Transcript
[Law Week Hypothetical 2012]
[Continues from part 5]
>> Kay McGrath: Well thank you Heather.
Now it's probably time to talk about the new Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act that was passed by State Parliament
earlier this year. The old Act was 20 years old. This new Act, hopefully, is going to modernise and toughen the Act up.
Can I invite Megan Giles from the Department of Communities to explain the major changes and how they're going to work? Megan?
>> Megan Giles: Okay, well I can explain the major changes, how they'll work is up to our colleagues in the courts.
Yes, so as Kay said, the Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act 2012 was passed on 16 February of this year. I think it was at 6:29pm and Parliament rose and was dissolved before caretaker at 6:30.
>> Kay McGrath: It just snuck through, you're saying?
>> Megan Giles: It did and the previous legislation, the Act that's in force now, is the Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act of 1989, so it's been 23 years since we've had major reform in domestic violence laws in Queensland and what we know from evidence and research done by people like Heather and from working with people who've experienced domestic and family violence from people like Amanda, who work closely with those who experience violence, has significantly grown in those 23 years.
So also our society values and what we say as a community is important have changed over that period of time.
So it was a major opportunity for us to review the legislation to ensure that it reflected the contemporary values and our understandings of what domestic and family violence is.
The new Act aims to improve safety for people who are victims of domestic violence. It aims to reduce the exposure of children who experience domestic and family violence. It aims to make people who commit domestic and family violence more accountable for their actions.
We also wanted to update the legislation|to use more contemporary language and to be drafted in a way that's more consistent with the way that we write laws now and we wanted to provide clearer guidance to the courts and police who use the legislation in how they exercise their functions and powers.
Some of the key reforms are - we've included in the legislation a preamble and principles for how the legislation to guide how it should be administered. Those two things are often seen in contemporary legislation, particularly that deals with human rights issues or social policy type issues.
The leading principle in the Act is that the safety and welfare of people who experience domestic and family violence|is the paramount consideration when the legislation is being implemented, which is an important principle to have as your paramount consideration.
We've included new definitions in the legislation.
So at the moment for example, the definition of domestic and family violence is quite incident focussed. It's around a particular act at a particular time. It's quite closely linked to criminal acts and criminal behaviours, so we've tried to incorporate some of those concepts that Heather's already spoken about today, around emotional abuse, psychological abuse, patterns of behaviour over time and economic abuse.
So we've tried really hard to reflect that this is a protective jurisdiction.
The making of domestic violence orders is a civil remedy; it's aimed at adding to criminal processes to provide extra protection for victims.
So the new legislation will focus instead on is it necessary for the protection of the person who most fears or is most likely to experience domestic violence - is it necessary for their protection that an order should be made rather than the behaviour of the person who commits violence.
We've also focussed on the exposure of children to domestic and family violence. So at the moment children of a relationship, for example, are just treated the same way as other people that can be named on domestic violence orders. The new Act will specifically focus on children.
We know a lot now that we didn't know in the 80s around the harmful impacts for children who are exposed to domestic and family violence. So we've tried to pick up in the legislation by including a specific provision around what exposed to domestic and family violence means for children and putting special provisions around when a court should consider naming a child on an order.
We've included new police powers. So, we spoke to a lot of police officers during the development of the legislation. Some of the things they spoke to us about are their frustration in a lot of circumstances when they're called to a domestic violence incident, they've got both parties there, they didn't feel that they have a lot of powers while they've got both parties there at the heat of the moment, to provide protection straight away.
So one of the things we've introduced is the power for police to issue a police protection notice, which requires the person who's committed violence to be of good behaviour straight away. That notice then becomes an application to the court for a protection order so there's some safeguards and accountabilities around police practices.
We've increased the penalties. The maximum penalty for breaching a domestic violence order will increase to three years imprisonment and we have introduced a new order called a Voluntary Intervention Order, which enables the court, when it's considering any proceeding under the Act, to make an order that the person who's committed violence participate in a program or approved counselling process to address the issues that have led to the violence.
So I think that gives a bit of a summary of some of the things that will come into effect on 17 September.
>> Kay McGrath: 17 September, thank you Megan.
Obviously a great deal of thought and long hours have gone into that.
They takeout, though: the laws have been strengthened to provide greater safety for victims of domestic and family violence and also to see the perpetrators being held more accountable for their actions.
Mark, Megan mentioned this new power for the police, new police-issued temporary protection notices you can issue now. What benefit are they going to be to the victims of domestic violence?
>> Inspector Mark Wheatley: Probably the best way, Kay, is to look at the scenario that has been the theme for today, with Jacob and Samantha.
In that situation police will still have the option of taking Jacob away if they consider that there's an urgent need to take him away for her safety or that of the little boy.
In fact, the new Act strengthens that we - has extended that time period as well, to eight hours, which has been another thing the police service has expressed a lot of frustration with - four hours just wasn't enough.
>> Kay McGrath: Mmm. To cool down.
>> Inspector Mark Wheatley: Yes, well. Especially if there was liquor and drug use involved as well.
So now what the notice will do in that scenario is that police can issue that on the spot if they find domestic violence. That gives a lot of autonomy to police officers.
There are a lot of safeguards, as Megan mentioned, that the officers need a supervising officer to give that approval and there's a few other safeguards approached with it because we're very conscious of the fact that it is a very unique power.
It's unique in Australia, from what we know, there are notices that other jurisdictions can issue but they're for emergency provisions by a senior officer, usually, whereas we're quite comfortable with the power we've got for emergency provisions. We take the respondent away and use that process through the charge system. So this is a constable with five months' service - two months' service can issue this with the approval of his officer in charge and that does serve as the application as well. That goes straight to court.
So it's timely, it's effective, we're very happy with how this will provide support to people who need it - support and safety at a very quick process.
>> Kay McGrath: I'd imagine it would be very useful too, for situations in remote or rural Queensland.
>> Inspector Mark Wheatley: Absolutely, absolutely and that's one thing the Act does do.
The new Act is regardless of where you live in Queensland you will be safe; you will have that same power.
Interestingly, if that notice is breached, there's only a very small number of conditions that we can place on that and one is the mandatory condition of being of good behaviour, so, don't commit domestic violence and if that is breached within that period of time before the respondent gets to court - in this case, Jacob - usually in the metropolitan area it's going to be five to six days, that will mean, if they do breach it, there's a two-year imprisonment penalty attached to that if there's - on appropriate cases.
>> Kay McGrath: Thanks Inspector.
[Part 6 ends - continues in part 7]