Domestic and Family Violence Protection and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2016
Friday 19 August 2016 @ 1.44 p.m. | Crime
The Queensland Government has introduced the Domestic and Family Violence Protection and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2016 into its Legislative Assembly on 16 August 2016. The Bill has the purpose of providing victims of domestic violence with access to earlier and more tailored protection as well as ensuring that victim justice is at the forefront of the justice response to domestic violence.
Background to the Bill
A special taskforce was assembled to look into domestic and family violence in Queensland. On 28 February 2015, the special taskforce released its report, Not Now, Not Ever: Putting an End to Domestic and Family Violence in Queensland proposing a series of recommendations and amendments to existing domestic violence legislation. A number of the recommendations have already since been enacted as legislation. One of the remaining recommendations was for an overarching review of the Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act 2012 to ensure it provides a cohesive legislative framework that incorporates all the reforms recommended by the taskforce.
Changes under the Bill
According to a media statement released by the Attorney General and the Minister for Communities, Women and Youth, Minister for Child Safety and Minister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence jointly, the new Bill will ensure that police are allowed to act more quickly to protect women and children fleeing from domestic violence. Magistrates may also issue domestic violence orders for longer periods and must consider modifying any existing family court orders to better protect children. Specifically, the Bill would:
- Simplify police process and procedure to allow them to provide immediate protection victims and for the first time ever, children, through expanded Police Protection Notices;
- Clarify that a court may provide for a DVO when a victim has been threatened or has fears for their safety;
- Provide for the future implementation of automatic recognition of DVOs across Australia under a National Domestic Violence Order Scheme;
- Require courts to consider a more tailored approach to issuing DVO conditions;
- Remain protection orders in force for a minimum of five years unless a court is satisfied of the reasons for a shorter order; and
- Establish a comprehensive information sharing framework to ensure that agencies providing specialist domestic and family violence services and prescribed entities can share information appropriately with each other to assess and manage risk.
In her second reading speech to the Legislative Assembly, Minister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence, Shannon Fentiman, promises that the Government will continue to commit to remedy the ‘crisis facing our community.’ She further said:
“This government is continuing to do all we can to support victims and their families, demand further accountability for perpetrators and strengthen the police and justice response to domestic and family violence. As we implement other task force recommendations and the changes in this bill, we will continue to consider whether further amendments are required to ensure that the Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act remains a contemporary legislative framework to support the reform of the domestic and family violence system in Queensland.”
TimeBase is an independent, privately owned Australian legal publisher specialising in the online delivery of accurate, comprehensive and innovative legislation research tools including LawOne and unique Point-in-Time Products.
Sources:
Domestic and Family Violence Protection and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2016, Bill, Explanatory Notes and Speech as published on LawOne
Palaszczuk Government drives domestic and family violence reforms
