DOZENS of women have gathered in Southport for perhaps the most anticipated day of their year.
Professionals, students, homemakers, mothers and grandmothers in their seventies.
Some sport designer clothes and expensive make-up. Others are dressed on budget, their hair rough and faces stressed.
But this is not a rock concert, fashion parade or business launch. In fact, none of them want to be there.
It is a Thursday and the Domestic and Family Violence Court in Southport is full. The Bulletin has been granted special permission to see firsthand one of the early steps women take in trying escape alleged emotional, verbal and physical abuse.
Sixty nine victims appear the day the Bulletin is in court. Sixty nine. Despite the varied backgrounds and fortune, domestic violence does not discriminate.
One case after another the alleged victims are ushered from a secure “safe” room through a side door to a seat at the left end of the bar table.
For the first case, the respondent is in custody. His lawyer says he will agree to a temporary protection order.
Magistrate Louisa Pink notes there is reference to him possessing a 12-gauge shotgun.
“I propose to prohibit him from possessing firearms,” she says.
It is agreed and a temporary order is made including a no contact condition. It takes less than five minutes.
The next matter is called and the work continues.
Some applications come with attached screenshots totalling dozens of pages that detail abusive and constant contact by partners.
Magistrate Pink urges lawyers to take her to the relevant messages in an effort to save time.
In another case the aggrieved complains that her former partner has called her “dumb” and “self-righteous” during a barrage of messages. Magistrate Pink again grants a temporary order.
During one of the proceedings Magistrate Pink reads out an email from an alleged victim who has not shown up, saying they “see little point in continuing” and that they would “just let the police deal with it” in the future.
Soon after a woman in her thirties sits at the bar table looking nervous. Her ex-partner has not shown up.
Magistrate Pink reads out some confronting details while granting the order.
“He threatened to call your employer and have your employment terminated when you would not go to his place,” she says. “There are allegations of him trying to stop you from learning to drive. He has threatened to kill himself.”
Kelly Wilkinson’s family told the Bulletin that she had been prevented from getting a driver’s licence by her former husband Brian Earl Johnston.
Johnston has been charged with her murder, accused of setting her on fire in their Arundel backyard about 6.40am on April 20.
In another instance in court, a woman in her 50s sits forward in her chair; her shoulders hunched. She is looking down.
A couple of metres away her former partner leans back in his seat, looking up and relaxed. Three people separate them.
Soon after another woman takes her place. This woman is in her thirties and well-dressed in business clothes.
There are men seeking help too. In a reversal of the trend, a well-dressed man in his thirties provides dozens of text messages showing how his former partner abused him and their child.
The woman has not shown up to court.
In the messages the woman called her former partner an “arsehole”, “narcissist” and an “immature dick”. She also sent abusive messages to the child.
A temporary order was put in place but the family also has to continue through the family court.
In another case, an elderly couple sit at the bar table, both looking nervous. It is police who have brought the application.
The man consented to be of good behaviour to his wife.
Magistrate Pink told him: “I have to say to both of you, engage with veteran’s affairs.
“If you have these symptoms on or about Anzac Day I am concerned for you and your wife’s safety.”
Throughout the day a number of respondents applied for a cross order, meaning the aggrieved would also be subjected to a DVO.
Magistrate Pink was also regularly required to include a condition on the DVO ordering no contact “except in accordance with orders from the Family Court” in order to ensure conditions in relation to childcare continued.
About halfway through the day another magistrate with specialised domestic violence training becomes available and a number of matters are sent to them.
By day’s end, they are able to deal with all of the matters on the list … until tomorrow.
ORDERS OF THE DAY
A day in the Domestic and Family Violence Court represents a rolling coverage of domestic violence and temporary protection orders. The process usually takes place behind closed doors to allow for the privacy of the aggrieved.
The specialised court that sits under the umbrella of the Magistrates Court.
In Southport, two specifically trained magistrates preside over DVO applications and criminal matters. The court is so busy that the criminal matters often spill to the regular Magistrates Court.
In most cases a DVO is not a simple process.
It is a civil matter, but unlike a criminal charge the alleged victim has their own lawyer or a duty lawyer to help them.
Consented orders can be put in place on the spot. If not, the process can drag out for months.
In the first instance a temporary protection order will be made – a way of bridging the gap until a final, five-year DVO is made.
These can often be held up by family court or criminal proceedings.
A DVO application can be made by a civilian or by police. Applications made by police can only be removed by police or the courts.
When at court, the alleged victims are taken into a safe room only accessible with a swipe card held by select court staff and duty lawyers.
The court remains closed for each of the matters and at the start of each matter names are called over the public address system.
The respondent enters through the main door but the aggrieved enters from the opposite side through a door connected to the safe room.
That door cannot be accessed from the courtroom without a swipe card.
When in the courtroom the alleged victim sits on the very end of the bar table, a support worker or friend to their left and their lawyer to their right.
A police prosecutor sits in the centre, their laptop open, ready to look up information as required.
Next to them is the respondent’s lawyer and, finally, the respondent.
The public gallery is empty except for a few lawyers.
On the day the Bulletin sat in the court, it was not uncommon for court staff to move in and out of the room delivering paperwork and files.
The Bulletin last month revealed that one in 10 DVO applications made in Queensland were issued in Southport.
On average 365 DVOs are made each month. About 12 DVOs were breached everyday during the month of March.
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