Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
Kate Fitz-Gibbon is Director of the Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre and Professor of Social Sciences in the Faculty of Arts at Monash University.
She also holds affiliated research appointments with the School of Law and Social Justice at University of Liverpool (Honorary Research Fellow, 2016-2020) and the Research Center on Violence at West Virginia University (2019).
Kate’s qualifications include a Phd in Criminology (2012), Masters of Human Rights Law (2019), Graduate Certificate of Higher Education (2013) and she is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Kate has been a visiting scholar in the Centre for Criminology at Oxford University (2013), The Faculty of Law at University of Auckland (2015) and the School of Justice at Queensland University of Technology (2015).
Kate conducts research in the area of domestic and family violence, femicide, responses to all forms of violence against women, and the impacts of law reform in Australia and internationally. This research is undertaken with a key focus on issues relating to gender, constructions of responsibility and justice. The findings of Kate’s research have been published in books, academic journals, funded reports and presented at national and international criminology conferences.
Kate has received over $11 million in external research funding to support her research. This includes from the Australian Research Council, Australian National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety, Australian Institute of Criminology, Commonwealth Department of Social Services, Commonwealth Office for Women, Victorian Government, and Victoria Police. In 2015 Kate was awarded the prestigious Peter Mitchell Churchill Fellowship to examine innovative and best practice legal responses to the prevention of intimate homicide in UK, United States and Canada.
Kate has advised on homicide law reform, family violence and youth justice reviews in several Australian jurisdictions. Kate’s 2014 sole-authored book, Homicide Law Reform, Gender and the Provocation Defence: A Comparative Perspective (Palgrave Macmillan), was cited by the High Court of Australia in Lindsay v The Queen [2015] HCA 16.
In 2021 Kate was appointed Chair of Respect Victoria by the Victorian Government. She is the former Chair of the Barwon Centre against Sexual Assault, Monash City Council Gender Equity Committee, and the Victorian Government’s Expert Advisory Committee on Perpetrator Interventions.
Research interests
Family violence
Femicide
Intimate partner homicide
Adolescent family violence
Perpetrator Interventions
Legal responses to intimate partner violence
Coercive control
Homicide law reform
Sentencing
Youth justice
Children’s rights and the criminal justice system
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Research area keywords
- family violence
- violence against women
- primary prevention of family violence
- criminal justice system
- criminal law reform
- adolescent family violence
- youth justice
- femicide
- coercive control
- sentencing
- children's rights
- perpetrator interventions
- intimate partner homicide
- homicide law reform
Network
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Building a foundation for collaboration on gender equality: Japanese–Australian connections
Cho, H. E., Segrave, M., Tan, S., Vasil, S., Fitz-Gibbon, K., Hamano, T., Tateishi, N., Park, H., Norma, C., Hamada, I. & Dalton, E.
1/10/22 → 10/06/23
Project: Other
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Building a foundation for collaboration on gender equality: Korean-Australian connections
Cho, H. E., Segrave, M., Tan, S., Vasil, S., Fitz-Gibbon, K., Moon, K., Choi, S., Hwang, J., Yi, S., Noh, J. & Jang, S.
1/10/22 → 10/06/23
Project: Other
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Building the evidence base on perpetrator program attrition and participant engagement strategies
Fitz-Gibbon, K., Helps, N., McGowan, J., Robertson, E., Watt, J., Montgomery, I., Steele, E., Berryman, K., Jaczina, Y., Fox, R., Johannsen, T. & Opoku, S.
30/06/22 → 30/12/23
Project: Research
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Vulnerability and Policing Futures Research Centre
Lloyd, C., Crawford, A., Brown, K., Birks, D., Bretherton, J., Grace, S., Sian, K., Holland, S., Trehan, K., Webber, M., Pickett, K., Mon-Williams, M., Hughes, E., Bainbridge, L., Solanke, I., Westmarland, N., May-Chahal, C., Walklate, S., Coomber, R., Gadd, D., Broad, R., White, A., Bradford, B., Fitz-Gibbon, K., Wood, J. & Muir, R.
1/05/22 → 30/04/27
Project: Research
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Brain injury in intimate partner violence: Insight into a silent pandemic
Shultz, S., O'Sullivan, M. J., Fitz-Gibbon, K., Meyer, S., van Donkelaar, P., Mychasiuk, R., McDonald, S., Law, M., Vivash, L., O'Brien, T., Ponsford, J., Jupp, B., Chen, B., Mitra, B. & Marks, J.
