SYDNEY, May 12 (Xinhua) -- Domestic violence cost Australia's Victoria state more than 3.9 billion U.S. dollars in Financial Year 2016, according to a government report released on Friday.
The report, released by independent auditing firm KPMG on behalf of the government on Friday, found that 160,000 people were victimized by family violence in 2015-16.
Domestic violence in Victoria cost the state and federal government 1.32 billion U.S. dollars while the cost worn by victims and their families was 1.9 billion U.S. dollars, the report said.
The combined cost of lost income and property damage was 283 million U.S. dollars and the cost of pain, suffering and premature death was 1.62 billion U.S. dollars.
"This includes costs associated with the long-term health impacts of family violence, and the increased risk of mental ill-health," the report said.
"This therefore includes long-term physical impacts as well as psychological impacts and non-physical effects. These impacts may extend well beyond experiences of violence, with increased feelings of fear and anxiety among victim survivors.
"The impacts can also be more significant where victim survivors may not have adequate financial means to replace or repair damaged property, thus contributing to further impacts to people's standard of living."
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people were found to be at a higher risk of domestic violence than others, with the number of police reports of family violence within that group increasing 100.6 percent between 2008 and 2014 compared to 53.6 percent for the rest of the population.
The report came a week after the Victorian state government announced an unprecedented 1.4 billion U.S. dollars in the state budget to combat domestic violence.
It was one of 227 recommendations of a Victorian royal commission into family violence which handed down its findings in 2016.
Daniel Andrews, the premier of Victoria, said while the report estimated the financial cost of family violence, "it can't show us the pain and suffering caused by deaths every week of a woman killed at the hands of a current or former partner."
"We can't just let this go on," Andrews said.
