HANSARD
SITTING CALENDAR
SEARCH
LIVE BROADCAST
Hansard Dynamic Member Index
House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2018-11-06 Daily Xml
Contents
Pdf Xml

Statutes Amendment (Domestic Violence) Bill

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 24 October 2018.)

Ms HILDYARD (Reynell) (16:16): I rise today to speak in support of the Statutes Amendment (Domestic Violence) Bill 2018. In doing so, I note that the briefing in relation to the bill only occurred just a few days ago and that it would have been better for all who are very deeply engaged with the bill on both sides of the house, and indeed for the many people whom this bill will impact, to have had a little more time to fully consider every aspect of it to ensure its efficacy, given its deep importance to our community. The introduction—

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Reynell, could you just indicate whether or not you are the lead speaker?

Ms HILDYARD: Yes.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: You are the lead speaker, thank you.

Ms HILDYARD: The introduction of the bill follows an inquiry that I was very proud to have moved, which proceeded in 2014 and 2015 through the Social Development Committee, an inquiry that looked into the many aspects of the very sad prevalence of domestic violence and the ongoing need for appropriate funding for both prevention and response for impactful legislation and policy. It also follows the pressing need to continuously and relentlessly engage our community in the prevention and eradication of this terrible and shamefully persistent scourge. It also follows a deep focus on prevention and eradication by our former Labor government and a number of members on the other side of this house also.

For me, it also follows numerous conversations and actions over decades that involved standing up with and for the remarkable, tireless, deeply dedicated workers who work in domestic violence services across South Australia. For me, as is the case for many in this place, it also follows way too many personal conversations with colleagues, family members, friends, community members and acquaintances who have their own story of domestic violence about the lasting impact it has had on their lives, relationships, confidence and wellbeing and also often on the lives of their children and the lives of many around them whom they love. It also follows the Social Development Committee's inquiry recommendations, the discussion paper developed by our former Labor government and, rightly, the growing sentiment across our communities that the terrible scourge that is domestic violence absolutely must end.

The impetus for this legislation is, of course, also the highly disturbing facts about domestic violence that demand that all of us in this place do whatever we can to end its terrible prevalence. The fact that one in three women is subject to violence at some time in their lives, starting from the age of 15; that more than one woman per week in Australia is killed as a result of domestic violence; that domestic violence situations often worsen when a woman is pregnant or close after she has given birth; that domestic violence has a profound impact on children who witness it and, in some cases, can constitute child abuse; that women are most at risk of violence in the home from men they know, and the most common location for all physical assaults against women is in the home; that one-third of people seeking specialist homelessness services have experienced domestic violence; and that domestic violence is now one of the leading causes of death in Australia for women under 45.

As these facts show, domestic violence is terrifyingly and shamefully prevalent in our South Australian communities. These facts are deeply shocking and utterly unacceptable. The gender inequality that lies as its root cause is also deeply persistent and utterly unacceptable. We must continue to do all we can in this place and together with community members in every corner of our state. We must continue to do all we can in those communities to shift this gender inequality, to change the way that men's and women's roles are perceived and to prevent and end this scourge of domestic violence and, indeed, all violence against women. Violence against women is never ever okay.

In relation to the broader issue of violence against women, last Thursday I attended and spoke at a community vigil at the Colonnades shopping centre in my electorate of Reynell to honour a woman who was killed there the week before. The vigil was organised by local woman Melanie whom I take this opportunity to deeply think for her enormous heart and willingness to work to bring our community together following this horrific killing. She is passionate about a community free of all violence against women and her preparedness to use her voice, however she can to speak out against domestic violence, and indeed all violence against women, is exemplary.

Melanie's voice and her willingness to step forward have already made a difference and will continue to do so. I thank her for her wisdom and her passion. I thank everyone who attended the vigil to mourn, to look after one another, to pay their respects to this woman and her family, and to shine a light on the terrible scourge of violence against women in our community. Together, as a community in the south, we will continue to raise our voices in sorrow at this shocking killing but also with deep unabating and relentless anger—anger that women continue to be killed and assaulted, including in a public place as was the case just two weeks ago, including in their homes, including those whom they are or have been in a relationship with.