National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) (Australia)
1/01/22 → 31/12/24
Project: Research
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Domestic and family violence leave across Australian workplaces: Examining victim-survivor experiences of workplace supports and the importance of cultural change
Fitz-Gibbon, K., Pfitzner, N. & McNicol, E., 14 Mar 2023, (Accepted/In press) In: Journal of Criminology. 19 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access -
Domestic and family violence perpetrator screening and risk assessment: identifying current practice and future opportunities.
Meyer, S., Helps, N. & Fitz-Gibbon, K., 2023, Australian Institute of Criminology. 94 p.Research output: Book/Report › Commissioned Report › Other › peer-review
Open Access -
I believe you: Children and young people’s experiences of seeking help, securing help and navigating the family violence system
Fitz-Gibbon, K., McGowan, J. & Stewart, R., 2023, Monash University. 52 p.Research output: Book/Report › Other Report › Other
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'You can’t just … add a bit of rainbow dust': A review of the Clear Space online behaviour change program for GBTQ+ men and non-binary people
McGowan, J., Helps, N., Fitz-Gibbon, K., Athwal-Yap, A. & Williamson, H., 2023, Victoria Australia: Monash University. 54 p.Research output: Book/Report › Commissioned Report › Other
Open Access -
Adolescent family violence in Australia: A national study of prevalence, history of childhood victimisation and impacts
Fitz-Gibbon, K., Meyer, S., Boxall, H., Maher, J. & Roberts, S., Sep 2022, Australia. 88 p.Research output: Book/Report › Commissioned Report › Other › peer-review
Open AccessFile
Prizes
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100 Women of Influence Awards 2014: Young Leader
Fitz-Gibbon, Kate (Recipient), Oct 2014
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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Dean's Award Excellence in Research by an Early Career Researcher
Fitz-Gibbon, Kate (Recipient), Jul 2016
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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Dean's Award for Excellence in Research Impact and Engagement
McCulloch, Jude (Recipient), Maher, JaneMaree (Recipient), Fitz-Gibbon, Kate (Recipient), Segrave, Marie (Recipient) & Roffee, J. A. (Recipient), 2016
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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Division of Critical Criminology and Social Justice Best Journal Article of the Year 2020
McCulloch, Jude (Recipient), Walklate, Sandra (Recipient), Maher, JaneMaree (Recipient), Fitz-Gibbon, Kate (Recipient) & McGowan, Jasmine (Recipient), Nov 2020
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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Emerging Leadership Award
Fitz-Gibbon, Kate (Recipient), Nov 2021
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
Activities
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New South Wales State Government (External organisation)
Kate Fitz-Gibbon (Member)
Apr 2020 → …Activity: Industry, Government and Philanthropy Engagement and Partnerships › Membership of an advisory panel/policy group/ board
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Australian Institute of Criminology (External organisation)
Kate Fitz-Gibbon (Member)
15 Jun 2020 → …Activity: Industry, Government and Philanthropy Engagement and Partnerships › Membership of an advisory panel/policy group/ board
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Respect Victoria (External organisation)
Kate Fitz-Gibbon (Member)
Aug 2018 → Aug 2021Activity: Industry, Government and Philanthropy Engagement and Partnerships › Membership of an advisory panel/policy group/ board
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Criminology and Criminal Justice (Journal)
Kate Fitz-Gibbon (Editorial board member)
1 Feb 2018 → …Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial work types › Editorial responsibility
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InTouch Multicultural Centre Against Family Violence (External organisation)
Kate Fitz-Gibbon (Member)
Nov 2018 → Jul 2019Activity: Industry, Government and Philanthropy Engagement and Partnerships › Membership of an advisory panel/policy group/ board
Press/Media
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Why the work to hold family violence perpetrators accountable is only just beginning
Nicola Helps, Jessica Louise Burley, Jasmine McGowan & Kate Fitz-Gibbon
8/02/23
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Article/Feature
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We’re missing opportunities to identify domestic violence perpetrators. This is what needs to change
Nicola Helps & Kate Fitz-Gibbon
2/02/23
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Article/Feature
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There’s $1.3 billion for women’s safety in the budget and it’s nowhere near enough
Kate Fitz-Gibbon & Marie Segrave
30/03/22
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Article/Feature
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Unpaid leave and toxic cultures: new research shows workplaces must do better on family violence
Naomi Pfitzner, Kate Fitz-Gibbon & Emma McNicol
10/12/21
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Article/Feature
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Victoria Police may soon be able to issue final intervention orders on the spot, but will this help victim-survivors?
Ellen Reeves & Kate Fitz-Gibbon
26/10/21
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Article/Feature