Evidence needs to steer anti-violence cash

The federal government is keeping track of taxpayer money being spent on efforts to reduce domestic violence but it can't prove whether it's having any effect.

An audit of the National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and their Children finds the Department of Social Services has set up effective governance arrangements to oversee the spending.

So far, about $723 million has been committed to the plan since it started 2011, including the $328 million Prime Minister Scott Morrison pledged in March for its fourth stage.

But the Australian National Audit Office says the department can't demonstrate that it is prioritising the spending based on evidence or that its actions are contributing to reducing levels of violence.

There isn't enough performance monitoring and evaluation to know if Australia is on track to achieve the overarching target of "a significant and sustained reduction in violence against women and their children".

"There is scope to better target research activities towards projects that identify what works for whom and in what contexts," says the audit, released this week.

The department has agreed to the auditor's five recommendations, including that it develop an implementation plan for the fourth iteration and that it increase its public reporting and transparency.