He had shown signs of violence during their 18-month relationship. The first serious incident occurred when he headbutted her in the face. Another time, he dragged her off the couch and she hit her head on the corner of a lounge room coffee table.

Kate*, a petite woman with a blonde ponytail, is calm now as she describes the terror, but she repeatedly refers to the lasting trauma and is still having counselling to deal with it.

Her most terrifying moment was when her life and that of her unborn baby were threatened. ''I tried to get away … He threw me on the ground. Then he threw me on the couch and started a tirade of abuse: 'I'm going to cut the baby out of you, I'm going to kill you.' He was like a madman,'' Kate says.

''I was sitting there thinking, 'I'm going to get carted out of here in a body bag.' He kept turning around and hitting me in the face with a stubby and he bit me on the hand.''

The next day Kate, who is in her 40s, reported the incident to the police. She lived on the same public housing estate as the man. She returned home because she felt there was nowhere else to go. ''He was very apologetic, he said he'd get help, and you want to believe him,'' she says.

But, after breaking down and telling a hospital social worker at an antenatal appointment, Kate was referred to Berry Street Victoria's domestic violence service. At first, she was reluctant to accept help. But, after another violent incident, Kate called police and the man, the father of her baby, was arrested after they tracked him down a few days later.

Ken Lay, appointed police Chief Commissioner in 2011, has spoken out regularly about the need to protect people from family violence, and police activity concerning the issue has increased enormously in recent years.

The number of family violence units within Victoria Police has tripled since November 2011, with more than 30 now operating across the state. Between 2010 and 2012, assaults arising from family incidents in Victoria rose from 16,740 to almost 20,000.

This increased activity has led to enormous pressure on the court and welfare systems. Berry Street Victoria's Northern Family and Domestic Violence Service, which supports women in northern Melbourne, received 2089 family violence referrals from police in 2009-10.

By 2012-13, these had more than doubled to 5010. This financial year, referrals have reached 5700 with three months still to go.

Although greater effort by police in tackling family violence has been welcome, community concern about the threat to women and children from repeat offenders remains high.

It spiked last month with the death of 11-year-old Luke Batty, killed . by his father, Greg Anderson, at a cricket oval in Tyabb. There was an intervention order in place against Anderson but it allowed for contact in public places. Luke's mother, Rosie Batty, later revealed that she had experienced years of violence and threats from Anderson.

Police are aware of the need to improve identifying and punishing of repeat perpetrators of family violence in the wake of Luke's death.

''In the coming months, we'll be working alongside other agencies to consider how we might better support women and children affected by violence,'' a Victoria Police spokesman says.

Domestic Violence Victoria chief executive Fiona McCormack says repeat offenders, such as Anderson, need to be handled more effectively.

''What's happening is a huge gap in monitoring and dealing with men who are a serious risk to others,'' McCormack says.

''If you look at Rosie Batty, she was putting up with that for years. [In those circumstances] women and children have to keep contacting police, keep going back to court, keep relocating. The constant churn of service utilisation costs us enormously and, more importantly, we've got women and children living in abject fear who have been terrorised for years and years.''

In January, The Age reported that the number of repeat offenders had more than doubled in the past five years.

Last year, police charged 61 people who had faced between 10 and 19 previous family violence charges.

One initiative to tackle some of the worst offenders is the Risk Assessment Management Panel, a pilot program in the City of Hume and City of Greater Geelong that started in 2011. But it is funded under the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness, which runs out in June, and no one knows yet whether the federal government will renew the agreement.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott told Fairfax Radio this month that family service agencies should not worry (about the partnership agreement) and all would be revealed in the May federal budget. However, agencies are already preparing to cut back staff and services because they don't have guaranteed funding.

A spokeswoman for state Housing Minister Wendy Lovell said she was disappointed by the federal government's position on the $1 billion agreement, which includes many family violence programs.

''Minister Lovell is urging the Prime Minister to immediately commit to funding [the agreement], as vulnerable Victorians, family violence services and the homelessness sector cannot afford to wait until the May federal budget,'' she said.

The Risk Assessment Management Panel brings a range of agencies together, including Victoria Police, Corrections Victoria, child protection services and Centrelink. They meet monthly to share information about cases and create action plans.

Erin Davis, who co-ordinates Berry Street's City of Hume pilot, says RAMP has covered 80 extreme cases in which there was a risk of death or serious harm.

''A case might be referred if police have not been able to locate the perpetrator or if they're breaching intervention orders multiple times,'' she says. ''What we know about family violence deaths is that different information held by different services might give you an inkling that there is something high-risk happening … If we're not meeting to share that, we're losing that opportunity.''

Davis says Kate's case was referred to RAMP. Police knew the seriousness of the situation, all agencies knew her safety plan for the birth of her child and the Housing Department was able to move quickly and rehouse her safely.

Davis says RAMP is based on a British program successfully implemented throughout England and Wales. Under UK law, agencies are compelled to share information. Domestic Violence Victoria's Fiona McCormack wants similar laws here and to see the RAMP model rolled out across Victoria.

It is well known that family violence affects all kinds of people. It is also a sad fact that women with a disability and those from an indigenous background are heavily over-represented in family violence statistics. Women who have migrated from culturally diverse backgrounds are also highly vulnerable to becoming trapped in violent, abusive relationships.

''They can be very dependent on their spouse. They can be isolated, disadvantaged and at high risk of family violence,'' says Maya Avdibegovic, chief executive of the state-funded InTouch Multicultural Centre Against Family Violence.

Dr Manjula O'Connor, a psychiatrist and executive director of the non-government Australasian Centre for Human Rights and Health, has been outspoken about family violence within Victoria's Indian community.

She is a senior fellow at Melbourne University's School of Population and Global Health and a vice-president of the Australia-India Society.

''We have become so politically correct that we don't dare talk about family violence as an issue within a particular cultural group,'' O'Connor says.

She says that when she began speaking out about family violence she was met with great hostility from her own community. But she was determined not to pretend the problem didn't exist. ''Because then what happens? Nothing.''

She says, through awareness-raising, Indian women are no longer as afraid to report family violence to police.

''We created an approach that was Indian-culture specific … but that isn't necessarily going to work for the Turkish community, for example.''

Meanwhile, Kate says she continues to live in fear. Her ex-partner was convicted of assault and served a short jail term. She has an intervention order against him that runs out in May and she will apply to extend it.

''I worry if he sees me on the street one day that he might follow me, or try and take the baby. If he gets his hands on [my son] he is capable of anything.''

* Not her real name.

Breaking free of a violent childhood

After being on the receiving end of his father's furious fists, Nick's mother would sometimes end up in hospital. Nick hated it. But he thought it was normal. As a child, Nick also suffered violence at the hands of his father. He thought that was normal, too.

''When you are growing up in a violent environment, you don't know any different,'' he says. ''I'm talking about physical, emotional and psychological violence, and controlling behaviour.''

For Nick, a father-of-two from Melbourne's northern suburbs, the scars were deep and lasting. ''I believe I've been angry all my life.''

When Nick, now 45, entered adult relationships with women, he would vent this anger by yelling, verbal abuse and controlling behaviour. He began to display similar traits to his father but stopped short of being physically violent.

''I could be very intimidating with that sort of standover behaviour … making people feel threatened,'' he says.

When his daughter was born nine years ago, he realised he had to change. He found a men's behaviour change program at Kildonan Uniting Care, which covers Melbourne's northern suburbs. He has attended several 22-week programs to help him manage his anger.

Nick's situation highlights the often inter-generational nature of family violence. ''My grandfather was also a very violent man, as are some of my father's siblings.''

Nick is unusual in that he voluntarily sought help at a change program. Most attendees are the result of court orders or referrals from other services.

Kildonan Uniting Care's program deals with more than 200 men each year. But the program, like most in Victoria, is struggling to cope with a huge influx of referrals.

Chief executive Stella Avramopoulos says these programs keep women and children safe. ''Men can and do change.''

Nick says: ''I have little doubt that my relationships with my children would have been much worse [if I hadn't attended the programs]. They would have been at risk of growing up in an environment where they felt unsafe.''

Nick has custody of his daughter and shares equal custody of his son. He has had little contact with his father, who now lives overseas. ''He remains a very nasty, hurtful and vindictive man,'' Nick says. ''My mother feels very hurt to bring up stuff [about the abuse]. She has been affected greatly.''