1. Introduction

Content warning, information and support

1.1This report includes material that is confronting and disturbing. Words can trigger traumatic memories and cause sadness and distress. Sometimes these responses can be overwhelming. If you need to talk to someone, you can call Lifeline on 131114 at any time.

1.2If you are a victim-survivor of family, domestic and sexual violence, you can contact 1800 Respect for confidential information, counselling and support (including an on-demand video counselling service):

• Call 1800 737 732
• text 0458 737 732
• chat online at www.1800respect.org.au/online-chat-1800respect.
  3. Other Australia-wide support services include:
• Full Stop Australia 1800 385 578
• Relationships Australia 1300 364 277
• Kids Helpline 1800 551 800
• Mensline Australia 1300 789 978
• Men’s Referral Service 1300 766 491.
  4. There are also dedicated crisis lines providing family violence support in most states and territories:
• New South Wales Domestic Violence Line 1800 656 463
• Queensland DVConnect Womensline 1800 811 811
• Victoria Safe Steps crisis response line 1800 015 188
• Australian Capital Territory Domestic Violence Crisis Service 02 6280 0900
• Tasmania Family Violence Counselling and Support Service 1800 608 122
• South Australia Domestic Violence Crisis Line 1800 800 098
• Western Australia Women's Domestic Violence Helpline 1800 007 339.
  5. Regional support services are available in the Northern Territory.[1]

Scope and conduct of this inquiry

1.6The Committee adopted an inquiry into family violence orders on 4 June 2024, following a referral from the Attorney-General, the Hon Mark Dreyfus KC MP.

1.7The terms of reference for the inquiry are provided in the front pages of this report and are available on the inquiry webpage at www.aph.gov.au/familyviolenceorders.

1.8The terms acknowledge the risk of an escalation in the aggressive and violent behaviour of the perpetrator and heightened risk to the family and children during family court proceedings. The Committee is aware that significant reform has taken place in this area, with more reform foreshadowed. Many inquiry participants observed that new systems and processes are still to be fully evaluated; the Committee has therefore given consideration to finding the right balance between consolidation of recent reforms and ensuring that further reform will deliver improvements for victim-survivors of family, domestic and sexual violence.

1.9The Committee called for written submissions from individuals and organisations relating to any or all the inquiry terms of reference by Friday, 19 July 2024. Further submissions were received after this date.

1.10The Committee did not publish contributions that focussed on individual cases or court orders because it was focussed on systemic issues. Parliamentary committees cannot investigate individual cases and avoid referring to matters before the courts. However, the Committee did receive personal submissions as confidential evidence because it was important that the lived experience of victim-survivors informed how the system and supports can be improved.

1.11The Committee published some personal submissions anonymously, where these highlighted systemic issues, and case studies with redactions to remove information that could potentially identify victim-survivors to their perpetrators.

1.12The Committee wrote to all state and territory Attorneys-General and police ministers seeking submissions to inform the inquiry. The Western Australian and Tasmanian Attorneys-General, and South Australia Police, responded with written submissions, while the Western Australian Government was the only state and territory jurisdiction to participate in a public hearing.

1.13The Committee received 69 public submissions, 24 confidential submission, one exhibit and held three public hearings. The list of public submissions is provided at Appendix A. The list of public hearings and witnesses is provided at Appendix B. Anexhibits list is provided at Appendix C.

1.14Testimony provided at public hearings is referenced in this report to the proof, unedited transcript because of delays in the production of final transcripts.

1.15The Committee is grateful to all the individuals and organisations who contributed their time, experience, and expertise in making submissions and appearing at public hearings. The experiences of victim-survivors of family, domestic and sexual violence strongly informed the findings and recommendations of this inquiry, and the Committee acknowledges the courage and strength of those who provided evidence.

