And the men most likely to commit domestic violence are...

Tradesmen are most likely to commit domestic violence, a counselling program manager has told a parliamentary crime inquiry.

The Courier Mail reports that Rosemary O’Malley, who runs counselling programs for the Domestic Violence Protection Centre on the Gold Coast, says the perpetrators in about half the cases she sees are tradies, road workers and gardeners.

Ms O’Malley added that her service had also counselled police officers, lawyers and pastors.

The claim follows news that former governor-general Dame Quentin Bryce will head up a new domestic violence taskforce in the state.

Dame Quentin will oversee a bipartisan panel of state MPs and community representatives who will consult with stakeholders including  families, public sector workers and non-governmental organisations to tackle the problem.

“We didn’t want this to be adversarial, we didn’t want this legalistic, or a process you get in commissions of inquiry,” Premier Campbell Newman told Fairfax Media.

“We want to get to the root of the issues, and come up with some really meaningful responses, whether it be about laws, policing policies and practices, support that’s available, how we support families and protect kids”.

Dame Quentin said violence against women is ‘one of the gravest human rights challenges of our time’. 

“There are about 175 reports of domestic violence incidents every single day and no-one is going to dispute that this is absolutely appalling,” she told reporters.

“I feel a personal and moral obligation to do anything I can to stem the tide of domestic violence,” she said.

“It’s pervasive, it’s insidious and it’s got to be stopped.”

A private member’s bill that Labor introduced to parliament — which will toughen penalties for domestic violence and ensure all victims can access assistance — will form part of the discussion.

That bill is due to be scrutinised in Parliament in October and the taskforce is due to report its recommendations by the end of February, the ABC reports.

There were 12828 breaches of domestic violence orders in QLD in 2013.

Domestic violence was also linked to 18 of the 49 homicides in the state, the ABC reports.