Improving the justice response to domestic and family violence

The rates of domestic and family violence (DFV) in the Northern Territory (NT) are 3 times higher than the Australian national average and are increasing yearly [1]. In 2022, over 64% of assaults in the NT were related to DFV [2].

The NT Government recognises more needs to be done to better protect DFV victim survivors and hold offenders accountable. It is committed to improving the justice response to domestic and family violence through a more consistent and specialised focus that will help reduce the cycle of violence.

In August 2022, the Department of the Attorney-General and Justice commenced a review of the Domestic and Family Violence Act 2007 (the DFV Act) and released a paper for public consultation on the legislative proposals to improve the justice response to DFV in the NT. The review was an initiative under the NT’s Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Reduction Framework 2018-2028: Safe, Respected and Free of Violence.

Recommendations provided during the consultation, in addition to submissions received from stakeholders following the release of the DFV Exposure Draft Bill in 2023, were considered and have informed the Justice Legislation Amendment (Domestic and Family Violence) Bill 2023 (the Bill).

The Bill was passed on 28 November 2023 and is expected to commence in January 2024.

What are the changes to the Domestic and Family Violence Act?

The Bill modernises and strengthens the DFV Act to bring it into line with best practices and address inconsistences in the current Act.  

Key features include:

• A definition of coercive control, excluding the creation of a stand-alone criminal offence
• Misidentification of parties
• Greater and stronger protections for victim survivors
• Greater and more consistent offender accountability, and
• Improved clarity and scope for courts and police powers.

Coercive Control

The Bill includes a definition of coercive control, which will allow the Courts to consider the concept of coercive control when considering applications for Domestic Violence Orders (DVO) and where a person breaches a DVO. Although coercive control has been included in the DFV Act, a stand-alone criminal offence of coercive control is not part of these reforms.

Information sharing access and limitations to information is a significant barrier to DFV. These barriers prohibit the timely exchange of potentially lifesaving information. It is considered that greater access to information and better information sharing practices will assist with reducing the misidentification of parties.

Misidentification is a significant impediment to the safety of victim-survivors. Amendments have been made to mitigate and reduce the rates of misidentification by requiring police to produce police certificates for all Police DVO applications, and where requested for Court DVO applications, that outline the history of DFV between the parties.

Greater and stronger protections for victim survivors

The Bill has provisions to better protect victims of DFV by updating and contemporising definitions to:

• broaden the definition of domestic violence, domestic relationship, family relationship and intimate personal relationship, which includes a definition of technology abuse, and a modernised definition of economic abuse;
• expanding the definition of party;
• include a definition of emotional or psychological abuse;
• a revised definition of domestic relationship, family relationship and intimate personal relationship;
• an updated requirement for what venue a DVO can be filed at;
• broader consideration given to matters when making a DVO and what a DVO may provide
• more prescriptive arrangements for premise access orders, including the retrieval of personal property from the residence of the offender;
• greater protections and options for tenants by removing the requirement that a protected person and offender either live together or previously lived together in a premise;
• a default expiration period of five years for DVOs and in certain circumstances, the inclusion of an indefinite period for some DVOs.

Greater and more consistent offender accountability

DFV requires a multifaceted response to generate real change. The Bill has included new provisions concerning the actions of offenders to:

• prohibit attempts to locate the protected person;
• require offenders to destroy intimate image/s of the protected person;
• refrain offenders from remaining at, entering or approaching specified premises;
• hear matters together where an offender has been charged with more than one domestic violence offence in the same indictment.

Improved clarity and scope for Courts and Police powers

The Bill clarifies the authority of Courts and Police by including:

• more comprehensive matters to be considered when making a DVO;
• greater flexibility for making interim DVOs, including varying, and in some instances revoking DVOs (Chapter 2), including the duration of DVOs;
• a requirement that the conditions of DVOs are explained to the protected person and the offender;
• confirmation that some matters can be heard in the absence of the offender (section 49);
• limiting the number of adult persons to be included on another adult’s DVO (this limit does not apply to children up to 24 years old of the protected person);
• clarification about the power to make reciprocal DVOs;
• matters to be included and recorded on a DVO application;
• clarification about notice and application for review of DVO, including the roles of Courts and Judges;
• requirements to provide police certificates for both the protected person and offender;
• clarification about who may apply for a DVO and who is a party to a DVO;
• a requirement that a court may refuse to hear an application that is contrary to the objects of the DFV Act;
• confirmation on how evidence of vulnerable witness/s may be given;
• confirmation on what is and what is not an offence under the DFV Act, i.e publication of names and identifying information about children.