Bills

Intervention Orders (Prevention of Abuse) (Application Fees) Amendment Bill

Introduction and First Reading

Ms HILDYARD (Reynell) (10:48): Obtained leave and introduced a bill for an act to amend the Intervention Orders (Prevention of Abuse) Act 2009. Read a first time.

Second Reading

Ms HILDYARD (Reynell) (10:49): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I am very proud to rise today to introduce and speak to this Intervention Orders (Prevention of Abuse) (Application Fees) Amendment Bill and in doing so to help ensure that South Australia takes another step towards preventing and ending the terrible scourge that is domestic violence. This bill is a very straightforward one: it simply removes the associated fees for an application to the court for a domestic violence-related intervention order and the fees for applications for variations or revocation of a domestic violence-related intervention order. It has no bearing on the police-issued domestic violence intervention orders.

Domestic violence intervention orders are aimed at preventing and/or responding to domestic violence. In relation to intervention orders, it is utterly crucial to make sure that those in need or those at risk are able to quickly and easily access these orders without any undue barriers. This means ensuring that every person experiencing or at risk of experiencing domestic violence, no matter their financial capacity, can access intervention orders should they require them.

As I have said so many times in this place and as I will continue to say for as long as it takes for domestic violence to cease, as parliamentarians, as community leaders, we must do everything we possibly can to prevent domestic violence and to appropriately deal with those who perpetrate the horrors of it on others. As I have also said before, I wish that I did not need to keep speaking on this issue, but we have so much more to do.

SAPOL figures show month-on-month family and domestic abuse-related offences are increasing, with recent data from the 2020-21 financial year showing a 9 per cent increase compared with the previous year. This meant an additional 835 offences against a person related to domestic violence, with a total for the year of 9,760. These rising figures are appalling. They require us to act. They demonstrate just how much we still have to do to prevent violence against women and children and to deal with perpetrators. Despite the Marshall Liberal government's repeated claims that they are addressing this issue, much, much more needs to be done.

As we know, domestic violence reaches into every corner of our community. It knows no boundaries. It happens in every suburb, in every regional area, in big houses and small ones, and in the families that have spent their entire lives here and in those who arrived yesterday. We also know that support for women experiencing domestic violence is almost exclusively focused on acute crisis situations where resources are of course needed. What we also need, however, is a suite of well-funded measures that include strongly activating preventative measures and community conversations in every corner of our state that raise awareness and tackle gender inequality as the underlying cause of violence against women.

I continue to have women attend my office scared, worried, frustrated and desperately wanting to live their lives without fear, for the abuse and violence to cease and wanting accessible, meaningful choices to change and rebuild their lives. In conversations with these women, a theme often emerges, a theme that informs me of a deep frustration with the lack of support and a lack of knowing where they can turn to assist them through processes to ensure they are safe and to ensure that the process is not a barrier to them achieving their much-desired safety.

It is a need that I spoke about at length in this place recently when 3,300 petitions were tabled on behalf of southern community members who are campaigning for a funded domestic violence prevention hub in the south because, despite the City of Onkaparinga region being the largest council area in South Australia, there are no face-to-face prevention services to support women experiencing domestic violence.

This failure to provide ongoing, additional, dedicated funding for domestic violence hubs underlines how thin the Marshall Liberal government's commitment is to eradicating domestic violence because women at risk of violence need the earliest possible access to therapy, to counselling and to other services to enable them to rebuild their lives safely. They need more preventative services and community education, as well as clear pathways into appropriate services, because current support for women experiencing domestic violence in the south and in regions across South Australia is, as I said, through a system focused on acute crisis only.

Alongside crisis support and, as I have also said, alongside much, much stronger preventative measures, we need legislation that works, that makes a difference, that is accessible to all and that promotes rights for those experiencing domestic violence and promotes safety. This bill will work alongside other legislative measures that have already been introduced to this parliament to ensure the best possible rights and protections, and it demonstrates that we are wholeheartedly committed to tackling domestic violence.

As well as many other measures, I have continued to campaign alongside organisations and individuals for the criminalisation of coercive control, for including domestic violence as a ground for discrimination under the Equal Opportunity Act and for ensuring that those charged with serious domestic violence offences are electronically monitored as a condition of their bail. On this side of the house, we have also moved for the commencement of an inquiry into the efficacy of laws and education programs relating to consent to sexual activity.

