Family violence lobby joins court reform push

DOMESTIC violence advocates have backed calls for changes to the way courts approach serious family violence.

DOMESTIC violence advocates have backed calls for changes to the way courts approach serious family violence, with some calling for a separate tribunal to handle such cases and others calling for more help for women to navigate the system.

Their calls for change come after Josh Pascoe, the chief judge of the Federal Circuit Court, which handles the majority of family law cases, called for a separate, less formal tribunal for ­serious domestic violence cases.

Chief Justice Pascoe said he worried that the adversarial court system was not the right place to encourage women who had been badly abused to tell their story.

Rape and Domestic Violence Services Australia executive officer Karen Willis said she strongly supported the call for a separate tribunal to handle such cases, and believed criminal cases involving domestic vio­lence and sexual assault should also be moved to a less formal ­environment.

Ms Willis said the court system was intimidating for many who had experienced violence and they had “absolute fear” of facing their abuser. “At that point women are scared out of their brains and often rightly so.”

North Queensland Domestic Violence Resource Service director Shirley Slann believed judges and magistrates in the criminal and family law systems, as well as police prosecutors, needed to be better trained so they understood family violence.

Women’s Legal Services NSW executive officer Helen Campbell said resources should be directed to provide extra support for women to navigate the current system, rather than on creating a separate tribunal.