Terminology

1.16This report uses the term ‘family, domestic and sexual violence (FDSV)’ to talk about a range of abusive behaviours that are directed towards former and current partners, children and other family members by perpetrators. Abusive behaviours are not limited to aggressive and violent incidents and may include coercive control, stalking, financial, systems and emotional abuse and neglect.[2]

Incidence of FDSV

1.17FDSV is an epidemic[3] in Australia and too often it leads to the murder of women and children. In 2022-23, there were 38intimate partner homicides in Australia and 34 of the victims were women. Elevenchildren were murdered by a parent.[4] Between the start of January and the end of September 2024, there were at least 26 female victims of intimate partner homicides in Australia.[5]

1.18First Nations and migrant and refugee women, and women from regional, rural and remote areas are disproportionately affected by FDSV:

• FDSV is an acute crisis affecting many First Nations communities and is a key barrier to achieving multiple Closing the Gap targets. First Nations women are more than 33times more likely to be hospitalised, and six times more likely to die from assault related to family violence than non-First Nations women.[6]
• Rates of FDSV are higher in regional, rural and remote areas. In 2021–22, the rate of hospitalisations due to family violence for people aged 15and over living in very remote areas was 48 times higher than the rate in major cities.[7]
• A 2020 survey found that one in three migrant and refugee women had experienced family violence, and that temporary visa holders consistently experience higher level of violence.[8]
  19. There is an increased risk of escalation in the aggressive and violent behaviours of perpetrators of violence towards partners and children during and after relationship breakdown.[9] Most (83 per cent) initiating applications for parenting or parenting and property related orders filed in the FederalCircuit and Family Court of Australia (FCFCOA) in 2022-23 contained allegations of violence by one or both parties, and 78 per cent of matters were mandatorily referred to child welfare agencies due to allegations of child abuse and/or violence.[10]
  20. This inquiry focussed on what the Australian Government can do to make applying for family violence orders (FVOs) easier for victim-survivors navigating the family law system, how those orders can more effectively keep victim-survivors safe, and how the family law system can be safer and fairer for victim-survivors who need the protection of FVOs.

FVOs within a complex system

1.21FVOs are court orders made under a state or territory civil law to protect a person from violence. Depending on where a person lives in Australia, they can also be called apprehended domestic violence orders, domestic violence orders, intervention orders or family violence restraining orders.[11] Individuals who are experiencing violence in a domestic or family relationship can apply for an FVO, or the police may do so on their behalf, through a local or magistrates’ court. Breaches of FVOs are enforced by the police and may result in arrest and criminal charges.[12]

1.22FVOs intersect with the federal family law system through the Family Law Act 1975 (the Act). The Act is the primary federal legislation dealing with issues such as divorce, property, arrangements for children after separation, and spousal and child maintenance. It contains several provisions relating to the protection of parties and children from FDSV. However, the Act also enables the family law courts[13] to make orders or injunctions that are inconsistent with state or territory FVOs, for example to grant access to children, which may not adequately protect victim-survivors.[14]

1.23Victim-survivors of FDSV must therefore navigate two separate court systems to be protected by FVOs under state and territory law and to resolve parenting or property disputes arising from separation through the federal family law system. This fragmentation can be time consuming, confusing, costly, retraumatising and needlessly difficult for victim-survivors.[15]

1.24While most families can resolve separations without court, the matters that do proceed to the family law courts for resolution are complex.[16] For many victim-survivors, the adversarial nature of the family law system is inherently difficult and can be prohibitively expensive and drawn-out.[17] Furthermore, adversarial proceedings can lead to escalating aggressive and violent behaviours of perpetrators of FDSV, particularly in cases involving coercive control where a perpetrator’s sense of power and control is threatened.[18]

Victim-survivors are not being adequately protected

1.25Tragically, the presence of an FVO is no guarantee of safety for a victim-survivor of FDSV. Current or historical FVOs were evident in over 40 per cent of 224 cases where a male intimate partner murdered a female intimate partner between 2010 and 2018.[19]

1.26The systems and services that should be keeping women and children safe from male violence have failed to do so on too many occasions. A study of 235 cases of intimate partner femicide in Australia found:

• the majority (71 per cent) were committed by perpetrators with at least two prior interactions with police, the legal system or child protection
• nearly one in five perpetrators was subject to an FVO at the time (18percent), and about the same number had previously been subject to anFVO (19 per cent)
• one in six perpetrators had a prior recorded FVO breach (16percent).[20]
  27. National Women’s Safety Alliance commented:

We have people falling through the gaps along each point of their interactions with services. We take the case of Kelly Wilkinson, which is horrific … She was engaged with not only a domestic and family violence service but a sexual violence specialist service. She went to five police stations. She had family violence orders, and she was murdered. This case is so horrific it beggars belief, but we hear consistently that this is still happening.[21]

