Tasmanian domestic violence breach data bucks national trends

DV breaches in Tasmania have gone against national trends, as family violence increases across the state. See breakdown.

Exclusive: More than 1700 family violence order breaches were reported in Tasmania last financial year, representing a drop on pre-pandemic figures and bucking the national trend.

Data from Tasmania Police revealed 1754 reported violations of court-ordered FVOs and temporary police-issued PFVOs in the 12 months to June 2022.

This included 504 breaches in the north of the state, 770 in the south, and 480 in the west.

All regions were lower than in the year to June 2019, before the pandemic, with the north down 18 per cent over the three years, the south down 3 per cent and the west down 6 per cent.

This is despite data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showing domestic violence-related crimes (including homicide, assault and sexual assault) had been steadily increasing in Tasmania in recent years, with recorded incidents up 7 per cent between 2019 and 2021.

And Tasmania Police data showed the number of issued FVOs, which typically represented a more serious threat of violence, jumped 28 per cent between 2018-19 and 2021-22.

Dr Silke Meyer said stigma around domestic violence was disappearing. Picture: Supplied.

Griffith University social work and criminology professor Dr Silke Meyer said at a national level victims had shown increasing confidence to come forward and make reports of domestic violence and intervention order breaches.

“The reform work over the last five years more broadly has increased awareness of reporting options and increased awareness that this can happen to anyone,” she said.

“It has taken out the stigma that it only happens to people of lower income tiers or lower socio economic background, or diverse linguistic backgrounds.

“We have had quite a few middle class victim-survivors coming out over the years speaking out and it’s given people confidence to report.”

Dr Meyer said people were also more aware of non-physical domestic and family violence, such as coercive control; and protective order conditions had become more comprehensive with specific behaviours listed, making it easier to understand what constitutes a breach. However, she called on police forces Australia wide to invest in training officers to respond to technology-facilitated abuse.

“(Research shows) the police responses seem to be much better when there is physical evidence of abuse or harm, whereas with non-physical abuse, such as coercive control and technology-facilitated abuse, you need a really skilled and trained police officer who will respond and investigate accordingly,” she said.

Domestic violence-related crimes jumped 7 per cent between 2019 and 2021.

Both FVOs and PFVOs place conditions on a respondent, such as not committing domestic violence, surrendering any firearms, not contacting the aggrieved, and not being in the same place at the same time as the aggrieved.

Breaching an FVO or PFVO is a criminal offence that can lead to fines or imprisonment.

Tasmania Police Safe Families Coordination Unit manager Inspector Michelle Plumpton said the organisation took any reported breach of any order seriously as the safety of affected parties was paramount.

“Where there is evidence to prove a breach of any order, a perpetrator will be arrested, charged, and detained for court,” she said.

“All Tasmania Police officers undertake specialist family and sexual violence training and utilise a range of services to support victims and improve their safety. This includes Safe at Home – Tasmania’s integrated criminal justice response to family violence.

“Police encourage anyone who witnesses or is affected by family violence to speak out and report the matter.”

If you are in immediate danger, please call 000 in an emergency.

For more support, please call:

24-hour helpline 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732

Men facing domestic violence can contact mensline.org.au on 1300 78 99 78

Kids Helpline is for young people aged 5 to 25 on 1800 551 800

Lifeline on 13 11 14