ONE of Australia’s most prominent advocates for women’s safety has used an international conference in Adelaide to call for a halt to “the slaughter in our neighbourhoods” caused by family violence.

“We can’t go on like this,” implored Natasha Stott Despoja, who is Australia’s Ambassador for Women and Girls.

“It’s time to stop the slaughter in our neighbourhoods.”

The South Australian former senator, who also chairs advocacy body Our Watch, opened the “Prevalent and Preventable” conference at the Adelaide Convention Centre.

It continues Wednesday and Thursday and will feature a panel discussion today with 2015 Australian of the Year Rosie Batty, whose son Luke was killed by his father.

She will speak about how children can be “agents for change” in the anti-violence debate.

Ms Stott Despoja told the audience that “young boys aren’t born thinking that they need to exercise power and control over others to be a real man”.

“Our society teaches them that,” she said.

“The good news is ... violence against women is preventable. While this is a complex issue, at its heart, it is simple. We must begin with gender equality and respect for all women.”

Ms Stott Despoja drew comparisons with campaigns to reduce smoking and improve road safety, saying these were not achieved through “a single advertisement on TV”.

She said society could “not expect this change to stick” unless the message was reinforced in schools, workplaces and homes.

media_camera Rosie Batty will participate in a panel discussion.

Addressing the opening session, SA Status of Women Minister Zoe Bettison conceded that the Government had not always given the necessary support to frontline workers in the sector.

“We haven’t always backed you up to do your job,” she said.

Ms Bettison said she could not yet comment on the Government’s response to the hundreds of submissions it has received on a domestic violence discussion paper it released in July. But she promised a response in the “near future”.

Ms Bettison said the Government’s domestic violence court assistance service had already helped 450 women and, by February next year, 20 Government departments would achieve White Ribbon accreditation.

Rosie Batty's powerful address on domestic violence Rosie Batty's powerful address on domestic violence

The Foreign Affairs Department has supported speakers from Fiji, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands to attend.

Antoinette Braybrook, who heads the Victorian Aboriginal Family Violence Prevention and Legal Service, yesterday told attendees that indigenous women were 10 times more likely to be killed in an act of violence than other women.

She also revealed that domestic violence was the primary reason for 35 per cent of cases where Aboriginal children were removed from their parents.

Ms Braybrook lamented that “our nation rarely hears these tragic stories” of violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women.

“So many tell us it is better to stay silent about violence ... they have been burnt too many times by the system,” she said.