1.28The Committee heard privately from victim-survivors of FDSV who shared concerns the current system is not keeping them safe. Confidential submissions described:

• horrific experiences of physical and sexual assault, coercive control, stalking and surveillance, intimidation and harassment, vandalism and destruction of property, financial abuse and fraud
• victim-survivors having their safety put at risk by family law parenting orders granting perpetrators contact and access to their children, despite FVOs being in place
• opportunities for perpetrators to abuse the family law system and to use children, lawyers and the courts as weapons to further control and terrorise their victims (referred to as ‘systems abuse’ in this report)
• police being dismissive of allegations of FDSV, particularly non-physical forms of abuse, making assumptions about the behaviour of victims, and misidentifying victim-survivors as the primary perpetrators
• police not enforcing breaches of FVOs and perpetrators being able to continue to abuse their victims without consequences
• allegations that a police officer perpetrated FDSV, which hindered the victim-survivor’s efforts to escape abuse and achieve fair outcomes in the family law system, and allegations that a perpetrator knew police and this resulted in the misidentification of the victims as primary perpetrators
• responses from members of the judiciary and other court staff, and lawyers that indicate inadequate knowledge about the dynamics of FDSV and coercive control, and a lack of trauma-informed practices in working with victim-survivors of FDSV
• victim-survivors paying expensive private legal fees for unsatisfactory, unsafe or no outcomes
• the legal services supporting victim-survivors being unable to keep up with demand and turning desperate people away.[22]
  29. A selection of views shared publicly by anonymous victim-survivors is provided in the following text box.

Administrative framework for FDSV and FVO policies

1.30The Australian Government is responsible for the family law system. The Attorney-General’s Department (AGD) administers the Act, as well as delivering broader programs and policies to maintain and improve Australia's law and justice framework.

1.31The states and territories are responsible for most laws relating to FDSV, including FVO laws, the enforcement of FVOs by police under criminal law, and laws relating to child protection. FCFCOA and the Family Court of Western Australia (FCWA) are the family law courts.[26] FCFCOA was established under the Act (as the Family Court of Australia)[27], which also made provision for each state to establish its own state family court. Western Australia was the only state to do so. The FCWA was established in 1976 pursuant to the Family Court Act 1997 (Western Australia).[28]

1.32At the national level, the Department of Social Services (DSS) is responsible for designing and implementing national programs and initiatives, including the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022–2032 (National Plan) as well as building the evidence base in relation to women and children’s safety. The National Plan is discussed further below.

1.33Additionally at the national level, the Office for Women in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet works across government to place women and gender equality at the centre of policy and decision-making. This includes leading development of Working for Women: A Strategy for Gender Equality and supporting the independent Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce.[29]

1.34The Australian Government works with the states and territories through NationalCabinet on national initiatives, including to progress the National Plan and to address the national crisis of gender-based violence.[30]

1.35The Standing Council of Attorneys-General[31] progresses work relating to maintaining and promoting best practice in law reform across Australian jurisdictions, for example through the development of the National Principles to Address Coercive Control in Family and Domestic Violence (National Principles). The National Principles were released in September 2023 and set out a shared understanding of common features and impacts of coercive control, and considerations to inform effective responses.[32]

1.36The complexity of legislative arrangements, including reforms and amendments, and the many departmental agencies with responsibility for funding and program delivery, compound the challenges for victim-survivors in navigating the system and this was a constant theme throughout this inquiry.

Reforms to relevant legislation

1.37The Family Law Amendment Act 2024, passed by both Houses in November 2024, will enable the family law courts to take FDSV into account in property settlements for separating families, including by:

