Family Violence – A National Legal Response

AUSTRALIA – FAMILY VIOLENCE REPORT 2010

The Australia Final Report, Family Violence—A National Legal Response was launched on 11 November 2010.

The Report is extensive, presented in two volumes with a Summary Report. Recommendations are focused on improving safety through:
• A common interpretative framework—establishing a shared understanding of what constitutes family violence across relevant legislative schemes.
• Corresponding jurisdictions—expanding the jurisdiction of courts dealing with family violence to maximise the chance that families will be able to get all the legal protections they need from any court they approach.
• Specialist family violence practice—fostering expertise within magistrates courts with staff who understand the dynamics of family violence and the complex array of legislation that applies.
• Improving police and prosecutorial practice—to produce safe, fair and just outcomes for victims.
• Integrated responses—ensuring that the many services needed by those who suffer family violence work together, building a better and shared understanding of violence and a national system of registration of family violence orders.
• Alternative dispute resolution—developing ADR responses, but with careful and appropriate protections for those who are the victims of violence.
• Training and information—underpinning legal changes by better understandings of family violence across the whole system, including a national family violence bench book and a national register of relevant orders.
In addition, sexual assault in the context of family violence is the subject of numerous recommendations to improve legal frameworks, including reducing attrition rates for sexual assault cases and improving the experience of victims in the courts.

Click here to view the report.