Every woman in every corner of our community must feel and be safe wherever she happens to be. We must do whatever we can to ensure that there is not one more woman nor indeed anyone assaulted or killed in our community; not one more assault; not one more misuse of power to cause psychological, emotional, financial or mental harm; not one more woman feeling unsafe at home or indeed anywhere else.

Tragically, we cannot bring back the 58 women who have been killed in Australia this year nor can we heal the many physical, emotional and mental wounds that have been caused through domestic violence. But together we can create a different future where we shift the way women and men are perceived, a future where no-one thinks it is okay to control someone through violence, a future where violence is never an option, a future where we have true gender equality where every woman feels and is safe at home and wherever she goes, a future where no child is forced to mourn their mother. I hope that the bill we are discussing today will take us some way forward in making that future possible.

As mentioned, following the Social Development Committee's 2014-15 inquiry into all aspects of domestic violence, recommendations were made in relation to prevention, funding and a range of other issues. Following these recommendations and extensive consultation, as also mentioned, the former Labor government released a discussion paper on domestic violence in July 2016. Much of that work and the resulting discussion paper have formed the backbone of this legislation.

I understand that the government has also undertaken a four-week consultation on a draft bill and received 35 written submissions, as well as 600 responses to an online survey. Whilst this is a short consultation, we acknowledge that much of the work and consultation were done by the previous government, and we are pleased that the feedback received through the most recent consultation has also been used to shape this bill.

This bill creates a new offence of choking, suffocating or strangling a person where the defendant and the victim are or have been in a relationship. This change has been made by the Queensland government. It also provides for a presumption against bail for a person taken into custody in relation to this proposed new offence. Choking and strangulation are known to be precursors to domestic violence-related deaths, and it is important that the legislation creates this new offence.

The bill allows a recording made by a police officer of a victim making a statement to be used as evidence. Some requirements need to be met for this to be admissible but, if met, it is believed that this will ensure that a person who has experienced domestic violence will, thankfully, not need to retell their story in court. I understand this change is modelled on New South Wales legislation. A core focus of Labor policy in this area has been to ensure that there are adequate supports available to empower those who have experienced domestic violence, and we will continue to do what we can to ensure that those supports are in place.

In relation to part 3—the amendment of Evidence Act to insert section 13BB, which focuses on the use of police recordings as evidence to be used later in court—we must support those who have experienced domestic violence through the situations that will arise as a result of this change. I support this amendment but will ask questions about this particular aspect during the committee stage—again, to ensure that the necessary supports are in place for women going through these processes.

The bill also gives the court the ability to make an interim variation to a final order on application by a police officer. At present, an application for a variation must allow the Commissioner of Police, the defendant and each person protected by an order the opportunity to be heard on the matter. This makes it difficult to get a variation in place as soon as possible to protect someone.

If this bill is passed, the Youth Court will have the power to declare a domestic violence order made in any jurisdiction to be a recognised domestic violence order in this jurisdiction. Currently, only the Magistrates Court can do that. It would also add a $20,000 fine to the penalty for the breach of a term of an intervention order, as well as a higher maximum penalty for a second or subsequent breach or a breach that involved physical violence or a threat of physical violence.

Lastly, this bill extends the list of reasons an intervention order can be issued to include forced marriage, threatening to distribute invasive images without consent, and preventing a person from entering the person's own primary place of residence. Whilst these are just examples and not an exhaustive list, the court can determine other reasons for an intervention order to be issued. We on this side of the house are considering other issues that may be included in this area.

In closing, I again state my support for this bill. I fervently hope that it spurs even more conversation by all of us in our communities about how we can ensure that not one more woman is subject to domestic violence in any form, to ensure that women and their children are safe and to ensure that together we can stamp out the gender inequality that lies at the root cause of so much domestic violence and violence against women.

As I have said in this house before, as community leaders not only must we speak up for as long as it takes to end domestic violence but we must engender and encourage the voices of others however we can. It is incumbent upon us to find ways to encourage conversations and actions in our communities. We need to work to make sure that everybody in our community feels comfortable to speak up and out about what they are experiencing, to seek help or to check in on their neighbours, their loved ones and their friends. Together, we must continue to take steps to end domestic violence, and I support this bill in the hope that it will help us to keep taking those much-needed steps forward.