• ensuring the economic impact of family violence is considered where relevant when dividing property and finances
• ensuring the care and housing needs of children are considered in financial and property decisions
• ensuring financial information is disclosed at the earliest opportunity to promote the early resolution of disputes
• expanding the court's ability to use less adversarial approaches in all types of proceedings
• establishing a regulatory framework for Children's Contact Services to ensure the provision of safe and child-focussed services for children whose families are unable to safely manage contact arrangements on their own
• ensuring a range of factors, including family violence, are considered when determining ownership of pets to better protect everyone in the family.[33]
  38. The Family Law Amendment Act 2023 removed the presumption of equal shared parental responsibility[34] to clarify that all decisions about parenting arrangements should be based on what arrangements best meet the needs of the individual child. The amendments require the family law courts to specifically consider any history of FDSV when determining what is in the best interests of the child, rather than only being required to consider current FVOs.[35]
  39. The Family Law Amendment Act 2023 also provided the family law courts with a new power to issue a ‘harmful proceedings order’, which is intended to reduce systems abuse in FDSV matters.[36]
  40. The Family Law Amendment (Information Sharing) Act 2023 (Information Sharing Act) broadened the scope of information that can be shared between the family law courts and state and territory policing, firearms and child protection agencies. The Information Sharing Act aimed to enhance the family law courts’ ability to consider disparate information in a holistic way to better identify FDSV risks. It gave effect to key aspects of the National Strategic Framework for Information Sharing between the Family Law and Family Violence and Child Protection Systems.[37]
  41. The Family Law Amendment (Family Violence and Cross-examination of Parties) Act 2018 provided protections for victims of FDSV from direct cross-examination by alleged perpetrators in family law proceedings. Direct cross-examination is prohibited in certain circumstances and must instead be conducted by a legal representative. Where direct cross-examination is not prohibited, the court must apply other appropriate protections for the victim (such as using video link or screens).[38]
  42. The Australian Government is consulting on options to enhance civil protections and remedies for forced marriage.[39]
  43. The previous government proposed reforms to criminalise breaches of personal protection injunctions made by the family law courts, and to establish a federal FVO framework, however these reforms did not proceed.

National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022–2032

1.44The National Plan will guide Australia’s actions towards ending violence against women and children over the next 10 years[40], or, according to DSS, ‘in one generation’.[41] It follows the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010-2022, which was established to coordinate efforts across all levels of governments to address violence against women.[42] The current National Plan:

… builds upon a history of leadership and action by victim-survivors, advocates and women’s and community organisations including legal services, health care professionals, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community controlled organisations, the family, domestic and sexual violence sector, academics, law enforcement, agencies, the justice sector, and all governments and community members.[43]

1.45The current National Plan outlines how all parts of society, including governments, businesses and workplaces, media, schools and educational institutions, the FDSV sector, communities and all individuals, must work together to achieve the shared vision of ending gender-based violence in one generation. It notes that the previous National Plan 2010-2022 did not result in a reduction in violence against women and children.[44]

1.46As part of the National Plan, the Australian Government announced in October 2022 that it would provide $169.4million over four years from 2022-23 to fund 500 new frontline service and community workers to support people experiencing FDSV. According to the three ministers making the announcement, the funds will be distributed to states and territories to support them to target areas of need.[45]

1.47The Australian Government is currently developing a First Nations National Plan for Family Safety with the First Nations National Plan Steering Committee, which will guide a whole-of-society approach to addressing the unacceptable rates of violence against First Nations women and children.[46]

1.48The National Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commission was established in July 2022 as an independent agency focussed on practical ways to measure progress towards the objectives outlined in the National Plan.[47]

Rapid Review of Prevention Approaches

1.49An expert panel was appointed in May 2024 to provide advice to governments on further, practical ways to prevent gender-based violence, in addition to the work already underway under the NationalPlan.[48] The expert panel delivered its report in August 2024, which contained 21recommendations across six key areas for action by the Australian, state and territory governments.[49]

1.50The National Cabinet meeting in September 2024 considered the recommendations of the report and First Ministers agreed to use the Rapid Review’s recommendations to inform and strengthen efforts to deliver the National Plan, with the collective governments’ response to the recommendations in the report to be overseen by Women and Women’s Safety Ministerial Council.[50]

Current Australian Government support for victim-survivors

1.51A range of programs supporting victim-survivors of FDSV is provided by the Australian Government by its own departments and agencies, and in partnership with the states and territories, including legal and non-legal support in the family law system, assisting victim-survivors through the social security and child support systems, and providing safe and secure housing.[51]

Legal and non-legal support in the family law system

1.52AGD administers funding for key legal and non-legal support services for children and families through the National Legal Assistance Partnership 2020-25 (NLAP) and the Family Relationships Services Program (FRSP), and supports programs and initiatives within FCFCOA, such as Lighthouse.[52]

