Page 3350 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 12 October 1993
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DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
Community Law Reform Committee Research Paper
Debate resumed from 16 June 1993, on motion by Mr Connolly:
That the Assembly takes note of the paper.
MRS CARNELL (Leader of the Opposition) (8.56): Madam Speaker, this report is very well researched and it contains an absolute wealth of very valuable information. We all know that domestic violence is one of the most common forms of assault. It occurs in all age groups, income levels, nationalities and races. This report suggests that 90 per cent of victims are women.
One of the concerning parts of this report is that it indicates that not all victims of domestic violence are reporting their situation. I think we all know that. The report indicates that the number of partners of professional men and semi-professional men who have reported domestic violence is as low as 1.9 per cent and 4.9 per cent respectively. I certainly do not believe that all domestic violence is perpetrated by the unemployed and unskilled. When you look at the figures in this report, you see that by far the largest number of reports have come from those sorts of areas, which would indicate that a great number of women subject to domestic violence are still unhappy or unable to come forward.
In the 1991-92 financial year 2,046 documents were served. In fact, in the three-year period from 1989 to 1991 there were 1,645 DVO applications. There was a 25 per cent increase in applications over this three-year period - 16 per cent in 1989 and 1990 and 8 per cent in 1991. Of these 1,645 applications, 1,438 - that is, 88 per cent - were granted. These figures certainly show the extent of the problem, but they also show that the current system of DVOs is working, at least in the majority of cases. The figures also show that domestic violence is one of the most significant problems that we face both in Australia and in Canberra.
Open discussion and debate about this issue will raise community awareness, but hopefully reports such as this will send a message to the whole community. We must all become involved. Stopping violence against women and children depends, without doubt, on the whole community. One of the things that this report does best is report verbatim what many players in the whole domestic violence situation - the police, people in the Magistrates Court and so on - have said. I personally found that particularly interesting. It certainly broadened my view of the whole problem.
Violence against women, young and old, and children in particular - be it physical, sexual, psychological or emotional - is a social evil and I think we would all accept that it is simply intolerable. Yet the problem goes on. This report would indicate that the problem is getting worse or at least is being reported more often. In a civilised society such as the one we pride ourselves on, this violence must not be accepted or tolerated. I do not have to remind anybody here tonight of the almost continuous daily headlines about some domestic tragedy or another. An 18-month-old boy was recently bashed to death by his mother's de facto husband. I am sure all of these reports disturb us all. Overcoming domestic violence must, and I think does, transcend political point scoring in this Assembly. We should be working to find solutions. This report, in its recommendations, goes some way in suggesting the direction we may be able to take to find answers to the problem.
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