That is why police are taking bold, new steps to tackle family violence, says Darren Hine
as I write this, up to midnight last night, police responded to more than eight calls for assistance during the preceding 24 hours from people experiencing family violence. This morning, the high-risk cases from overnight will be scrutinised and prioritised by a team of family violence specialists.
This team is part of the new Safe Families Coordination Unit which officially opened its doors this week. Their job is to protect vulnerable families with a co-ordinated response to support victims and their children. It is a new, unprecedented approach to addressing family violence in Tasmania. 
The unit is led by police, and five additional officers have been employed to work alongside specialists from Health and Human Services, Education and Justice. Tasmania Police has also employed three specialist family violence prosecutors dedicated to assisting victims of family violence.
For the first time, these agency specialists are co-located to assess incidents and share information to provide an early and complete picture of high-risk households, and implement support for them.
Collaboration between agencies draws together information that, in isolation, may not raise a red flag. This co-ordinated information is invaluable to frontline services working directly with victims and perpetrators.
Never before in this state has there been such a commitment from political leaders, government agencies and police to address family violence; to support and protect victims and their children, and to bring perpetrators to account.
Already this unit is seeing results, including more than 200 notifications to schools to support children affected by family violence. In these instances, children are being supported by dedicated counselling and specialist services.
The courage of those affected by family violence in speaking out about their experiences is inspiring as we begin this significant step.
Recently, family violence survivor Leesa Jacobs touched many of us in sharing her story in a victim impact statement: "The violence against me by the very man who was supposed to love and protect me wore me down to the point that I actually wished for death to take me; when he set me on fire I was totally emotionally defeated.
"What is important to me is that there are consequences for ruining my life and traumatising my children.
"I also decided to stand up and say the truth of the impacts because I want to contribute to sending a powerful message to the community that violence against women will not be tolerated." Sending the message that violence will not be tolerated involves a focus on high-risk perpetrators of family violence, and bringing them to account for their crimes. The Safe Families Coordination Unit identifies high-risk offenders and maintains active Priority Family Violence Perpetrator watch lists in each police district.
These are the offenders who present a real danger to those who love them; they have seriously assaulted a partner, are high-risk recidivists or frequent serious offenders. They are also the offenders who present a risk to the community, as serious family violence offenders often have a history of other offending, from other violent crime to other offences.
The watch lists are a key risk assessment tool and support police activities in bringing perpetrators of family violence to account.
The accountability of perpetrators is also maximised by the three specialist family violence prosecutors. The prosecutors prepare timely, high-quality prosecution files to maximise court outcomes for family violence offenders, including seeking imposition of appropriate custody, bail, Family Violence Orders and/or other conditions to prevent a perpetrator threatening the safety, wellbeing and interests of the victim. These measures are another level of protection for vulnerable families, in addition to the highest level of frontline service already provided by police and other agencies under the Safe at Home program.
We expect calls to police to assist victims of family violence will continue to increase as more women are prepared to ask for help. It's the work of the Safe Families Coordination Unit that could save their lives and prevent trauma and injuries like those inflicted on Leesa Jacobs and her family and allow the children, women and families affected by violence to live without fear.
I acknowledge that men are also victims of family violence, but the tragic fact is family violence is overwhelmingly committed by men against women. When one woman dies at the hands of a violent partner in Australia each week it demands our attention.
The words of Leesa Jacobs should drive us all to continue this important work and to protect victims of family violence.
Darren Hine is Commissioner of Police.