1.53The NLAP is an agreement between all Australian governments, under which the Commonwealth provides funds to the states and territories for disbursement to legal assistance providers.[53]

1.54The adequacy of Australian Government legal assistance funding was considered by an independent review of NLAP, conducted by Dr Warren Mundy, and which included a public submissions process and stakeholder consultations.[54] The review reported in March 2024 and found that current funding was unable to meet Australia’s legal needs, including the adequate provision of legal support for victims of FDSV.[55] A new National Access to Justice Partnership was recently agreed by National Cabinet and will commence when the NLAP expires in June 2025.[56]

1.55According to DSS, state and territory governments are responsible for the distribution of funding to non-legal support services based on need under the National Partnership on Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence Responses 2021-27. Services include accommodation, helplines, perpetrator interventions, sexual violence services, and legal support services for victim-survivors and perpetrators of violence.[57]

Assisting victim-survivors through the social security and child support systems

1.56The Australian Government currently provides a range of financial supports to victim-survivors of FDSV, including:

• a one-off crisis payment for eligible income support recipients
• no interest loans, which may assist with establishing a new household
• the Escaping Violence Program trial, which provides individualised financial assistance packages of up to $5,000[58], as well as risk assessment and safety planning
• the Temporary Visa Holders Experiencing Violence Pilot, which provides eligible temporary visa holders with financial assistance packages of up to $5,000 for goods and services, and access to legal support.[59]
  57. According to DSS, a Leaving Violence Program will commence in mid-2025 to provide eligible victim-survivors, regardless of gender or visa status, with an individualised financial support package of up to $5,000. Packages will include up to $1,500 in cash and up to $3,500 in goods and services, as well as safety planning, risk assessment and referrals to other essential services for up to 12 weeks. The existing Escaping Violence Payment trial and the Temporary Visa Holders Experiencing Violence Pilot will be extended to 30 June 2025, while the Leaving Violence Program is established.[60]

Previous inquiries and reviews

1.58Structural and systemic reform of the family law system has been called for in reviews and reports for the last two decades.[61] Concerns about FDSV and whether Australia’s family law system is doing enough to protect victim-survivors have been the focus of many inquiries, to the extent that inquiry fatigue has been experienced by many stakeholders.[62]

1.59FSDV and the family law system were inquired into by two different Commonwealth parliamentary committees during the previous Parliament. Weaknesses were identified in the way the police, courts and legal professionals understand and respond to FDSV and share relevant information.[63] Weaknesses identified in the family law system included extensive delays, excessive legal costs, the difficulty of enforcing court orders and timely and fair resolution of FDSV allegations.[64] Evidence showed that FDSV was not being given due consideration by the courts and that FVOs and family court orders were not being enforced.[65]

1.60State and territory courts have powers under section 68R of the Act to amend inconsistent parenting orders during FVO proceedings, however, a 2010 review by the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) found that these powers were rarely exercised.[66]

1.61In a separate review in 2021, the ALRC recommended the states and territories establish family courts to exercise jurisdiction concurrently under the Act, as is the case in Western Australia, with the aim of abolishing the federal family court.[67] This proposal was not supported by the previous Australian Government.[68]

1.62Systemic weaknesses in the services and supports that are meant to be keeping women and children safe have also been identified by state and territory inquiries including the Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence[69], and most recently by the coronial inquest into the homicides of four Aboriginal women in the NorthernTerritory. The Northern Territory coroner found that systemic racism minimises and dismisses FirstNations women’s experience of FDSV.[70]

Report Structure

1.63The chapters that follow examine barriers to safety and fairness for victim-survivors of FDSV in the state and territory FVO and federal family law jurisdictions, the important intersections between jurisdictions, and the accessibility of services and supports that victim-survivors need to navigate both systems safely and fairly.

1.64Chapter two focuses on the state and territory jurisdictions. It examines variations in state and territory FVO laws and responses to FDSV, the recognition of FVOs across jurisdictions, the recognition of coercive control, police responses to FDSV, barriers to safety and the accessibility of FVOs, and the safety of pets. The chapter also considers the capacity of state and territory courts to exercise family law jurisdiction under section 68R of the Act to amend parenting orders that are inconsistent with FVOs.

