Review of Legislation and the Justice Responses to Domestic and Family Violence in the Northern Territory

The Department of the Attorney-General and Justice has released the Review of Legislation and the Justice Responses to Domestic and Family Violence in the Northern Territory (the Review) for consultation.

The review identifies proposed legislative and systems reforms to:

1. Improve the responsiveness of the justice system to victim-survivors and people who commit DFV;
2. Prioritise the safety and well-being of DFV victim-survivors, including children who are exposed to, and impacted by, DFV;
3. Increase the accountability of offenders for their conduct, and increase opportunities and motivation for them to change their behaviour;
4. Take into account the high percentage of Aboriginal families affected by DFV in the NT and ensure responses are culturally safe and appropriate and informed by the principles in the Aboriginal Justice Agreement (AJA);
5. Consider whether criminalising coercive control is likely to contribute to improved responses to DFV in the NT.

The review is an initiative under the NT’s Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Reduction Framework 2018-2028: Safe, Respected and Free of Violence.

The Department of the Attorney General and Justice is seeking submissions on the proposals outlined in this paper by 12 October 2022.

Targeted consultation meetings will also be held by invitation.

Questions for consideration have been included at the end of each section. However, submissions are welcome on any issue relevant to the prevention and response to DFV, and are not required to address all, or any, of the questions.

Review of Legislation and the Justice Response to Domestic and Family Violence - August 2022 DOCX (566.6 KB)

Summary - Review of Legislation and the Justice Responses to Domestic and Family Violence - August 2022 DOCX (254.5 KB)

Making a submission

The closing date for submissions is 12 October 2022.

Electronic copies of submissions are preferred.

Please email submissions to Policy.AGD@nt.gov.au or via post to:

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

Non-confidentiality of submissions

Submissions may be made publically available, and may be published on the Department’s website, unless clearly marked as ‘confidential’. The Department may draw upon the contents of submissions made and quote from them or refer to them in reports, which may also be made publically available.