❓ The Minister outlines government actions to support victims of family and domestic violence during the COVID-19 pandemic, including legislative reforms enabling online restraining order applications and increased penalties for breaches. They also highlight corporate contributions and community efforts to address the issue.
AnsweredQoN 333Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
FAMILY AND DOMESTIC
VIOLENCE
333. Ms J.M. FREEMAN to the Minister for Prevention of
Family and Domestic Violence:
I refer to the increased risk that
face some victims of family and domestic violence due to isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Can the minister outline to the
house how the government is making it easier and less stressful for
victims of family and domestic violence to seek protection from perpetrators?
VIOLENCE
333. Ms J.M. FREEMAN to the Minister for Prevention of
Family and Domestic Violence:
I refer to the increased risk that
face some victims of family and domestic violence due to isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Can the minister outline to the
house how the government is making it easier and less stressful for
victims of family and domestic violence to seek protection from perpetrators?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for her question.
Over the past two weeks in Australia, five women have been killed violently: two of those women were in Western Australia. We
still have a lot of work to do to address the high levels of domestic violence. Unfortunately, those high levels are likely to be exacerbated by the
conditions around COVID-19; that is, the fear and uncertainty around the pandemic;
the extra pressures that go with social isolation and lockdowns; the controls;
the opportunities for perpetrating violence that we see in a shutdown
environment; and perhaps some added financial pressure as well. For that
reason, the Attorney General and I worked to expedite elements of the very
comprehensive legislative reform that is before the Western Australian
Parliament. Members would be aware that we have moved a raft of reforms through
the Legislative Assembly and that the Family Violence Legislation Reform Bill is soon to be debated in the upper
house. However, provisions were contained within that comprehensive bill
that we had an opportunity to put into force to try to give some extra
protections to victims of domestic violence under
the current pandemic conditions. Those provisions are now law and are in force.
Those provisions go to the question the member for Mirrabooka raises. It meets
an election commitment that the government would make restraining orders easier
and less traumatic for victims to obtain. As a result of the protections that
were put in place, the Family Violence Legislation Reform (COVID-19 Response)
Act amends the Sentencing Act, the Sentence Administration Act, the Bail
Act and the Restraining Orders Act so that restraining orders can now be
applied for online. That still needs to be done through a registered legal
service such as Legal Aid, the Aboriginal Legal Service, Aboriginal Family Law
Services or community legal services. However, anyone can contact those agencies
by phone or in person and be assisted with their lodgement of the restraining
order application. Of course, people can still lodge an application directly
with the court.
Just this week the regulations
relating to substituted service also came into force. That means that a state
of emergency is one of the conditions by which the police can allow that
substituted service for a violence restraining order that has taken place and
that can be put in force quickly. The other provisions that have been put in
place allow for the court to impose a requirement that an offender be subject
to electronic monitoring; that a judicial officer include electronic monitoring
as a home detention bail condition. There is a separate offence for a breach of
a family violence restraining order and an increase in the penalty for a breach
of a family violence restraining order from $6 000 to $10 000.
We are taking this issue seriously.
We have a dedicated minister, but we also have a dedicated cabinet and a dedicated
government that is not only cooperating and backing up that cooperation with a combined
effort across portfolios, but also
harnessing the will of the community to put an end to these high levels of
violence. As an example of that, I would like to acknowledge a couple of
corporates that have stepped up during the current pandemic. Woodside has
contributed, I think, $500 000 to some domestic violence and homelessness
services in the current crisis. Newmont Corporation contacted the Women's
Council for Domestic and Family Violence Services and offered some financial
assistance. This is on the back of other efforts by a number of large
organisations to not only support victims who might be working for them, but
also take an active role in preventing domestic violence. An example is Rio Tinto, a large employer in
Australia and a large employer of men, which is doing active bystander training amongst its workforce. These are all
examples of a combined effort, but an effort that is led by the McGowan government, which is determined to stop the violence.
Over the past two weeks in Australia, five women have been killed violently: two of those women were in Western Australia. We
still have a lot of work to do to address the high levels of domestic violence. Unfortunately, those high levels are likely to be exacerbated by the
conditions around COVID-19; that is, the fear and uncertainty around the pandemic;
the extra pressures that go with social isolation and lockdowns; the controls;
the opportunities for perpetrating violence that we see in a shutdown
environment; and perhaps some added financial pressure as well. For that
reason, the Attorney General and I worked to expedite elements of the very
comprehensive legislative reform that is before the Western Australian
Parliament. Members would be aware that we have moved a raft of reforms through
the Legislative Assembly and that the Family Violence Legislation Reform Bill is soon to be debated in the upper
house. However, provisions were contained within that comprehensive bill
that we had an opportunity to put into force to try to give some extra
protections to victims of domestic violence under
the current pandemic conditions. Those provisions are now law and are in force.
Those provisions go to the question the member for Mirrabooka raises. It meets
an election commitment that the government would make restraining orders easier
and less traumatic for victims to obtain. As a result of the protections that
were put in place, the Family Violence Legislation Reform (COVID-19 Response)
Act amends the Sentencing Act, the Sentence Administration Act, the Bail
Act and the Restraining Orders Act so that restraining orders can now be
applied for online. That still needs to be done through a registered legal
service such as Legal Aid, the Aboriginal Legal Service, Aboriginal Family Law
Services or community legal services. However, anyone can contact those agencies
by phone or in person and be assisted with their lodgement of the restraining
order application. Of course, people can still lodge an application directly
with the court.
Just this week the regulations
relating to substituted service also came into force. That means that a state
of emergency is one of the conditions by which the police can allow that
substituted service for a violence restraining order that has taken place and
that can be put in force quickly. The other provisions that have been put in
place allow for the court to impose a requirement that an offender be subject
to electronic monitoring; that a judicial officer include electronic monitoring
as a home detention bail condition. There is a separate offence for a breach of
a family violence restraining order and an increase in the penalty for a breach
of a family violence restraining order from $6 000 to $10 000.
We are taking this issue seriously.
We have a dedicated minister, but we also have a dedicated cabinet and a dedicated
government that is not only cooperating and backing up that cooperation with a combined
effort across portfolios, but also
harnessing the will of the community to put an end to these high levels of
violence. As an example of that, I would like to acknowledge a couple of
corporates that have stepped up during the current pandemic. Woodside has
contributed, I think, $500 000 to some domestic violence and homelessness
services in the current crisis. Newmont Corporation contacted the Women's
Council for Domestic and Family Violence Services and offered some financial
assistance. This is on the back of other efforts by a number of large
organisations to not only support victims who might be working for them, but
also take an active role in preventing domestic violence. An example is Rio Tinto, a large employer in
Australia and a large employer of men, which is doing active bystander training amongst its workforce. These are all
examples of a combined effort, but an effort that is led by the McGowan government, which is determined to stop the violence.
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