When experiencing domestic and family violence (DFV) in Australia, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal women seek help for diverse needs. In response, women's specialist DFV services provide a range of programs. Given this diversity and program range, evaluating impact and outcome is challenging. A deeper challenge rests on who decides what to measure and how. This article describes a multi-site research collaboration between women's specialist services and researchers. Part of the project aimed to identify the perspectives and priorities of Aboriginal women users of three specialist services: one each in an urban, regional and remote location. In a series of iterative steps, Aboriginal women, service workers and researchers explored what was valued in interactions with crisis programs. Each collaboration then moved to identify ways to measures the items, and to determine when and how other service users might be asked to respond. Aboriginal women participated primarily as service users but in overlapping capacities as victims of DFV, as community members, as local researchers and service workers. The underlying principle that guided the research was to respect and acknowledge Aboriginal women as knowledge-holders, producers and translators. However, clear limits to ideas of 'co-research' are identified.

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State monetary schemes for victims of violent crime began in the 1960s and operate in 35 countries today, yet knowledge is lacking on who is applying, how decisions are reached, variation in awards, and why amounts may differ. Analysing 291 sexual offence cases in Queensland, we ask whether awards differ by victim sex/gender and by societal constructs of ideal, real rape, and credible victims. We found that male child victims received higher awards than female child victims for more serious sexual offences, and that awards to females aged 12 and older were affected by elements associated with real rape and credible victims. We call upon researchers and governments to pursue and expand this new area of research.

The author gratefully acknowledges the guidance of Peter Grabosky, Kathleen Daly and Kristina Murphy, and the generous suggestions of anonymous reviewers. I thank Ki Chon for Figure 1.