliver scalable approaches to eliminate violence against women across the legal, security, economic, health, and political systems of Australia and the region.

This Centre is funded by the Australian Government through the Australian Research Council.  

Gendered Violence Research Network (GVRN) at UNSW

The Gendered Violence Research Network (GVRN) at UNSW, Sydney, is a joint initiative of UNSW Arts Design & Architecture and UNSW Law & Justice. GVRN unites UNSW’s significant domestic and international research expertise to respond, prevent and end gendered violence in Australia and beyond. Through its commitment to research excellence and interdisciplinary collaboration, GVRN advances knowledge on the causes, consequences and intervention strategies for gendered violence, promoting informed, evidence-based discussions of policy and practice on the issue.

The Social Policy Group (SPG) is a trusted partner of government, community leaders, and service providers with a proven track record of delivering impactful and responsive social policy solutions for Australia’s communities. As a peak body for settlement, multicultural health, and multicultural affairs, and a recognised leader in best practice and thought leadership across areas such as gender equality, economic analysis, access to justice, and community sector capacity building, SPG plays a pivotal role in fostering equitable social policies through facilitation, evidence-based practice, and collaborative partnerships.

SSI is a national not-for-profit organisation whose purpose is to help create a more inclusive society in which everyone can meaningfully contribute to social, cultural, civic and economic life. SSI’s Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence (DFSV) Prevention and Response Group delivers evidence-based, culturally safe, and community-informed responses to DFSV, with a strong focus on migrant and refugee communities. Drawing on SSI’s extensive expertise in DFSV prevention and response, settlement services, and community engagement, the team works through direct practice, collaborative practice support, sector and community capacity building, and policy, advocacy, and research. Spanning the continuum from prevention and early intervention through to response, recovery, and healing, the group strengthens culturally responsive practice and improves safety and access outcomes for diverse communities across Australia.

Intouch Multicultural Centre Against Family Violence (intouch) is a specialist Victorian service supporting culturally, linguistically and racially diverse migrant and refugee communities subjected to family violence.  

As Victoria's only multicultural family violence service working at the intersection of family violence, family law and migration, intouch provides integrated survivor-centred support. This includes case management, legal assistance through its in-house Women's Legal Centre, and recovery programs for women and children.

Intouch also works with men who use violence to promote accountability and behaviour change, while keeping the safety of women and children central. Through policy, advocacy, training and sector partnerships, the organisation works to transform systems and address structural barriers to safety and support. 

Led and staffed predominantly by women from migrant and refugee backgrounds, intouch's culturally responsive in-language services enable meaningful and sustainable outcomes for their clients and families.

Intouch believes everyone deserves to be safe, respected and valued, regardless of where they are from, the language they speak or the visa that they're on.