Mark Dreyfus (Isaacs, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Attorney General) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support the motion moved by the member for Moreton and thank him for his continued commitment to improving Australia's family law system and ensuring appropriate protections for victims of family violence. As shadow Attorney-General, I am deeply concerned by the government's harsh cuts to Commonwealth-funded community legal assistance. The number of unrepresented litigants in the Family Court and in the Federal Circuit Court—which, of course, deals with most of the family law work in Australia—has increased under this government as a result of those cuts to legal assistance.

Commonwealth funding for both legal aid services and legal assistance services ensures that everyone has access to legal representation. It is this assistance which ensures that victims of family violence are not forced to attend court without proper legal representation. The provision of legal assistance also ensures that victims of family violence are not subjected to vicious attacks from their abuser within the courtroom. Regrettably, our current family law system does allow this to occur. A self-represented perpetrator of family violence is currently entitled to cross-examine the other party—a victim of family violence—and any other witnesses called by them in order to test their evidence. There is, of course, a judicial discretion to prevent the very worst forms of abuse, but, otherwise, our family law system currently allows perpetrators of family violence to personally cross-examine their victims within the courtroom. This is unacceptable because it can amount to a continuation of the abuse. Labor would not allow this to continue were we in government and our election policy stated just that.

Labor would ensure that no victims of family violence have to choose between either seeking a resolution through the courts and facing their abuser or accepting a lower property settlement out of court. These victims may sometimes even be forced to accept childcare arrangements which are not in the best interests of the child because they are making a choice not to go to court, where a judge would determine those questions, in fear of the potential for cross-examination by their abuser. It is unacceptable that victims of physical, emotional or psychological abuse should have to risk experiencing a continuation of that abuse through the Family Court system just to be able to finally move on with their lives. The fear of confronting the perpetrator of the abuse in court may prevent some victims of family violence from seeking the assistance that they need from the court system.

In September 2015, Women's Legal Services Australia conducted a survey on the experience of female survivors of violence being personally cross-examined by their abusers in the family law courts. That survey found that 45 per cent of the participants who had settled their family law matter before trial said that the prospect of being personally cross-examined by their abuser was a significant factor in their decision to settle. Women's Legal Services Australia says that the experience of being cross-examined by an abuser can retraumatise the victim and allow the perpetrator to use the court proceedings to further inflict abuse on their victim.

The family law system is able to be used as a tool by manipulative, controlling, domineering and abusive people to exercise power over their victims. During cross-examination, a perpetrator is given a platform for engaging in emotional abuse. Perpetrators can ask ostensibly valid questions which are deliberately or strategically loaded with hidden meanings or threats. A perpetrator of family violence also has intimate knowledge of the victim, and subtle reminders of this can act as a deterrent to the victim giving proper evidence. At the same time the government, this government, is cutting funding to the very services that could provide assistance.

On 30 June 2017 funding to community legal centres under the existing agreement will drop by 30 per cent. This is despite the Productivity Commission, in an excellent inquiry and report, recommending that funding for civil legal assistance services 'should be increased by around $200 million', and that recommendation was made in 2014.

Family Violence Prevention Legal Services, which serve Indigenous women, have been cut from the Attorney-General's Department entirely and they have been forced to tender for the entirety of their Commonwealth funding. Many centres have missed out on the funding rounds altogether.

If the government reversed their harsh and unfair cuts to community legal assistance then victims would—

Ms Henderson interjecting—

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