Victoria domestic violence royal commission: overhaul court system, establish crisis centres

Victoria’s domestic violence royal commission urges the rollout of crisis centres and an overhaul of the court system.

The statewide rollout of special domestic violence crisis centres, an overhaul of the courts and improved information sharing between agencies are among key recommendations of the Victorian government’s domestic violence royal commission.

The Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence has been released with the 227 recommendations to be tabled in State Parliament today.

The findings are set to be a test for Andrews government, with the report asking the government to provide more funds in the 2017 budget to tackling the issue.

“Government and its departments and agencies must treat family violence as a core area of responsibility instead of a problem that can be addressed through programs that exist at the margins of portfolios or solely through small specialist units,” the report said.

“This will require a genuine commitment to a whole-of-government approach to stop family violence, support victims and hold the perpetrators accountable.”

One of the recommendations is that the government gives the Magistrates Court of Victoria more capacity to deal with domestic violence cases so that it can “grant family violence intervention orders speedily”.

It recommends transferring some of the jurisdiction of the Magistrates to another forum. This forum could deal with fines and traffic infringements.

The report said that the Magistrates Court should increase the number of days where domestic violence matters are heard.

It also says that there should be more judicial registrars to deal with lower order cases.

It also recommends rolling out Safety Hubs throughout the state providing face-to-face crisis services.

The commission says there should be a change in privacy treatment, arguing that the protection of victims should be more important than the privacy of potential perpetrators.

It says there should be a Central Information Point, which would share and keep information between legal and government agencies.

“Led by Victoria Police, it should consist of a co-located multidisciplinary team with representatives from Victoria Police, the courts, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Justice and Regulation,” the report said.

The commission said this information should be available to the Safety Hubs network.

Additional funding has been asked to rehouse women and children who are victims of violence. This includes rental and mortgage subsidies, while increasing emergency accommodation services.

It also recommends the implantation of an independent Family Violence Agency to hold the government to account.

The commission says that Victoria Police should give more resources to the domestic violence and structure the force to reflect family violence as a “core business”.

This includes by having specialist positions for family violence and providing clear career progression for police who specialise in the field.