Ms LUETHEN (King) (16:30): I rise to speak in support of this bill and to be a voice for anyone in my electorate living in violence. This bill gives effect to the government's election commitment to increase the penalties for breaches of domestic violence related to intervention orders. The intention is to deter abusers and predators. We on this side have committed to work tirelessly to end the epidemic of domestic violence in South Australia. The bill also enhances other aspects of domestic violence that were talked about but not taken up by the former government.

We on this side are prioritising legislation and reform around domestic violence. Why is this important? Eleven: that is how many Australian women were violently killed in the past month alone. Already this year 58 females have been killed, primarily at the hands of men, allegedly usually by men they know. This number has a ready surpassed the 53 who died in 2017, and there are still two months of the year left. But in October alone the number of females who died in violent circumstances skyrocketed. If 11 people had been killed by shark attacks last month or 11 people killed by terrorists last month, what would we be doing? What would we be talking about, what would be on the front page of our papers and why are these numbers going up?

I am thankful for the shift in public conversation around domestic violence. Cases that have previously been written off as accidents, especially in remote areas and Indigenous communities, are now being taken more seriously. I do think that more and more women are coming into the media to talk. More politicians are asking and talking about this scourge, and more women are telling their stories. When I was on council in the last four years, I raised domestic violence twice in the chamber, and I was told by one of the senior elected community leaders to stop shoving domestic violence down people's throats. Well, I was not quiet then and I will not be quiet now.

We know that the reported deaths are only the tip of the iceberg. These deaths do not include the women who escape the violence, the hospitalisation, the injuries, the burns, the standard running into the doorknob. Then there are the injuries that people do not even see: the financial, emotional and sexual abuse between partners. Then there is the child abuse of children witnessing and being used as pawns in the violence, the controlling behaviour, the terrifying fights that leave kids shaking under the bed or, as in my case as a child, holding onto each other in the bathroom, listening. When police are called out to the thousands of disturbances in South Australia, we are told that at least 60 per cent of the time children are witnessing this violence.

Our government cares about every person living the best life possible; therefore, we will work with our community to prevent family violence. Why are we increasing penalties for domestic violence? As a government and as a community, we stand united in our view that domestic violence is unacceptable in any form. We strongly believe that prevention is the key to combating domestic and family violence. Out of 23 convictions for homicide last year in South Australia, 10 were related to domestic violence—a staggering, sobering statistic.

While men are also reported to be victims, statistically SAPOL data shows that the majority—about 80 per cent—of victims of domestic violence are women and that a high proportion of perpetrators are partners or former partners. There has never been a more important time to strengthen our laws in this state around domestic violence. Across the country, in October alone, too many women were killed, most in the context of current and former intimate relationships, the others also suspected to have died at the hands of male perpetrators. While men living in Australia are far less likely to be killed by an intimate partner, especially if they have never been abusive to that partner, women have a one in four chance of experiencing emotional, physical or sexual violence in at least one of their relationships.

So what are we doing? In the bill we have created an offence for strangulation, with a maximum penalty of seven years in prison. Non-lethal strangulation has been identified as one of the top risk factors in cases where people were later killed by their partners. Queensland already has a stand-alone offence of strangulation, which has also been recommended in other jurisdictions. The bill increases the penalties for repeat breaches of intervention orders and those breaches that involve serious physical harm in the first instance. By strengthening the penalty, we will send a stronger message to the community that this type of offending will not be tolerated and that those who do offend will face severe consequences.

The bill changes the Evidence Act to allow for the admission of recordings taken by police. This is also currently being used in New South Wales. Under this change, police will be able to record on-the-spot statements that will take the place of victims having to give evidence later in court. The bill expands the definition of 'abuse' under the intervention orders to include forced marriage, preventing a person from entering that person's place of residence, and threatening to distribute invasive images of a person without their consent. The bill amends the Bail Act 1985 to provide a presumption against bail for a person taken into custody in relation to the new strangulation offence.

The bill clarifies that the new strangulation offence applies where the victim and the defendant are or have been in a relationship. The bill allows for the making of an interim variation to a final intervention order. This amendment was requested by the Chief Magistrate, as the current process does not allow for a variation, and does not allow for an immediate increase in protections due to the requirement to give the defendant a reasonable opportunity to be heard.

