Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

This bill, the Family Law Amendment (Family Violence and Cross-examination of Parties) Bill 2018, was reviewed by the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee, which I have the honour to chair. I want to thank the other members of the committee, Senator Pratt, Senator Hume, Senator McKim, Senator Molan and Senator Watt, for their contributions to the report into this bill, a report to the Senate which was unanimous and recommended that, subject to one condition, the bill be passed.

I congratulate the Attorney-General and the Liberal-National government for addressing this issue, which has been an issue for some time. It simply points out yet again that the Liberal and National parties are the parties that don't just talk about the social issues, that don't just talk about victims' rights, particularly for women in these situations, but actually do something about them and introduce legislation to deal with pressing issues. I'm pleased to say that in this instance the government's approach has been followed and adopted by both the Australian Labor Party and the Greens political party. As I mentioned, as a result of that, the committee's report was unanimous.

I do want to thank all of those many people who made very detailed submissions to the committee and those who attended before the committee's public hearing to give evidence. Can I at this time, as we approach Christmas, particularly mention the staff of the secretariat—Dr Sean Turner, Mr Nicholas Craft, Ms Ophelia Tynan, Ms Alexandria Moore and Ms Kate Morris—who did a wonderful job on this report, as usual. I thank publicly the committee secretariat for the work they do throughout the year. My committee seems to get its fair share of work through a number of bills relating to legal and constitutional matters, which means the committee secretariat is always at full speed in dealing with these things. In this instance, as in the case of all committee reports, the committee has done a wonderful job encapsulating many of the important points made by those who submitted in writing and those who gave evidence, and the views of individual senators who constitute part of the committee.

Very briefly, the committee recognises that there exists a significant problem in relation to direct cross-examination of parties in cases where allegations of family violence have been raised. In particular, the committee is alert to the fact that retraumatisation can occur as a result of a victim being cross-examined by the perpetrator. The committee welcomed the bill's attempts to address this situation and prevent further harm to those experiencing family violence. The committee also notes that the intent of the bill was widely supported in the evidence tendered to the inquiry. The committee noted, as Senator McKim also noted, that a critical tension emerged in the evidence—that is, that a balance had to be maintained between procedural fairness and the protection of parties who've been affected by family violence and who've experienced family violence. After carefully considering the evidence presented to the committee in relation to these matters, the committee came to the conclusion that the bill did provide the correct balance that was required.

During all of the committee's inquiry and in the evidence, concerns regarding funding of the bill's proposed measures were a consistent theme throughout the evidence provided. Basically, the bill requires that for people in these situations—where a perpetrator wants to cross-examine them—the rules should be that legal advice is provided so that this doesn't happen. The committee further acknowledged the evidence given that related to litigants who might not qualify for legal assistance and who cannot afford private legal representation. Evidence gathered by the committee suggested that this group of people may be significantly impacted by the bills proposed measures. Again, the committee notes the advice provided by the Attorney-General's Department that the issue is currently being considered. I note the Labor Party tried to make some political capital of this by suggesting that Mr Shorten had written to the Attorney, but Mr Shorten's letter was after the committee had reported and published its recommendation along the same line.

I'm delighted that the committee's first recommendation was that details regarding funding of the measures contained in the bill needed to be made public prior to the commencement of the date of the bill and that that needed to be provided to the Senate. I'm delighted that on 20 November this year Ms O'Dwyer, on behalf of the government, in releasing the women's economic safety package, specifically provided that $7 million would be provided over three years ongoing, commencing from 1 July next year, to ensure that the provisions of this bill are able to be met and that the legal aid is properly funded to do the duty it's required to do under this bill. Those measures in the bill will be reviewed after the two-year period.

I conclude by thanking all of those involved—my colleagues in the Senate, the submitters and particularly the secretariat. I emphasise again my congratulations to the government and the Attorney-General for dealing with this issue which has been around for a long period of time. Minister, my congratulations to you and to the minister whom you represent here for actually doing the work—not just talking about it, not just wringing your hands with regret at what was happening but taking practical measures to support it. I again emphasise that the committee's report was unanimous. I thank the Labor Party and the Greens political party for supporting the committee's recommendations and thank the government for acceding to recommendation 1, regarding legal aid.