Gina Dillon, from the School of Rural Medicine, released her research last year and – while welcoming an increased focus on the issue by state and federal governments – warned rural and regional areas must not be forgotten.

Governments have allocated tens of millions of dollars in increased funding towards domestic violence assistance and prevention measures since late last year, and last week the NSW government announced the issue would be given a higher priority in high school classrooms.

In her study, Dr Dillon found country women were more likely to report having experienced partner violence, compared to women living in metropolitan areas. 

Using data from more than 7000 women, aged between 32 and 40, who participated in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health, Dr Dillon found that 21.6 per cent of women overall reported having been in a violent relationship with a partner or spouse at some time in their adult life. 

The study showed a history of partner abuse was also linked to women having difficulty managing their income, lower levels of education and having poor levels of social support.

“It is well known that experiencing partner abuse can have serious long-term physical and mental health effects for its victims,” Dr Dillon said. 

“These effects can remain for a long time even after the abuse has ceased, with increased problems related to depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.” 

Other significant findings from the study showed important differences in the reported rates of partner abuse according to where the women lived. 

Almost 20 per cent of women living in capital cities reported partner abuse, while more than 24 per cent of women from regional areas and more than 26 per cent of women from rural and remote areas reported it.

Emotional abuse was the most common form reported, with 12.5 per cent of surveyed women reporting an incident involving their their partner in the past 12 months. 

Physical abuse was reported by 2.5 per cent of surveyed women. 

There was no difference in the type of abuse reported across women from major cities, regional or rural areas. 

“As residents in non-metropolitan areas, it is important for us to be aware that partner violence occurs in our local area, and at alarmingly high rates,” Dr Dillon said. 

“There is an increasing awareness of the impact of partner violence on physical and mental health of victims, as well as flow-on negative effects for families and especially children of those affected. 

“There is also a growing public awareness that partner violence is unacceptable. 

“Let’s keep this positive momentum happening and ensure that the issue of adequate funding for partner violence services, especially those in regional and rural areas, remains on the government agenda.”