According to the Readiness to Tackle Domestic Violence against Women report, which was released on Monday, Wagga’s ability to tackle domestic violence is “somewhere between denial and vague awareness”.

The study is part of an ongoing project aimed at solving the city’s domestic violence problem, led by Charles Sturt University academic Andreia Schineanu and Wagga Women’s Health Centre (WWHC) researcher Lauren Darley-Bentley.

Ms Darley-Bentley said she wasn’t surprised by the size of the problem they found, but she was shocked at how unprepared Wagga was to deal with it.

“We know regional areas have higher rates of domestic violence from other research, but I was hoping we would be more ready than this,” Ms Darley-Bentley said. “We need to understand the issue – what it looks like – because it’s very much hidden.”

Of particular concern were misconceptions held by Wagga’s leaders, who were labelled as primarily male and conservative.

“We have band-aid solutions to the problem,” Doctor Schineanu said. “There are services to support victims but there aren’t really efforts to prevent it before it occurs.”

The study found the vast majority of Wagga’s domestic violence victims were women harmed by men, but it found a small proportion of male victims who experienced verbal and psychological abuse.

The researchers surveyed organisations considered likely to encounter domestic violence. Just over half of the respondents said they had a program or service that directly addressed domestic violence, but one fifth said those programs were in same way ineffective.

Doctor Schineanu said there was a clear need for a streamlined and unified approach to combating domestic violence.

“Now we have a baseline and we can measure any future programs against it to ensure funds are spent effectively,” Dr Schineanu said. “Most services are at capacity and any new cases will put a strain on services.”

Jan Roberts, one of the founders of WWHC, said there was a challenge ahead for everyone who wanted to see an end to domestic violence.

“The women of Wagga can’t do it alone,” Ms Roberts said.

“We need and desire the men of Wagga to join the project as equal partners.”