Trends and issues in crime and criminal justice

Filicide is the killing of a child by a parent or parent equivalent. Between 2000-01 and 2011-12, there were 238 incidents of filicide in Australia involving the death of 284 children. This paper examines the characteristics of custodial parents, non-custodial parents and step-parents charged with the murder or manslaughter of their children. Offender circumstances and characteristics differed according to the offender's gender and custodial relationship with the victim. As filicide is difficult to predict, intervention strategies should focus on families with multiple risk factors and address the needs of parents as well as those of children at risk.