When I was doorknocking only a couple weeks ago, I asked a man for his thoughts on the speed limit on the road that he lived on. As he was answering my question about local issues, his wife, whom I could not quite see in the hallway, tried to make a suggestion from inside their house. He told her in a stern voice to 'just shut up'. What is this woman's life like if he feels confident to speak to her in such a disrespectful way in front of me?

Last week, I was walking on King William Street and a man was making angry comments loudly to everyone and directing some to a scared, tired, unhappy-looking woman walking ahead of him. I looked at her to see if she was okay and she told me, 'I am so sorry.' She was apologising to me for his behaviour. I said to her, 'You have nothing to apologise for. Can you please keep yourself safe.' Then he yelled at me to mind my own business and took her off in another direction. What is this woman's life like?

Too many children and women are living amongst us in a community where they are not safe. Too many children are growing up and seeing disrespectful and violent behaviour that they may grow up thinking is normal. It is not a child's responsibility to keep themselves safe and they have a right to know how to ask for help when they need it. This is where early-years protective behaviours education comes in. I will speak more about this later, and I will speak more about this with every opportunity I have in this house.

We have a local societal problem that is condoning disrespect and violence. We only have to stop and look at adults' behaviour online. Just look at this online bullying. Please speak up for the women and children who do not have a voice. This is imperative in building a stronger, safer community.

This bill was the subject of a broad, four-week public consultation, which included a mail-out to relevant stakeholders and an online survey. Thirty-five written submissions and 600 responses to the online survey were received. Under the former Labor government, a domestic violence discussion paper was launched but with little action. Unlike the former government, this government is prioritising legislation and reform around domestic and family violence. We have a stand-alone assistant minister for the prevention of domestic and family violence and have already held a number of round tables in both the city and the regions to talk with our community about how we tackle these issues.

This government has also recently launched the domestic violence disclosure scheme, which allows those who think they are at risk to make an application for disclosure of a partner's relevant offending by the police. This week, bar staff at pubs across the state are being trained to aid patrons who use a code word to ask if they feel unsafe. We in the Marshall Liberal government care about people and we are making real changes to keep South Australians safer, but the culture change can only happen if all of us are part of this change.

Did you know that in South Australia one in four children will be reported to the Child Abuse Report Line by the age of 10? This is absolutely unacceptable. It is imperative that we act to make women and children safer in South Australia. Research shows that children who have been neglected or abused are at a greater risk of engaging in criminal activity and entering the youth judicial system. If we want to build fewer prisons, we need to prevent child abuse and neglect. If we want to provide fewer hospital beds, we must prevent child abuse and neglect.

Key statistics on the care section in Australia include that 35 per cent of young people experience homelessness within the first year of leaving care, 46 per cent of boys with care experience have had contact with the justice system and 29 per cent of young people who have experienced out-of-home care are unemployed. The whole community will benefit socially and economically if we put a stop to family violence and put a stop to child abuse. We must play our part and act now.

For the past five years, I have been advocating for age-appropriate early-years child protection education. It is generally accepted that children are taught to stay safe while using electrical equipment, knives and scissors, and they are taught to be sun smart. As a community, we need to take a stronger approach to take the same approach when teaching children how to deal with other people. We need to teach them what respectful behaviour looks and sounds like.

Our South Australian Keeping Safe: Child Protection Curriculum, mandated in South Australia, needs to be taught effectively to all children if we are to break the cycle of abuse in South Australia. May I make it clear that this is not the Safe Schools program. Information about the Keeping Safe: Child Protection Curriculum program is available from your child's school or preschool. Please speak to your child's teacher or you can look up this information on the Department for Education website.

To facilitate positive change in our culture, we must give our children the knowledge and language to know what being safe and unsafe feels like. We must teach them about boundaries, respect, consent and we must give them the language to speak up about any experience that makes them feel anxious, unsafe, scared or confused. Our MPs across this house must unite and collaborate to stop family violence and make South Australia safer. South Australians do not want political bickering on this subject of safety. Those opposite and the government must find common ground to actively make a real change.

