The last two weeks have seen some of the worst violence in NSW in recent memory, violence which disproportionately affected women. Witness the Bondi Junction attack and the alleged killing of Molly Ticehurst by her former partner.

Ticehurst’s murder has led to welcome calls to revisit our approach to family violence in NSW – starting with a royal commission. A leading proponent is one of Australia’s bravest and most powerful campaigners for women’s safety and equality, Rosie Batty. I thus hesitate to disagree with her.

Thousands join the No More: National Rally Against Violence rally on Saturday.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos

However, a royal commission is an extremely costly and slow institutional tool for responding to an urgent problem – a problem that demands a major set of law reform measures and an increase in funding.

As Commonwealth Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus noted in rejecting calls for a federal royal commission, we already have a large amount of evidence about what needs to be done. The challenge is largely one of funding, and disagreement about the proper balance to be struck between the rights of victims and alleged perpetrators.

Better, therefore, for NSW to appoint an expert panel to report to the premier and........

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