Major Update to the Partner Abuse State of Knowledge Project

A major update to one of the world's largest domestic violence research projects

The Partner Abuse State of Knowledge Project, commonly known as PASK, has long been one of the most significant evidence reviews in the field of domestic and family violence.

The original PASK project brought together dozens of scholars and research assistants across multiple universities and research institutions to review the empirical research on partner abuse. It became an important reference point for researchers, policy-makers, service providers, advocates, courts, educators and anyone seeking to better understand what the evidence says about domestic violence.

Now, PASK has been substantially updated.

The 2025–2026 update expands the original work and incorporates more recent peer-reviewed research published since the first major review. According to the PASK website, the updated project now includes more than 5,000 pages and more than 4,000 peer-reviewed studies.

For Domestic Violence Advice Australia, this update matters because it reinforces a simple but important principle: domestic and family violence policy should be evidence-based, transparent, victim-focused and inclusive of all genuine victims.

What was the original PASK project?

The original Partner Abuse State of Knowledge Project was developed to bring together the existing research on partner abuse in a rigorous, transparent and methodical way.

Rather than relying on slogans, assumptions or narrow political narratives, PASK sought to catalogue and summarise peer-reviewed studies across the major areas of partner abuse research.

The original review considered thousands of studies and summarised more than 1,700 peer-reviewed studies across 17 manuscripts. These manuscripts covered topics such as prevalence, risk factors, victim impact, criminal justice responses, prevention, treatment, emotional abuse, control, bidirectional abuse and the impact of family violence on children.

That made PASK a major resource for people trying to understand domestic violence from the evidence, rather than from ideology.

What has changed in the 2025–2026 update?

The major change is scale.

The updated PASK project now incorporates a much larger body of research. The PASK website states that the entire database was updated in 2025–2026 to include research published after the original 2012–2013 review.

The updated project now includes more than 4,000 peer-reviewed studies and more than 5,000 pages of material.

The updated review also includes new or expanded material across key topic areas, including:

• physical abuse victimisation and perpetration
• unilateral and bidirectional abuse
• risk factors
• emotional abuse and control
• abuse in ethnic minority and LGBT populations
• the impact of parental violence and conflict on children
• the impact of abuse on partners
• motives for abuse perpetration
• law enforcement responses
• criminal justice sanctions
• restraining orders
• risk assessment
• prevention
• victim services
• perpetrator treatment
• partner abuse worldwide

This is not a small update. It is a significant expansion of one of the largest organised research resources on partner abuse.

Why this matters

Domestic and family violence is a serious issue. It causes real harm. It affects adults, children, families and communities.

But because the issue is so serious, the response must be built on evidence.

When policy is driven by ideology rather than research, people can be missed. Victims can be overlooked. Services can become too narrow. Public discussion can become hostile, politicised and detached from the lived reality of many families.

PASK is important because it shows that partner abuse is complex.

Some abuse is unilateral. Some abuse is bidirectional. Some victims are women. Some victims are men. Children can be deeply harmed by violence, conflict and coercive behaviour in the home. Risk factors vary. Impacts vary. The right intervention often depends on the actual facts of the relationship, not a pre-set assumption about who must be the victim and who must be the perpetrator.

This does not minimise the serious harm experienced by women and children. It does not deny that women can face severe, repeated and life-threatening abuse. It simply recognises that the evidence base is broader and more complex than the public debate often allows.

Why this matters for male victims

One of DVAA's concerns is that male victims of domestic and family violence are still too often ignored, dismissed or treated as if their experience does not matter.

Men can experience physical violence, emotional abuse, coercive control, threats, false allegations, social isolation, financial abuse, legal abuse and the loss of contact with their children.

Many men do not report abuse. Some are ashamed. Some believe they will not be believed. Some fear that asking for help will make their situation worse. Some have already tried to seek help and have been dismissed.

An evidence-based approach does not ask us to choose between helping women or helping men.

It asks us to help genuine victims.

That should not be controversial.

Evidence-based does not mean anti-women

It is important to be clear: calling for inclusive support for male victims is not an attack on female victims.

Women who experience domestic and family violence deserve safety, support, legal protection and access to appropriate services. Children exposed to violence and conflict deserve protection and care.

But support for one group of victims should not require the erasure of another.

The updated PASK research helps reinforce the need for a more mature conversation. Domestic violence services and policy should be capable of recognising patterns, risk, severity and context, rather than relying on overly simplistic assumptions.

A victim-centred system should start with the evidence and the facts of the individual case.

What DVAA believes

DVAA believes domestic and family violence policy should be:

• Evidence-based: Policy should be grounded in the best available research, not ideology or political convenience.
• Victim-focused: The needs of genuine victims should come first, regardless of sex, gender, background or relationship type.
• Child-aware: Children affected by violence, coercion, parental conflict and family breakdown must be properly considered.
• Fair and transparent: Systems should protect victims while also respecting due process, evidence and procedural fairness.
• Inclusive: Male victims, female victims, children and families affected by abuse should all be able to access appropriate support.

A better conversation about domestic violence

The updated Partner Abuse State of Knowledge Project is a reminder that domestic violence is not helped by simplistic public arguments.

The research is broad. The issue is complex. The consequences are serious.

Australia needs a domestic violence response that protects victims, recognises risk, supports children, holds genuine perpetrators accountable and does not exclude people simply because they do not fit a preferred narrative.

The 2025–2026 PASK update gives researchers, advocates, service providers and policy-makers another opportunity to return to the evidence.

That is where the conversation should begin.

And for DVAA, that means continuing to advocate for a domestic violence and family violence system that is fair, evidence-based and inclusive of all genuine victims.

Reference

For more background on the original project, see DVAA's earlier article The Partner Abuse State of Knowledge Project.

The Partner Abuse State of Knowledge Project is published at domesticviolenceresearch.org.