New magistrates and renovations to Southport DV courts

VICTIMS of domestic violence will no longer have to face their attackers as they wait to appear in court on the Gold Coast.

VICTIMS of domestic violence will soon be able to attend court on the Gold Coast without ever having to face their perpetrators. Picture: Tim Marsden

VICTIMS of domestic violence will soon be able to attend court on the Gold Coast without ever having to face their perpetrators.

Attorney-General and Minister for Justice Yvette D’Ath on Tuesday toured the new facilities being built at Southport Courthouse to support complainants and their children.

The new specific domestic violence area will be finished in September and will include separate registry staff, rooms for victims to speak privately with lawyers and areas for children to play.

Ms D’Ath also announced funding for two permanent DV magistrates at Southport. Picture: Tim Marsden

There will also be a concrete passage way allowing victims to walk from waiting areas to the courtroom without coming into contact with accused people.

Ms D’Ath also announced funding for two permanent DV magistrates at Southport Courthouse.

The two magistrates currently sitting in the Gold Coast’s Specialist Domestic and Family Violence Court were previously temporary positions.

There will now be 11 permanent magistrates at the Gold Coast.

The new magistrates on the Coast are among six for the state, with one being deployed to Townsville and another for Beenleigh.

Yvette D'Ath. Picture: Steve Pohlner.

“It’s not just about specialist magistrates ... it’s that we have the background services (with) the DV duty lawyers, we have the police prosecutors, we have the not-for-profit (services), we have offender programs ... and we have the actual physical facilities in our courthouse to manage it,” Ms D’Ath said.

“Safe places where our victims feel like they can come here and they can sit separate to the alleged offender. They can be interviewed by all of those stakeholders. They can have these interviews safely and they can enter the courtroom without having any interaction with their partner.”

Yvette D'Ath MP. Picture: Steve Pohlner.

Ms D’Ath would not say whether the current magistrates filling roles in the Southport DV courts would stay on in the new permanent jobs.

“Who fills those roles going forward will be a decision by the Chief Magistrate in consultation with the other magistrates. Whoever is doing it will do a terrific job, especially when they are nominating themselves to be in this space,” she said.

The permanent roles require the magistrates to sit at the bench of the Southport Specialist Domestic and Family Violence Court for three years.