Judges to be trained on domestic violence

Federal family law judges are set to receive training on domestic violence issues as part of a push by courts to ­better protect the safety of children and families.

Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia Will Alstergren.

Federal family law judges are set to receive training on domestic ­violence issues — including on recognising coercive control — as part of a push by the courts to ­better protect the safety of children and families.

The training will be delivered to all Family Court and Federal Circuit Court judges by the end of June.

Chief Justice Will Alstergren, who heads both courts — which are due to be merged in September — said the training was aimed at providing safer outcomes amid a focus on the “shameful prevalence” of family violence in our community.

“How the courts address issues of family violence is the most challenging but (also the) most critical area of the courts’ work,” Chief Justice Alstergren said.

“It is imperative that we continually review our training and knowledge in this area of work.”

Successive inquiries into domestic violence and family law have recommended improved training for judges and other professionals in the sector.

Identifying the dynamics of family violence, including coercive control — which is a pattern of domestic abuse that can involve intimidation, degradation, financial control and the isolation of a person from their friends or family — is regarded as a key challenge. Coercive control has been described as a “red flag” to murder. In NSW, it was identified as a precursor to almost every intimate partner homicide.

Chief Justice Alstergren said the training would focus on the protection of children, identifying protective parenting, coercive controlling behaviours, the impact of family violence on children, and other topics.

It will be delivered by a US-based organisation, the Safe and Together Institute, which provides a model of training endorsed by Australian domestic violence researchers and used by state governments, as well as in the US, Britain and New Zealand.

A 2017 federal parliamentary inquiry into family violence recommended that family law practitioners receive training in the Safe and Together Model.

Court registrars, who help to manage cases and have the power to make certain court orders, and family consultants, who advise on what orders would be in the best interest of children, will also receive the training.

The training was one of several court initiatives aimed at delivering safer family law out­comes, Chief Justice Alstergren said. Other initiatives include the courts’ Lighthouse project, which involves improved risk screening and triaging for parenting cases, and the co-location of police and state-based child welfare departments in court registries.

The developer of the Safe and Together Model, David Mandel, said the training had been recognised as improving outcomes for adult and child survivors of domestic violence, and would help the courts to make the best possible decisions for children.

“The model … helps to reduce victim-blaming and increases ­accountability for parents who are using violence and coercive control,” he said.

“The holistic, whole-family approach is ideally suited for the needs of Australian families — ­including Indigenous and culturally and linguistically diverse families.”