1.65Chapter three examines the federal family law jurisdiction. It considers the duration and cost of proceedings, how the family law courts currently screen for and manage FDSV and other safety risks, how information is shared between the family law courts, the state and territory courts, police and child protection agencies, and the accessibility of the family law system. It also considers the effectiveness and enforceability of personal protection injunctions and other options for the family law courts to make orders for the protection of victim-survivors and children, and measures to minimise the risk of systems abuse by perpetrators of FDSV.

1.66Chapter four examines the legal and non-legal supports that victim-survivors need to gain the protection of FVOs, to navigate the family law system and achieve safe and fair outcomes, and to rebuild their lives after traumatic experiences of FDSV. It also considers the importance of, and access to, perpetrator interventions in preventing violence and abuse, such as men’s therapeutic and behavioural change programs.

Footnotes

[1]Northern Territory Government, Get help for domestic, family and sexual violence, www.nt.gov.au/law/crime/domestic-family-and-sexual-violence/get-help-for-domestic-family-and-sexual-violence, accessed 2 July 2024.

[2]Australia's National Research Organisation for Women's Safety (ANROWS), Submission 62, page 5; National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women’s Alliance (NATSIWA), Submission 60, page 7. Domestic Violence Advocacy Australia (DVAA) prefers the term ‘family abuse’. DVAA, Submission 38, page3.

[3]Department of Social Services (DSS), National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children2022–2032, October 2022, page 20; South-East Monash Legal Service, Submission 80, page 15; In Touch Women’s Legal Centre, Submission84, page 21.

[4]H Miles and S Bricknell, ‘Homicide in Australia 2022–23’ Statistical Report no. 46, Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC), Canberra, June 2024, pages 10-11.

[5]AIC, Intimate partner homicide dashboard, www.aic.gov.au/statistics/homicide-in-australia, accessed 29November 2024. The AIC launched the dashboard in June 2024 and data will be updated quarterly in collaboration with all state and territory jurisdictions. This data includes what the AIC refer to as ‘cleared incidents’ only, and estimates based on media reporting are much higher.

[6]NATSIWA, Submission 60, pages 3 and 8.

[7]FederalCircuit and Family Court of Australia (FCFCOA), Submission 54.1, page 4.

[8]Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, Submission 42, page 4.

[9]ANROWS, Submission 62, page 8.

[10]Attorney-General’s Department (AGD), Submission 15, page 5. In 2023-24, more than 8,400 applications were made to FCFCOA for final orders. See: FCFCOA, Submission 54, page 8.

[11]The following terms are used in each jurisdiction: Family Violence Restraining Orders (Western Australia); Apprehended Domestic Violence Orders (New South Wales); Domestic Violence Orders (Queensland and Northern Territory); Intervention Orders (Victoria and South Australia); and Family Violence Orders (Australian Capital Territory and Tasmania).

[12]The Family Law Act 1975, section 4 defines all state and territory orders to protect a person from family violence as ‘family violence orders’.

[13]FCFCOA and Family Court of Western Australia exercise primary jurisdiction under the Act and are referred to as the family law courts in this report.

[14]See, for example, National Women’s Safety Alliance (NWSA), Submission 50, pages 3-5; Council of Single Mothers and their Children, Submission 37, page 4; NATSIWA, Submission 60, page 7.

[15]Law Council of Australia, Submission 67, page 5; Women’s Legal Services Australia (WLSA), Submission69, page10; Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS), Submission52, page 7; DrRachelCarson, ExecutiveManager, Family Law, Family Violence and Elder Abuse Research Program, AIFS, CommitteeHansard, 23August2024, page 5; Mr Nick Tebbey, NationalExecutive Director, RelationshipsAustralia, CommitteeHansard, 23 August 2024, page 35; UnitingVic. Tas, Submission 65, page 9.

[16]AGD, Submission 15, page 4; AIFS, Parenting arrangements after separation, October 2019, page 1. AIFSfound that 3 per cent of separated parents use courts as their main pathway to make parenting arrangements, while 16percent are assisted by family dispute resolution services or lawyers. Significantly, court ordered arrangements were less likely (3percent) to involve no contact between children and their father compared to the general separated population (9 per cent), and arrangements where children spend most of their time with their father were more common in orders made where litigation occurs (10–19 per cent) than in the separated population generally (2 per cent).

