Sons must respect mothers, sisters: PM

The media has a powerful role in helping shape the language Australians use about women, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says.

Mr Turnbull was speaking at a Media Stand Up Against Violence towards Women and their Children event at Parliament House in Canberra.

"The single most important thing each and every one of us can do as parents especially, as fathers and as mothers, is to make sure that our sons respect their mothers and their sisters," he said.

"The fact that it occurs within a relationship makes it no less violence than violence that occurs on the streets," Mr Turnbull said.

"And it has to be seen for what it is, a crime that must be stamped out as surely as we prosecute violence that occurs in the streets and anywhere else in the country."

The government has funded the development of principles to help the media report domestic violence, especially avoiding victim blaming and trivialising or sensationalising incidents.

Mr Turnbull said new research about community attitudes, to be released on Wednesday, would show too many people excuse, diminish and blame the victim when it came to violence against women.

"Now that is utterly unacceptable. These attitudes have to change."

The media played a critical leadership role in challenging and shaping the community attitudes that exist in order to break the cycle, he said.