The family violence weapon gets sharpened

Shake-up of family violence law

• Leonie Wood
  August 13, 2007

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/shakeup-of-family-violence-law/2007/08/12/1186857347087.html

PROPOSED family violence laws would allow authorities to remove offenders from the home and make it easier for victims to stay.

The Family Violence Act, which the Brumby Government hopes to have in place in the first half of next year, would widen the definition of family violence to include psychological and economic abuse.

It would also bar alleged offenders on criminal charges but without a lawyer from directly cross-examining victims. In applications for intervention orders, victims could refuse to be cross-examined by the perpetrators.

The proposals come almost five years after the Government asked the Victorian Law Reform Commission to review laws and procedures related to family violence and 17 months after the commission's final report was tabled in Parliament.

And they come a month after the Government revealed that from next year police ranked sergeant or higher would have powers to immediately remove offenders from the family home.

The Deputy Premier and Attorney-General, Rob Hulls, said the proposed changes would emphasise that family violence was a serious crime and offenders must be held accountable.

Such violence was the leading cause of death and disability for women aged under 45, but until a few years ago physical and emotional abuse at home was not treated seriously, he said.

Mr Hulls hoped the combination of new legislation and police protocols would encourage many more victims to report incidents.

"It is absolutely important that we do everything that we can to encourage women to speak out," he said.

Victoria has two magistrates courts — at Heidelberg and Ballarat — that for two years have conducted pilot programs to deal with the problem. In the past 12 months they ordered 350 men to undergo counselling.

Mr Hulls said the new laws would require extra training of magistrates, prosecutors and police. The Government would set aside $3.7 million over four years for legal aid for alleged offenders, a move designed to ensure they did not cross-examine victims themselves.

Normal rules of evidence would be relaxed to allow the use of hearsay in the court if appropriate, he said. And the chief magistrate could cut off efforts by offenders to harass victims through the court system by declaring the person a vexatious litigant.