[17]Ms Bronwyn Pike, Chief Executive Officer, Uniting Victoria Tasmania, Committee Hansard, 23 August 2024, page 35; Name withheld, Submission 43, page 3; Ms Lara Glasson, Director and Secretary, DVAA, Committee Hansard, 23 August 2024, page 14.

[18]WLSA, Submission 69, page 3.

[19]ANROWS, ‘Intimate partner violence homicides 2010–2018’, Australian Domestic and Family Violence Death Review Network Data Report, Second edition, 2022, page 14.

[20]Full Stop Australia, Submission 14, page 2. To be included in the dataset of this study, the sentence was required to have been delivered within a 10-year window between January 2007 and December 2016. See: K Fitz-Gibbon, SWalklate and J Maher et al, Securing women’s lives: examining system interactions and perpetrator risk in intimate femicide sentencing judgments over a decade in Australia, Monash University and University of Liverpool, 2024, page 8.

[21]Ms Katherine Berney, Executive Director, NWSA, Committee Hansard, 23August2024, page 9. KellyWilkinson was repeatedly stabbed and then set on fire by her estranged husband in 2021.

[22]Confidential submissions 17-34, 89-90, 93-96. As noted earlier, the Committee did not publish material which focussed on individual cases but received some submissions as confidential evidence. Some personal submissions were published anonymously, where systemic issues were highlighted.

[23]Name withheld, Submission 85, pages 5-6.

[24]Name withheld, Submission 43, page 1.

[25]Name withheld, Submission 1, page 1.

[26]Other states and territories have courts of summary jurisdiction, that is, local or magistrates courts, which have limited jurisdiction under the Act and generally deal with less complex matters.

[27]The Family Court of Australia and the Federal Circuit Court of Australia were merged in 2020 to create FCFCOA.

[28]Family Court of Western Australia, Submission 10, page 1.

[29]Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Office for Women, Our work, www.pmc.gov.au/office-women/our-work, accessed 4 July 2024.

[30]The Hon Anthony Albanese MP, Prime Minister of Australia, ‘Meeting of National Cabinet on gender-based violence’, Media release, 1 May 2024.

[31]The Standing Council of Attorneys-General (SCAG) convenes quarterly, and comprises Attorneys-General from the Australian Government, all states and territories, and the New Zealand Minister for Justice. Its purpose is to implement a national and trans-Tasman focus on maintaining and promoting best practice in law reform.

[32]AGD, Submission 15, page 14. Standing Council of Attorneys-General (SCAG), Communique, 22September2023; AGD, National Principles to Address Coercive Control in Family and Domestic Violence, September 2023.

[33]The Hon Mark Dreyfus KC MP, Attorney-General, ‘More reform delivers a simpler, safer and fairer family law system’, Mediarelease, 29 November 2024.

[34]The presumption of equal and shared responsibility was introduced in the Family Law Amendment (Shared Parental Responsibility) Act 2006.

[35]AGD, Submission 15, page 6.

[36]AGD, Submission 15, page 6.

[37]AGD, Submission 15, page 7. The National Strategic Framework for Information Sharing between the Family Law and Family Violence and Child Protection Systems was endorsed by all Australian, state and territory Attorneys-General in November 2021.

[38]AGD, Family Violence, www.ag.gov.au/families-and-marriage/families/family-violence, accessed 24June2024.

[39]AGD, Submission 15, page 8.

[40]DSS, National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children2022–2032, October 2022, page 20.

[41]DSS, National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children2022–2032, October 2022; DSS, Ending gender-based violence, www.dss.gov.au/our-responsibilities/ending-gender-based-violence, accessed 2 July 2024.

[42]DSS, National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-2032, p. 15.

[43]DSS, National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-2032, p. 18.

[44]DSS, National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children2022–2032, October 2022, page 16. The National Plan suggests that an increase in reporting on family violence may have influenced prevalence statistics.

[45]Senator the Hon Katy Gallagher, Minister for Women, The Hon Amanda Rishworth MP, Minister for Social Services and The Hon Justine Elliot MP, Assistant Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence, ‘Increased support to end violence against women and children’, Joint Media Release, 25 October 2022; See also: DSS, Submission 16, page 17.