Pleasingly, my private member's bill, the Labor bill to toughen penalties for repeated breaches of intervention orders, has now passed both houses of parliament. This reform will now increase penalties significantly for those who continue to breach intervention orders by removing fines as a punishment option. These tough new measures were needed to deter and hold repeat offenders to account. They have significantly strengthened laws dealing with violent abusers.

I am proud that Labor has taken that important step forward to address the scourge of domestic violence by progressing these changes already to intervention orders and in continuing to take steps to progress other measures. Whilst I will continue to pursue these bills and motions in the parliament, I am, as I have said, painfully aware that ending domestic and family violence will require more than laws alone. It will also require a significant shift in community attitudes towards gender and gendered violence and it will require education and training, including amongst police, the legal profession and many other institutions.

It requires that we remove any barrier to people accessing support and safety. This removal of court fees for domestic violence intervention orders through this bill is one example of how we can, with a small change, remove the financial burden for an individual to take steps towards safety. Whilst Labor is introducing and attempting, as I have said, to progress a range of ways to prevent and end domestic violence, the lack of leadership shown from the other side to address these matters is clear.

This lack of leadership has led to significant deleterious impacts on those experiencing domestic violence through the cruel, heartless slashing of $780,000 from the Women's Domestic Violence Court Assistance Service in the 2019-20 budget and the cut of $2.3 million from the Victim Support Service in 2020—a cut that resulted in the closure of critical regional offices around South Australia, leaving those experiencing domestic violence literally with nowhere to go.

At a time when people, and particularly women, are looking for support and guidance through the court system, shamefully the government's cuts to these services are leaving people at their most difficult time to face the system with a severe lack of assistance, often to face the system alone. Those opposite can do something. They could choose a different path. I wholeheartedly urge the government to support this and other bills waiting to be debated to ensure that there is not one more person who is going through the horror of dealing with domestic violence left facing unnecessary barriers to being supported and accessing their rights.

As I have noted, the aim of this bill in removing the court application fees for domestic violence intervention orders is to reduce any possible hindrance or hesitation for individuals to access this necessary safety element. In South Australia, applications to the court for a domestic violence-related intervention order cost around $297, whilst there is no fee for the domestic violence-related intervention order issued by SAPOL.

At a forum this year hosted by Uniting Communities about intervention orders and what can be improved, a number of speakers—including the Attorney-General, various legal practitioners, the Women's Legal Service, a number of domestic violence organisations, academics and a range of other participants—identified the eradication of this fee as a crucial area for improvement. Indeed, the eradication of this fee was deemed a key topic and noted as a key step forward in positive reform of intervention orders. The abolition of this fee has been called for by various organisations who are committed to working to prevent and end domestic violence.

In an article published in regional papers earlier this year, former victims of crime commissioner, Michael O'Connell, spoke to this fee noting, 'We should not put an obstacle in the way of those people who need help.' Indeed, no obstacle should prevent a person experiencing domestic violence from taking steps towards safety, whether that be financial or otherwise. Mr O'Connell also stated that, whilst most intervention orders are issued through the police, often court-administered intervention orders are applied for to address issues and acts that would be considered as coercive control.

In the 2020-21 financial year, there were 2,274 police issued intervention orders related to domestic violence, while 227 domestic violence related intervention order applications were made to the court by individuals. I do understand that many of those court applications were successful in accessing financial hardship support, with the fee waived, which means we are talking about a small number of intervention orders and a small number of people this parliament can take a step towards assisting.

In closing, as I have done before, I again acknowledge the outstanding work done by those working in domestic violence services and by those advocating for this and other changes we are progressing. These incredible workers and incredible organisations are doing whatever they can to advocate for and support those experiencing domestic violence in a system where unnecessary barriers like these fees are often stacked up against the person who is seeking help.

For those experiencing domestic violence, their families, their children, and for those we have tragically lost as a result of domestic violence, we must fight to prevent and end this terrible scourge. We must be genuine leaders and we must do everything that we possibly can to stop violence before it starts.

More must be done on prevention and, on this side of the house, together with our community, we will continue to collectively raise our voices to ensure that more is done. Whilst we continue that work towards ensuring that violence is prevented before it starts, we must also engage every possible legislative measure and in doing so remove any barrier to women being safe. That is exactly what this bill does. I commend it to the house.

Debate adjourned on motion of Dr Harvey.