Finding into death of Alicia Maree Little
Deceased
Alicia Maree Little
Demographics
41y, female
Date of death
2017-12-28
Finding date
2022-12-01
Cause of death
Multiple injuries
AI-generated summary
Alicia Maree Little, aged 41, was struck and killed by a motor vehicle driven by her former intimate partner while she was leaving the relationship. The case highlights significant systemic failures in family violence response. A critical clinical concern involves her private psychologist's inadequate response to disclosed physical abuse (black eyes, broken ribs). The psychologist discussed the victim's emotional regulation rather than reassessing family violence risk, representing a missed opportunity for safety planning and referral to specialised support. Mental health practitioners lack mandatory family violence training, particularly in private practice. Police also misidentified Ms Little as the primary aggressor in a 2015 incident where she was assaulted, damaging her confidence in help-seeking systems. Key lessons: mental health clinicians must screen for family violence, understand trauma presentations, and refer victims to specialist services when risk indicators present. Training in family violence dynamics should be mandatory for all mental health professionals.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Error types
Contributing factors
- Perpetration of family violence by intimate partner throughout relationship
- Escalation of controlling, coercive and violent behaviour
- Substance abuse by perpetrator
- Victim's attempt to separate from perpetrator
- Inadequate family violence risk assessment and management by mental health practitioner
- Failure to refer to specialised family violence support services
- Police misidentification of victim as primary aggressor in 2015 incident damaging victim's trust in system
- Victim's loss of confidence in police after 2015 misidentification
- Lack of mandatory family violence training for private mental health practitioners
- Lack of trauma-informed understanding of family violence victim presentations
Coroner's recommendations
- National Federation Reform Council should review registration standards for registered psychologists to introduce mandatory continuing professional development in family violence for private psychologists and private psychiatrists, providing occupation-specific understanding and referral protocols for patients experiencing or suspected of experiencing family violence
Full text
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