Family of Teresa Bradford call for domestic violence court reforms
THE family of domestic violence murder-suicide victim Teresa Bradford are calling for a one-stop shop, saying DV victims should be able to go to just one place to receive all the services they need.
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THE family of Teresa Bradford, who was murdered by her estranged husband, are calling for reforms to domestic violence courts and better support for victims trying to escape abusive relationships.
Teresa Bradford was stabbed to death by her former partner David Bradford in 2017 after he broke into the Pimpama home she shared with her four children. He took his own life after killing Teresa.
Ms Bradford’s sister-in-law Narelle O’Brien believes magistrates working at the domestic violence court should sit down with the family of DV murder victims to hear how their decisions affect them.
“I think the victims and the family of victims should have more say, because we are the ones who live with it every day,” Ms O’Brien said.
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“I think the problem lays with the judges … when the police go in and put forward a case to try and deny bail they’re doing all they can, at the end of the day, the judge is the one who lets them out.
“The police see it first-hand, they go to these situation and they see what the offender is like, they should have a lot of say when it comes to an offender getting bail.
“It all needs a big upheaval … it all needs a big shake-up.
“I don’t want what happened to Teresa to happen to anybody else.”
Ms O’Brien said more offenders need to be forced to wear GPS trackers when given parole or as a part of their bail conditions to protect victims.
“I don’t know what the criteria is to put on the ankle bracelets are, but they’re not being rolled out fast enough and they’re not being rolled out to every single person. What is the criteria? When is it enough to put the bracelet on? What’s the checklist for it to be ticked off?
“I have a family I am helping at the moment who are in pretty much the same situation as Teresa, her ex-partner just got bail, he has a list an arm length long of issues and he got bail with no ankle bracelet.
“This woman is scared. That’s wrong, why isn’t he wearing an ankle bracelet?”
Ms O’Brien is also calling on the State Government to set up a one-stop shop for victims of DV to go to when attempting to escape their abusive partners, before it’s too late.
“At the moment you’ve got victims that are going to one person for help and are then being tasked to another person and then passed to another and they’re not getting anywhere. All the systems and all the places aren’t talking, they’re getting passed around left, right and centre, which is again taking more time, which these victims don’t have.
“It’s not good enough, they need to have somewhere they can go to, be linked into all services and they can all say they can help them and work together.”
She said the biggest struggle the Coast needs to overcome was helping victims to find accommodation to get away from their abuser.
“There is definitely not enough help, Teresa was struggling to get a house. I think if there was more help out there for DV victims who are trying to flee their homes and get another rental, it could save lives.
“I speak to a lot of other people who are going through similar situations in support groups, and there is a lot families out there who are trying to find rentals and can’t … they’re scared in the home they’re in, frightened their ex partner is going to come back and kill them, which is what happened to Teresa.
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“They can’t get out of there fast enough, because there isn’t enough support to help them get into another rental.”
Minister for the Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence Di Farmer said the Government had increased funding for services on the Coast this financial year.
“The Palaszczuk Government has made significant investments in domestic and family violence services on the Gold Coast increasing funding by 44%, from $4.5 million in 2015/16 to $6.5 million in 2018/19,” Ms Farmer said.
“Also in May we announced funding of $6.8 million over three years to build and operate new domestic violence shelters on the Northern Gold Coast and Caboolture.
“That brings the number of new DV shelters built by the Palaszczuk Government to seven. These are the first shelters built by a Queensland Government in more than two decades.”
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