Domestic and Family Violence

Mrs POWER (Elder) (15:04): My question is to the Attorney-General. Will the Attorney-General outline to the house how the standalone strangulation offences have assisted in the charging and prosecution of domestic violence offenders?

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General) (15:04): I wish to thank the member for Elder, who of course is an assistant minister to the government and indicates the priority which the Premier has given the prevention of domestic violence in our state. The question that is being sought indicates to me one of a number of areas that have been very significant in the reforms that have been advanced.

In January this year, the new laws developed created a new standalone offence of a strangulation in a domestic setting. Evidence has told us that strangulation is a precursor for domestic violence homicides and should not be tolerated in our communities. If any member has any doubt about the significance of the precursor connection, then they should read the research, which has been published over a number of years now by the Coroner, who has a full-time research assistant, in relation to the deaths primarily of women in domestic violence circumstances.

As of August this year, the figures revealed that 291 persons had been charged with 341 counts of choking, strangling or suffocating a domestic partner, child or other relative in just the months since that time until August. Whilst there are a number of matters before the court, we have also seen already the first conviction of a strangulation offence. The sheer volume of defendants charged with this offence continues to be a cause of concern and highlights the prevalence of domestic violence in our society.

I would like to take the opportunity on this occasion to thank all organisations who remain committed to this amendment, including the South Australian police who were active in their advice to us in the development of this reform, and support during the progress through this parliament, and have actively been utilising the changes when attending to incidents of domestic violence. We rely on the South Australian police, who attend the scenes on these occasions when they are called for assistance, to protect those in these circumstances and, of course, undertake the investigation and recommendation for charges.

This government remains committed to developing policies and laws that protect those who are either at risk or who have experienced some form of domestic violence. Through the legislative reforms, such as the standalone offence of strangulation, we have also introduced tougher penalties for repeated breach of intervention orders and the policy initiatives, such as the trial of the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme, which I know the member for Elder has been very instrumental in not only being part of the announcement of that but has taken an active interest in the rollout of that scheme and we thank her for that. All of this goes towards better protecting South Australians who have experienced or are at the risk of experiencing domestic violence.

I, as Attorney-General, will continue to seek other measures that can be taken to support these victims of crime and work hand in hand with the Minister for Human Services and our very own assistant minister on the important initiatives. These are important to progress here in South Australia but also at the national level to work with our federal colleagues. As I have said previously, if this government's domestic violence reforms save just one life—one death at the hand of a partner—then they will have been a success.