NEWS

Changes to Domestic and Family Violence Laws

The Domestic and Family Violence Protection Bill 2011 was introduced on 6 September 2011. A committee report was tabled on 17 November 2011. As yet, this Bill has not been passed by parliament.

The proposed amendments include an expansion of the meaning of domestic violence to include behaviour that is:

1. physically or sexually abusive; or
2. emotionally or psychologically abusive; or
3. economically abusive; or
4. threatening; or
5. coercive; or
6. in any other way controls or dominates a person and causes the second person to fear for their safety or wellbeing or that of someone else.

In addition, the proposed amendments go on to provide examples of domestic violence behaviours, including:

1. causing personal injury to a person or threatening to do so;
2. coercing a person to engage in sexual activity or attempting to do so;
3. damaging a person's property or threatening to do so;
4. depriving a person of the person's liberty or threatening to do so;
5. threatening a person with the death or injury of a person, a child of the person, or someone else;
6. threatening to commit suicide or self-harm so as to torment, intimidate or frighten the person to whom the behaviour is directed;
7. causing or threatening to cause the death of, or injury to, an animal, whether or not the animal belongs to the person to whom the behaviour is directed, so as to control, dominate or coerce the person;
8. unauthorised surveillance of a person (such as reading the person’s SMS messages, monitoring a person's email or social networking account or internet browser history, or using GPS to track a person's movements); and
9. unlawfully stalking a person.

If the Bill is passed, Police will be able to issue “Police Protection Notices” that provide for the immediate protection of victims of domestic and family violence, requiring a respondent to be of good behaviour towards the aggrieved and not commit domestic violence. Respondents could also be restrained from contacting the victim or entering their homes for up to 24 hours as a “cool down condition”. A Police Protection Notice would provide short-term protection for victims of domestic and family violence until the matter could be heard by the Court.

If passed, the proposed amendments also increase the maximum penalty for breaches of a Domestic Violence Order which would be able to be imposed by the Magistrates Court from two years imprisonment, to three.

The proposed amendments also address the recognition of interstate Orders, and provide further some mechanisms for the registration of interstate Orders.

In a Joint Media Release on 18 November 2011, the Attorney-General and the Minister for Home Affairs and Justice announced that the Standing Council of Law and Justice are considering draft legislation to implement a National scheme for domestic and family violence orders (DVOs). The Joint Media Release reports that:

“Once enacted by jurisdictions, the legislation will allow persons protected by a DVO to move across State and Territory borders and remain covered, instead of being required to register their DVO in a new jurisdiction to maintain protection.

The States and Territories committed to work with the Commonwealth to finalise the legislation for agreement by SCLJ in early 2012, with the aim of implementing the national DVO scheme by early 2013.

The national DVO scheme demonstrates the benefits of taking a collaborative approach and I would like to thank my colleagues for their commitment to providing better safeguards for victims of domestic violence,”  Mr McClelland said.

"We will continue to monitor the progress of the Domestic and Family Violence Protection Bill 2011 and advise of any further developments."

Should you have any questions about how the Domestic and Family Violence Act 1989 presently affects you, please contact us.