Comment sought on Domestic and Family Violence Act

Consultation is now closed.

Despite various improvements brought about with the commencement of the Domestic and Family Violence Act in 2008, domestic violence remains a major problem in the Northern Territory (NT).

In 2013-14 there were 7,295 assaults in the NT. More than 60% of these were associated with domestic violence. Over 80% of domestic violence victims in the Territory are women, with indigenous women being almost 22 times more likely to be victims of domestic violence than non-Indigenous women, representing 73% of all domestic violence victims in the NT.

While legislative measures alone are unlikely to substantially improve these statistics, strong domestic and family violence legislation is a key component of the government’s Domestic and Family Violence Reduction Strategy 2014-17: Safety is Everyone’s Right.

The Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, the Hon John Elferink MLA, is calling for submissions regarding possible improvements to the Domestic and Family Violence Act, its operation and its interaction with related Territory legislation such as the Care and Protection of Children Act and the Criminal Code of the Northern Territory.

Any comments, issues, observations and suggestions are welcome.

Issues paper DOCX (1.2 MB) (docx 1 mb)

Issues paper PDF (393.2 KB) (pdf 397 kb) 

The closing date for submissions is 13 July 2015.

Submissions should be emailed to Policy.AGD@nt.gov.au or mailed to:

Director Legal Policy
Department of the Attorney-General and Justice
GPO Box 1722
Darwin NT 0801