Page 3710 - Week 10 - Tuesday, 26 August 2008
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
account for respondents who do not engage in this process without adversely affecting their right to fair trial.
A magistrate is given the discretion to decide an application for a final order following an interim order in circumstances where the respondent does not engage in the process but unexpectedly attends at court on the hearing date for the final order. The magistrate will be able to ascertain whether the respondent is a person with a legal disability who does not have a litigation guardian to assist them with the process. In addition to this, the magistrate can ascertain whether or not the respondent had a reasonable excuse for failing to engage with the process as required by the legislation. If the respondent does not engage in the process, the legislation will enable the magistrate to make an interim order into a final order.
The bill also enables the Magistrates Court to review final orders that are made as a consequence of an interim order process. This will ensure that no injustice is done to respondents who do not engage in the process for acceptable reasons.
I would like to highlight two other important changes introduced by this bill: the extension of intimate relationships covered by the law, and increased protection for children exposed to domestic violence.
The community is rightly concerned that protection from domestic violence should be provided to people who are in a variety of forms of intimate relationships. The bill expands the types of relationships contemplated by the law to include intimate homosexual relationships and to include relationships where the parties do not reside together.
The bill extends protection to children in a number of ways. The bill enables child protection workers to have access to information from the courts regarding the existence and content of an order when the safety of a child is being investigated. The bill expands the definition of domestic violence to incorporate the psychological abuse of a child or young person. This will enable orders to be made that protect children from exposure to domestic violence. The amendment is consistent with the provisions in the government’s Children and Young People Act which was passed earlier this year. To protect young children, the bill clarifies that children under 10 years old are not to be respondents to a protection order.
The bill also strengthens the protection of children who are named in an order in circumstances where the applicant wants to revoke that order. If an applicant applies to revoke an order and children are named on it, the bill will provide an additional safeguard by requiring a magistrate to be satisfied that any child named on the order is no longer in need of the protection afforded by that order prior to any revocation of the order occurring.
In closing, I would like to thank all of the people and organisations who contributed their thoughts and analysis in deliberations with my department and the government. In particular, I would like to thank the staff of ACT courts, Legal Aid, the Domestic Violence Crisis Service, the children’s commissioner, the Women’s Legal Centre, the Victims of Crime Coordinator, the Domestic Violence Prevention Council, ACT
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .