The murder of a woman and her two children near Adelaide last week highlights the national family violence emergency, former senator Natasha Stott-Despoja says.
Adeline Yvette Rigney-Wilson and her two children were killed at a home at Hillier, north of Adelaide, and her partner has been charged with her murder.
Ms Stott-Despoja now serves as chair of domestic violence campaign group Our Watch.
She says the deaths brought to seven the number of South Australians killed this year and the number of women killed across Australia to 31.
"The statistics are chilling. The death toll keeps climbing," she said.
"We are in crisis and it needs to be addressed."
On Monday, Our Watch will bring government officials, community groups and education officials together in Adelaide to talk about ways to drive national change in the culture, behaviours and power imbalances that lead to violence against women and their children.
Our Watch chief executive Mary Barry said it was a positive sign that South Australia was interested in developing a consistent approach to preventing violence.
"In Australia, one woman almost every week is killed by a current or former partner," she said in a statement.
"However, the good news is that violence against women and their children is preventable and Australia has a unique opportunity to lead the world on this issue.
"We know that to prevent violence against women we must work in a consistent and coordinated way across all areas where we live, work and play."
Ms Barry said while there was no single cause of violence against women and their children, evidence showed there were certain factors that consistently predicted higher levels of violence.
These included beliefs and behaviours reflecting disrespect for women, low support for gender equality and adherence to rigid or stereotypical gender roles.
* National domestic violence helpline: 1800 737 732 or 1800RESPECT. In an emergency call triple-zero.
