Domestic violence reported in NSW courts only the ‘tip of the iceberg’

It’s another day at one of Sydney’s busiest court rooms. And one comment highlights a huge problem our country faces.

It’s AVO day at one of Sydney’s busiest courts.

For those that don’t run in court circles, that means the one day a week that the magistrate hears every apprehended violence order applied for by someone in need of protection in that local area.

At Parramatta Court, in Sydney’s west, that’s 75 applications for protection in one day.

It’s a long, arduous day and the court seems to be going through the motions of the typical conditions that come with an AVO.

The local court magistrate reminds each defendant about their promise to not stalk, harass or harm the person applying for the AVO.

A promise, depending on the AVO’s conditions, to keep a distance from the victim’s work and home.

“You have to stick to it, can you do that?” Magistrate Gary Still asks one defendant, scalding them like a parent.

“This order is aimed at your behaviour so you’re the only one who can breach it and you are the one in control.”

But occasionally, the uneventful court proceedings are interrupted by worrying details of why the AVO was applied for in the first place.

We hear about an AVO against a man who slapped his wife across the face, filming her on his mobile phone as he promised her “one day I will kill you”.

His attempt to have the case dropped on mental health grounds, because of his “severe anxiety” and “depression”, are ignored by the magistrate, who dismisses the poorly written psychological reports.

The court hears the man was filming the woman to “try and make her shut up” and he delayed expressing remorse and contrition.

He is convicted of intimidation and for slapping her on the face, fined $750 and put on a community corrections order for 12 months.

On average, one woman a week is murdered by her current or former partner.

Almost 10 women a day are hospitalised for assault injuries at the hands of a spouse or domestic partner.

Every day in May, as part of Domestic and Family Violence Awareness Month, news.com.au will tell the stories behind those shocking statistics.

Another AVO, applied for by the police on behalf of a woman whose husband allegedly abused her, is heard in court.

The husband, who is still married to the woman, attempts to shove off the abuse allegation.

“I threw it like this,” he gestures, attempting to act out exactly how he threw a banana at his wife of 16 years, before admitting he had been “abusive and angry”.

“You can’t do that again, you understand me? That language and messaging to your partner in those terms is not a matter I can simply ignore,” Mr Still told the man.

The magistrate records a conviction and puts the man on a good behaviour bond for 12 months and imposes an AVO for the next two years that bans the man from stalking, intimidating or harming his wife.

“I do not want a repeat of this … if that happens again it’s going to get ugly,” Mr Still adds.

On the same day, the court hears of another AVO, imposed by the police due to their fears for a woman’s welfare.

The man who was served the AVO and has been ordered to keep a distance from his partner, is in court with her to try and get it amended so they no longer have to stay away from each other.

The police oppose the change, insisting to the court that they believe the woman still needs the protection.

“They are serious charges,” the police prosecutor argues.

The magistrate explains to the couple that they will have to prove to the court why they want to reunite.

“You’ll need to make a new statement about where you say the situation is at now and why you have no fears of this man anymore,” Mr Still explains to the woman.

“We won’t relax those orders just like that, we need to have good reason to do it.”

The magistrate dismisses the couple, with the woman walking out first and the man following behind.

After they leave, the magistrate sighs to his staff.

“It’s been a long day,” he says.

At Hornsby Local Court, in the north of Sydney, the situation is no different.

One morning earlier this month, a woman arrives early to try and get her partner’s AVO dropped. She’s pacing throughout the courthouse, her partner trailing behind.

When a domestic violence liaison officer, a specialist police officer trained to support victims in court, moves to take the young woman into a meeting room, the man starts to follow.

The young woman’s eyes widen as she looks at her partner and the police officer before the female cop puts her hand out.

“Women only in here mate,” she tells him, before taking the woman into the room.

The man huffs and makes his way back outside.

It’s situations like these that have made a NSW magistrate, with more than 20 years experience, realise we’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg when it comes to domestic violence.

The magistrate, who spoke to news.com.au on the condition of anonymity, said despite it seeming like an endless stream of AVOs coming through NSW’s court system, there were still so many cases going unreported.

While the court and police were getting tougher on non-compliance and people breaching AVOs, the magistrate said more work had to be done to ensure victims felt protected.

“(AVOs) are really important but of course, with this legislation, we know how under-reported domestic violence is,” the magistrate said.

“It’s not as bad as sexual assault but we know we’re only dealing with the tip of the iceberg.

“So we want to know the system is making them count.”

The magistrate said the court system was slowly getting better — especially with enforcing the orders and ensuring things ran more smoothly.

“You can see how much time is wasted — usually by the lawyers,” the magistrate said.

“But they’re getting better. All the defendants and lawyers need to speak to the DVLO before court and it sorts out all the procedural stuff that used to be discussed in court.”

The magistrate said it was “tricky” when victims ask for their AVO conditions to be relaxed.

“Sometimes the AVO modifies behaviour, sometimes it makes it worse,” they said.

“Sometimes the PINOP (person in need of protection) will stop communicating with police and tells police to pull the AVO … you never know what’s going on behind the scenes.”

The sheer number of AVOs are evident at any court across NSW.

At Wollongong Court, an hour south of Sydney, the situation is especially chaotic.

There are dozens of AVOs listed on a single day and it’s not even the court’s “domestic violence day”, where all of the new AVOs are heard on a single day and support services are there for people in need of protection (PINOPs).

It’s a hive of activity outside the court with police officers taking women aside and lawyers bustling in and out of the courtroom.

The court hears of an AVO applied for by police to protect a woman from her father.

The father, appearing in court, insists he has spoke with his daughter and the situation is “better”.

“I’m still going to impose the order,” the magistrate says.

“Your daughter wants your behaviour to change and the police want your behaviour to change.”