Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs, I present the committee's report, entitled Inquiry into family violence orders, together with the minutes of the proceedings.

Report made a parliamentary paper in accordance with standing order 39(e).

by leave—We all know that Australia has been tackling the issue of gendered violence and reviewing and updating the laws and responses that are intended to keep women and children safe. There have been 1,733 female victims of intimate partner homicide in Australia between July 1989 and December 2024, including 35 women who were murdered by their current or former partners in the last year. Despite legislative reforms and other measures, the system we have has failed these women and their children. We want to do everything we can to make sure it doesn't fail others.

This inquiry was focused on: the barriers to safety and fairness for victims-survivors in the state and territory family violence order, FVO, system and the federal family law system; the important intersections between jurisdictions; and the accessibility of services and supports that victims-survivors need to navigate both systems safely and fairly. We heard from victims-survivors of family, domestic and sexual violence and the individuals and organisations who support and advocate for them.

Women leaving abusive relationships must navigate two separate court systems to be protected by family violence orders under state and territory law and to resolve parenting or property disputes arising from separation through the family law courts. This dual system can be time consuming, confusing, costly and retraumatising for victims-survivors and can put them at risk and anchor them to their abusers. For example, once an FVO is obtained the family law courts may then override it and put victims-survivors in harm's way by granting perpetrators access to children. Furthermore, the presence of an FVO is no guarantee of safety. Current or historical FVOs were evident in more than 40 per cent of 224 cases where a male intimate partner murdered a female intimate partner between 2010 and 2018.

There have already been significant recent reforms to the way the family law courts manage and respond to family violence and child abuse risk and share information with state and territory courts and agencies, with more reforms planned. The Australian government provides a range of programs supporting victims-survivors as well as in partnership with the states and territories and it includes legal and non-legal support in the family law system, assisting victims-survivors through the social security and child support systems and providing safe and secure housing.

The Albanese government has recently announced the largest-ever investment in legal assistance—the $3.9 billion National Access to Justice Partnership. This builds on measures already announced to improve access to critical legal and non-legal support for victims-survivors, including a renewed five-year family, domestic and sexual violence national partnership which will deliver more than $700 million in new matched investments from the Australian, state and territory governments, including funding to support those specialist services for women and services supporting children to heal and recover from abuse and violence. Funding is also being directed towards men's behaviour change programs for perpetrators of gendered violence. However, more needs to be done.

I want to talk specifically about navigating the complex legal system. This is not something women should be expected to tackle alone. The committee heard of many community organisations that successfully help victims-survivors navigate the most complex aspects of separating from their abusers—the legal, the financial and the safety aspects—as they impact on each individual case. The inquiry found that many of these services are forced to turn away people who may be in absolute crisis due to current funding constraints. The National Access to Justice Partnership, which commences in July, and other measures are intended to address these issues to ensure that support services are put on a sustainable footing. It was not possible for this inquiry to determine whether the contribution of new and existing measures will address funding shortfalls, but it is the committee's view that adequate, ongoing and sustainable funding for wraparound legal and non-legal services is vital.

One of the issues that became evident to the committee is the degree of variation in relevant state and territory laws and police responses to family, domestic and sexual violence across the country. Our conclusion was that it is unreasonable and a barrier to safety and justice for victims-survivors. Australians have a right to expect access to the same protections regardless of where they live, but this is not currently the case. Variations in the protection of children, the duration of FVOs, the effectiveness of information sharing and the recognition of coercive control and police responses mean different outcomes for victims-survivors depending on where they live. It also makes it difficult to understand how FVOs will work when victims-survivors flee to a different state or territory to escape abuse. The committee found that a long-term systematic approach must be adopted across all jurisdictions to increase safety for women and children as they navigate family separation and to realise the ambition of the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-2032 to end violence against women and children over the next decade.

Building an effective, systematic and national approach as outlined in this report's 11 recommendations must start with harmonised definitions of family, domestic and sexual violence, best practice and consistent FVO laws and police responses, and enhanced information sharing and risk assessment across jurisdictions so that all key decision-makers, agencies and services are speaking the same language about risk. A long-term approach to increase safety for women and children will require all jurisdictions and agencies, including courts, police and other services, to work together.

Victims-survivors of family, domestic and sexual violence are usually advised to seek FVOs through a state or territory Magistrates Court or from police before attempting to resolve parenting or property matters in the federal family law courts. This is because of the serious risk of escalation in the violent and abusive behaviours of perpetrators during family law proceedings, particularly in cases involving coercive control, where a perpetrator's sense of power and dominance is threatened. The period of elevated risk is extended because family law matters are slow, complex, adversarial and expensive, and perpetrators often manipulate the system as an extension of their control and abuse. Most applications to the family law courts involve multiple family violence and child abuse risk factors.

The committee has made recommendations that will build on the Australian government's significant reforms over the past two years that have made the family law system safer and fairer for victims-survivors of family, domestic and sexual violence, including:

Further work to explore a single advocacy support model for victims-survivors is needed. Victims-survivors need someone to walk with them from the moment they decide to reach out for help—to guide them safely through separation, to advocate for them and to connect them with the services that they need.

This report would not have been possible without the bravery of many victims-survivors who shared their stories with the committee and those who dedicate their lives to preventing and responding to family, domestic and sexual violence and support victims-survivors to safely navigate separation. We acknowledge your strength and courage, and we thank you for sharing your lived experiences and your advocacy.

I also thank my committee members, including my deputy chair, for their participation in the inquiry, which has delivered a unanimous report. I want to especially thank the staff of the secretariat, including Dr John White, for all their diligence, advice and drafting expertise. I commend this report to the House.

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