The killing of an 11-year-old boy at the hands of his father at a Melbourne cricket ground was an unspeakable tragedy, Prime Minister Tony Abbott says.
Mr Abbott says everyone must do their bit to stamp out domestic violence, but questioned whether every tragedy should force a change in government policy or programs.
"That was an unspeakable tragedy, an absolute unspeakable tragedy and just horrific beyond words," Mr Abbott told Fairfax Radio.
"As for domestic violence, all of us have got to do everything we humanly can as citizens and as officials to work against it.
"If we hear of anything untoward, we should take appropriate action and if it's police or judicial officials, we've got to act very swiftly on the basis of any credible evidence."
Mr Abbott says the government has a national plan to deal with domestic violence.
"I am sure that everyone in this field will be galvanised to be even more vigilant as a result of this, but I'm not sure every tragedy requires a change of policy or every tragedy requires a new program," he said.
"What we need to ensure is that everyone does his or her job as well as we humanly can.
"The awful tragedy of life is that sometimes terrible things happen."
