Page 1133 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 28 March 2017
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
Importantly, the bill increases protections for vulnerable people, including children and people with disabilities. It is essential that people with impaired decision-making ability are able to engage effectively with the protection order system. The bill requires guardians of people with disabilities and children to be provided with a copy of all applications and documentation. This will ensure that guardians will be in a position to assist the person under their care to understand and to navigate the protection order process. Unfortunately, people with disabilities are at an increased risk of experiencing violence, and it is extremely important that they are actively included in the protection order process.
The bill also provides protections available for children by making it clear that a parent may include their child in an application for a family violence order. This streamlines the process for parents who are seeking to obtain protection from family violence for themselves and their children by ensuring that they are not required to complete multiple application forms. The amendments will allow for these applications to be separated by a court. This is an important safety measure because it will allow a child to have their application heard in their own right. This protection ensures that a child is able to continue to seek protection, even if their parent decides to withdraw the original application.
Another way that this bill improves the court processes for children is in the process of testimony. Children may sometimes be called to give evidence in family and personal violence order proceedings, but exposing children to court processes unnecessarily can be extremely intimidating and potentially harmful to a child. The bill requires the court to give leave for a child to be called to give evidence as a witness, and sets out mandatory considerations the court must have regard to when deciding whether or not to give leave. Under the new legislation, the court must consider the need to protect the child from unnecessary exposure to the court system, and the harm that could be done to the child and the child’s relationship with a family member if the child gives evidence.
The additional protections for children include allowing the court to restrict the questions the child may be asked in cross-examination if it is in the child’s best interests. The bill also enhances protections for children in relation to service of documents.
Finally, this bill includes a range of measures that will help our courts to administer the protection orders scheme and improve the mechanics of protection orders overall. A key example is that this bill will facilitate a national commencement date for the national domestic violence order scheme. As I indicated when presenting the bill, the national domestic violence order scheme will allow orders to be recognised and enforced across the country. The scheme will alleviate the need for a protected person to register their order in other jurisdictions in order for it to be enforced.
A national commencement date for the scheme will prevent confusion for victims, service providers and the community and will facilitate effective implementation nationally. States and territories are actively working to ensure all necessary administrative measures required to support the effective implementation of the
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video