More DV offenders sent to jail in NT compared to rest of nation

Domestic violence offenders in the NT are sent to jail at a higher rate than the rest of Australia SEE THE NUMBERS

DOMESTIC violence offenders in the Northern Territory are being sentenced to jail at a much higher rate than the rest of the nation.

Recent Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data indicates that during the 2020-21 financial year those found guilty of domestic violence offences are being sentenced to prison 69 per cent of the time in the NT, while across the rest of the nation the rate is only 21 per cent.

The numbers have put a further spotlight on domestic, family and sexual violence (DFSV) offences in the NT, with the Northern Territory Council of Social Service (NTCOSS) saying they have heard concerns from their membership about recidivism rates and the urgent need for specialist DFSV training across the justice sector.

Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety estimated that between 70 and 90 per cent of incarcerated women had experienced domestic violence.

NTCOSS chief executive Deborah Di Natale said they had heard concerns that a number of women incarcerated for DVSF were being misidentified as the primary perpetrator by the legal system, when in fact they should be identified as the person most in need of protection.

Ms Di Natale said the Aboriginal Justice Agreement had also identified serious concerns with the NT’s bail, juries and sentencing acts, and said broader solutions to alternatives to incarceration were necessary.

In response, NTCOSS is calling for the introduction of an Aboriginal Advisory Group within the NT to inform responses in communities, as well as advocating for reform to police and justice responses to DFSV.

In February, the federal government committed an additional $10.7m towards combating DFSV

At the time, federal Women’s Safety Minister Anne Ruston said the government expected to make a further $3.585m in payments over the next 12 months ­totalling $4.78m based on the Territory’s population size and remoteness.

“The rates of violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and children in the NT are devastating and must be urgently addressed,” Ms Ruston said.

However, Ms Di Natale said the national funding model needed to change to a needs-based allocation rather than the current per capita basis.

“We have a Domestic Family and Sexual Violence crisis unfolding daily in the NT and we call on the Commonwealth to recognise this with a commitment to move to an ongoing, needs-based funding model,” she said.

Territory Families Minister Kate Worden said the NT government would continue to pressure the federal government to move to the needs-based funding model that the Territory desperately needed.

“This funding is the product of 12 months of discussions and lobbying of the federal government … our funding should not be based on population size,” she said.