Recent (May 2026) research from the law department at RMIT University based in Melbourne, Australia makes for interesting reading. Beyond the Charge: Understanding support needs of women prosecuted for driving offences is authored by Lisanne Adam and Elena Pappas.
The report presents a comprehensive analysis of 104 de-identified case files from a local law centre (Law and Advocacy Centre for Women (‘LACW’), all involving at least one driving offence charge.
Using a systematic content analysis and a structured set of pre-developed codes aligned with LACW’s intake assessments, the study provides the first known dataset in the State of Victoria focused specifically on the support needs of women prosecuted for driving offences.
The analysis not only reveals the prevalence of non-legal issues intersecting with this form of alleged offending but also identifies the layered, compounding nature of those needs across themes such as family violence, homelessness, mental health, substance use, cultural and linguistic background and caring responsibilities.
The study
The report is based on a systematic content analysis of 104 de-identified legal case files provided by the law centre. The files were selected because they involved at least one alleged driving offence, allowing the study to explore the broader social and legal circumstances surrounding women prosecuted for these alleged offences.
The first stage of the analysis addressed client needs through three key questions per code category:
- the identification and reasons for needed support services,
- the stages at which services were requested during LACW representation, and
- clients’ knowledge of available services.
This approach provided insights into service provision gaps and client awareness, informing targeted interventions and support strategies.
The second stage expanded on identifying multiple needs among clients and assessing interactions between overlapping themes. Evaluating how these themes exacerbated one another helped shape recommendations for resources and interventions tailored to client needs, aiming to optimise the support mechanisms offered by LACW.
The methodology is summarised neatly in the infographic I have reproduced below:
Findings
In this summary, I focus on the family violence findings which are, perhaps, of most interest to a British audience. The other focus of the research was to look at local support service provision, gaps and awareness which is of interest but not so directly relevant in a UK context.
Across the files analysed, nearly half of the women reported current or historical family violence. In some cases, this violence directly contributed to alleged offending behaviour, including coercion to drive while unlicensed, fleeing unsafe homes, or relying on a vehicle as emergency accommodation.
Family violence
Family violence emerged as one of the strongest and most pervasive themes in the case data. For many women, interactions with the criminal legal system did not begin with a deliberate driving decision. Rather, current or historical family violence significantly contributed to their alleged offending.
Family violence was the first theme identified in the case data. During intake to the law centre, clients regularly disclosed psychological abuse, coercive control, physical assault and, in some cases, sexual violence.
These experiences were not incidental background factors; they were central to understanding why the woman was driving, what risks she was responding to and why support services were needed.
In the case file data, around a third of clients (n 63, 36.5%) advised that they had experienced or were experiencing family violence. A further 23 clients (13%) advised during intake that they were presently at an appreciable risk of experiencing family violence in the foreseeable future. This means that almost half (50%) of LACW’s clients in the file data were exposed to family violence.
This significant proportion indicates a complex relationship between driving offences and family violence, and suggests the need for integrated approaches that address both legal and non-legal issues within this theme.
The support needed in relation to escaping a situation of violence included the need of these clients to flee violent partners and leaving their unsafe homes. Coercion was also noted on files to include situations of clients noting they were forced by their abuser to drive subject to threats (n 2), even sometimes when their driving licences were suspended.
Situations of family violence further induced trauma responses, including substance use or unsafe decision-making, for which clients indicated that they needed additional support services such as counselling or treatment.
Further, clients who were presently experiencing family violence often indicated that they needed support services to access protection needs including the legal orders available in Australia for women facing domestic violence.
Conclusions
There has been substantial research, policy and practice attention in this country over recent years into the number of women who become involved with the criminal justice system who are treated primarily as perpetrators of crime when their experiences of domestic violence are often the main underlying cause. However, this is the first research that I am aware of that examines these links specifically with driving offences.
