Page 1924 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 16 June 1993
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DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
Community Law Reform Committee Research Paper
MR CONNOLLY (Attorney-General, Minister for Housing and Community Services and Minister for Urban Services) (3.30): Madam Speaker, for the information of members, I present research paper No. 1 of the Community Law Reform Committee of the Australian Capital Territory entitled "Domestic Violence" and move:
That the Assembly takes note of the paper.
Madam Speaker, this research was undertaken by the Australian Institute of Criminology for the ACT Community Law Reform Committee in connection with its reference on domestic violence. This is the first comprehensive research project of its kind since the domestic violence legislation was enacted in 1986. It will be an invaluable tool to the Community Law Reform Committee in considering its final recommendations.
The research focuses primarily on the response of the ACT's criminal justice system to domestic violence. The approach of the researchers involved three areas. Firstly, they undertook an analysis of court and police statistics on domestic violence. Secondly, they conducted an attitudinal survey of the Australian Federal Police. Lastly, they interviewed some 36 people involved with domestic violence, including police, magistrates, court staff, lawyers and Domestic Violence Crisis Service workers. This is a very comprehensive research report and it would be impossible for me to cover all of its findings here today. I will, however, mention some of the central results.
The research of court and police figures over a three-year period between 1989 and 1991 showed that in 90 per cent of cases applicants for domestic violence orders are women. This is consistent with findings in other States. The researchers also found that during the same period there was an increase of 25 per cent in domestic violence applications. The reasons for this increase are not clear, but it most likely reflects an increase in reporting rather than an increase in violence itself. One alarming finding was that some 17 per cent of applications involved respondents who were the subject of more than one application. This may indicate that there is a significant possibility of domestic violence perpetrators reoffending with a different partner.
The researchers looked more closely at one three-month period, from March to May of 1991, and found that 87 per cent of protection orders related to de facto or marriage relationships. Further, in a large proportion - some 42 per cent - of cases, orders are sought after the breakdown of relationships. This is consistent with a New South Wales study published by the New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research which found that separation or the threat of separation was the precipitating factor in 46 per cent of wife killings. Nearly two-thirds of applicants reported assault as one of the incidents preceding seeking a protection order. In a quarter of cases the use of a knife or other serious weapon was reported. These figures emphasise the seriousness with which domestic violence must be treated.
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