Castlereagh local area commander Detective Superintendent Jim Stewart said domestic violence went towards destroying the family, having flow-on effects felt not only by the victim but also other family members and friends.

Walgett-based Detective Superintendent Stewart is NSW Police's domestic violence sponsor in the western region, with responsibility for rolling out the organisation's policies to tackle issue.

"We must be effective in what we do, we must work towards a society that is capable of dealing with the problem through its processes," he said.

"In other words I want to encourage people to talk about it, to understand that it's not normal and if they do see it, do something about it, let us know."

The Detective Superintendent and colleagues from NSW Police were one of between 15 and 20 services present at Friday's White Ribbon Forum, organised by the Dubbo Violence Prevention Collective.

Also in attendance were journalist Mike Munro, and Kirrily Dear, who last year completed a 12-day, 860-kilometre, multi-stage ultramarathon through regional NSW to raise awareness for the White Ribbon foundation.

Detective Superintendant Stewart said when children and other people saw offences of this kind it could become "a norm or a habit or a way of life".

"That's the message coming from this forum - violence is not a normal thing," he said.

"Resolution is a normal thing.

"Talking is a normal thing.

"Violence is not."

He said the event had been a great success with the involvement of so many agencies.

"What I'm encouraged about is how we are now trying as a community, as a group of agencies coming together, and the community to work towards this particular problem," he said.

The forum included the screening of a documentary about Ms Dear's White Ribbon Ultramarathon and the athlete also encouraged the community that it could effect change.

"I really want people to understand that while it is a big problem, we've got massive problem here, that if we actually take the time to look at it and face up to that, we can actually really make a change and improve it," she said.

"There's an enormous amount we can be doing as a community and it's really simple stuff it doesn't require most people to fundamentally change their lives or sacrifice anything.

"We just need people to start asking questions and taking more interest and taking time to read articles and get involved in local initiatives that will help break that silence around domestic violence and just to learn better ways of doing things."