Suicides linked to domestic and family violence frequently slip through cracks in the justice system because of investigator bias and perpetrators influencing proceedings, an inquiry has been told.
A parliamentary probe on Friday heard that up to half of women's suicides are associated with domestic abuse, but the connection is often obscured by investigators fixating on addiction and mental health issues.
"We may assume that mental health issues and drug and alcohol issues are the cause of suicide, and so do not investigate histories of domestic abuse and their contributions to suicide," criminal law Professor Heather Douglas told a committee hearing in Melbourne.
She described investigators as having "tunnel vision".
Bias also steers authorities away from autopsies and delays coronial inquests, including on possible homicides, Prof Douglas said.