[46]DSS, Submission 16.1, page 8.

[47]National Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commission, About us, www.dfsvc.gov.au/about, accessed 11 October 2024.

[48]Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C), Rapid Review of Prevention Approaches, www.pmc.gov.au/office-women/womens-safety/rapid-review-prevention-approaches, accessed 2 July 2024.

[49]One of the recommendations of the expert panel was to review and amend gambling regulation to prioritise the prevention of gender-based violence, including banning all gambling advertising. A phased, total ban on gambling advertising was a recommendation of this Committee’s inquiry into online gambling and its impacts on those experiencing gambling harm. See: PM&C, Unlocking the Prevention Potential: accelerating action to end domestic, family and sexual violence, August2024, pages 12 and 109; Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs, You win some, you lose more, June 2023, page 127.

[50]DSS, Submission 16.1, pages 3-4.

[51]Chapter four provides further information about relevant existing and new programs and funding commitments. See also: AGD, Submission 15 and Submission 15.1; DSS, Submission16, Submission 16.1 and Submission 16.2.

[52]AGD, Submission 15, page 8. Lighthouse is an approach used by FCFCOA to screen for and manage the risk of FDSV and other safety risks and is examined in chapter three.

[53]AGD, Independent Review of the National Legal Assistance Partnership Final Report, March 2024. Not all legal assistance funding is provided through NLAP.

[54]AGD, Independent Review of the National Legal Assistance Partnership Final Report, March 2024, Chapter1.

[55]AGD, Independent Review of the National Legal Assistance Partnership Final Report, March 2024, pages67-68.

[56]The Hon Anthony Albanese MP, Prime Minister, and the Hon Mark Dreyfus KC MP, Attorney-General, ‘Anew National Access to Justice Partnership’, Media release, 6 September 2024.

[57]DSS, Submission 16, page 17.

[58]This includes up to $1,500 in cash or cash equivalents, with the remaining funds provided in goods, services and supports.

[59]DSS, Submission 16, pages 12-13.

[60]The Australian Government will invest $925.2 million over five years to establish the Leaving Violence Program. DSS, Submission 16, page 13; DSS, Leaving Violence Program, www.dss.gov.au/the-national-plan-to-end-violence-against-women-and-children/leaving-violence-program, accessed 14 October 2024.

[61]Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC), Family Law for the Future: An Inquiry into the Family Law System, ALRC Report 135, April 2019, page 32; M.A. Neilsen, ‘Family Law Amendment Bill 2023, BillsDigest No.76, 2022-23, May 2023, page 5.

[62]Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs, Report of the inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violence, March 2021, page 5.

[63]Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs, Report of the inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violence, March 2021, pages xlv and xxxix.

[64]Joint Select Committee on Australia's Family Law System, ‘Improvements in family law proceedings’, Secondinterim report, March 2021.

[65]Joint Select Committee on Australia's Family Law System, ‘Improvements in family law proceedings’, Secondinterim report, March 2021, page 57.

[66]ALRC and New South Wales Law Reform Commission, Family Violence: A National Legal Response, ALRC Report 114, 2010, pages 699-702.

[67]ALRC, ‘Family Law for the Future: An Inquiry into the Family Law System’, ALRC Report 135, 2019, page 15.

[68]AGD, Government Response to ALRC Report 135: Family Law for the Future – An Inquiry into the Family Law System, March 2021, page 8. Evidence to this inquiry suggests it would be too big a task to undertake reform of the scale recommended by ALRC, would take too long to implement, and risks creating worse outcomes for victim-survivors of FDSV, including First Nations women. See: Law Council of Australia, Submission 67, page 15; Djirra, Submission 74, page 5.

[69]RoyalCommission into Family Violence, Summary and Recommendations, Parliamentary Paper No. 132 (2014-16), Victoria,March 2016. See also: Victorian Government, About the Royal Commission into Family Violence, www.vic.gov.au/about-royal-commission-family-violence, accessed 24 June 2024.

[70]Coroners Court of the Northern Territory, Inquests into the deaths of Miss Yunupiŋu, Ngeygo Ragurrk, Kumarn Rubuntja and Kumanjayi Haywood, ‘Findings of Territory Coroner Elisabeth Armitage’, November2024.