Migrant women in abuse trap

Cancelling the visas of domestic abusers has put migrant women at more risk, Immigration Minister Andrew Giles has heard at a major roundtable on domestic violence.

Immigration Minister Andrew Giles. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Cancelling the visas of domestic abusers has put migrant women at more risk, Immigration Minister Andrew Giles has heard at a major roundtable on domestic violence rates among temporary visas holders.

Advocates said that migrant women would be left without financial support once their partners’ visas had been cancelled and less likely to report any abuse.

Mr Giles was urged to ensure domestic violence victims were given more help regardless of their migration status, with some visa classes not allowing access to financial or housing support.

According to a landmark national study by Monash University last year, about one in three migrant and refugee women surveyed experienced some form of domestic violence. Researchers found temporary visa holders “consistently reported proportionally higher levels of domestic family violence”.

Mr Giles said he was hearing concerns about the heightened risks facing women and children on temporary visas.

“It’s really important to me – and it’s something that I’ve seen as a local member – to understand all of the issues, to bring experience and evidence into this really critical conversation,” he told The Australian. “There’s been a number of reports and awful stories about people on visas facing additional risk factors because of their visa status … This roundtable is about exploring these issues.”

Mr Giles said Labor had a preference for “clearer pathways to permanency”, but would not commit to removing at-risk women from temporary visa classes as a possible solution.

“This is going to be really important part of the roundtable but I’m not going to pre-empt what’s brought to me,” he said.

Monash University Associate Professor of Criminology Marie Segrave, who attended the roundtable, said there was recognition that the migration system was “enabling perpetrators to not be held to account”.

“The system is actually harmful in the way that it operates and disempowers victim survivors who are temporary visa holders,” she said.

Legal Aid NSW immigration solicitor Mariam Hammoudy said women on some visa classes could access support if they were victims of domestic violence, but there were often lengthy delays that left them in limbo for months or even years.

“Prioritising the processing of visa applications and so on where there is evidence of domestic violence should be considered,” she said.

The roundtable follows a letter signed by more than 20 organisations being sent to the former government in May about concerns over recently-implemented ministerial direction that allow for visas of domestic violence perpetrators to be cancelled, but which carry a range of unintended consequences.

Visa Cancellations Group Chair Hannah Dickson, who was one of the letter’s signatories, said the new ministerial direction had “got it wrong”.

“The direction makes it less likely that people suffering family violence will seek assistance from police or even counsellors,” she told The Australian. “Across the community, we’re receiving reports that people don’t want to report family violence as a result of the direction, meaning not only that people are being exposed to harm, but that the tools we’ve developed to combat family violence aren’t being put to use.”

Professor Segrave said Mr Giles had “taken on board” the advice put to him at the roundtable about the direction and indicated he would “take that forward”.

“There was sign of significant and important change,” she said.

Mr Giles left the door open to amending the direction, and said Labor was “in the process of reviewing all existing ministerial directions”.