South Australians do not want social commentary: they want action. With a collective approach, we can make so much progress for people living in South Australia. I am hopeful that with the help and courage of my community in King, we can achieve this cultural change and empower children. Our silence is enabling abusers. To any community member who may hear this speech, I have an important favour to ask you: please ask your child's teacher if they are teaching the South Australian Keeping Safe: Child Protection Curriculum and ask them how they have embedded this into their curriculum. If they are not teaching the curriculum, ask them why not.

The Marshall Liberal government is delivering on its key election commitments to address the scourge of domestic violence by investing more than $11.9 million over the next four years on a suite of measures to support women and children at risk in South Australia. The 2018 state budget includes a raft of positive measures to address domestic violence in South Australia. Domestic violence services will be enhanced to work with the community, and more activities will be advocating for the prevention of domestic, family and sexual violence.

The Minister for Human Services, Michelle Lensink, said that the multimillion dollar funding boost highlighted the Liberal government's commitment to help reduce the scourge of domestic violence. The Marshall Liberal government is committed to doing whatever we can to ensure that women living in a violent or abusive relationship are better able to access immediate support. We are serious about making South Australia a safer community. I thank the Attorney-General for the bill and I support it.

Dr HARVEY (Newland) (16:46): I am very pleased to rise today in support of the Statutes Amendment (Domestic Violence) Bill 2018. Domestic violence is, indeed, a scourge in our society and its prevalence is truly horrifying. According to a number of different bodies, there are as many as one in five Australian women who has experienced sexual violence since the age of 15; one in four women who has experienced emotional abuse by a current or former partner since the age of 15; and, on average, in Australia one woman a week is murdered by her current or former partner. In fact, more have died so far this year than in all of 2017. Almost 40 per cent of women continue to experience violence from their partner while temporarily separated. In South Australia, of the 23 convictions for homicide last year, 10 were related to domestic violence, which is over 40 per cent.

The fact that there are women and children in our very own neighbourhoods, who in their own homes live in fear of, most often, someone close to them is a cruel cancer on our society. It is certainly true that violence against anyone, irrespective of their gender, is unacceptable, but it is an uncomfortable fact that, far and away, the majority of victims of domestic violence are women—in fact, around 80 per cent of all cases—with a high proportion of perpetrators being a current or former partner.

The bill before us today sends a strong message to perpetrators and potential perpetrators that their behaviour will not be tolerated, that our society will not turn a blind eye and that our laws will ensure that perpetrators face consequences for their actions. In demonstrating this, we will hopefully be able to get through to those who, for some reason, are not persuaded by basic standards of human decency and respect.

Non-lethal strangulation is one of the clearest warning signs that someone could take the life of another. The bill provides that should a person be found guilty of strangulation in a domestic setting, whether the setting be between husbands and wives, partners, siblings or parents and children, that person can be imprisoned for a maximum of seven years. This will hopefully put an end to the abuse before the worst possible outcome becomes a reality.

Importantly, the bill provides for there to be a presumption against bail for a person taken into custody in relation to this offence. The bill also increases the penalties for breaches of intervention orders, particularly for repeat breaches. A person found to be repeatedly breaching an intervention order will now face a maximum penalty of $20,000 or four years' imprisonment. This demonstrates how seriously our society takes breaches of intervention orders and sends a message to offenders that we will not tolerate their behaviour.

A sensible measure included in the bill is the amendment to the Evidence Act, which will allow for victims' statements, recorded by police, to be used in court. There is no doubt that victims who face their perpetrators in court are unbelievably brave; however, they should not need to relive their trauma on the stand. I could not imagine the emotional upheaval that a person would go through having to answer questions in front of their abuser, particularly when they had at some point been in a relationship of trust and interdependence with the abuser. This is a very sensible measure and one that I hope will increase the number of abusers being punished for their behaviour.

This bill also expands the definition of abuse under the Intervention Orders (Prevention of Abuse) Act. The definition would be expanded to include forced marriage, entering a person's place of residence and threatening to distribute invasive images of a person without their consent. These are all worthy additions to the definition, and I am particularly pleased to see the inclusion of threatening to distribute invasive images. Such threats are clearly a form of abuse in isolation from any other action but could also be used to dissuade a victim from reporting other forms of abuse.

This bill was informed by weeks of public consultation. It demonstrates how the government is prioritising measures to address domestic and family violence. I am also proud to be part of a government that has committed significant additional financial resources in the recent budget to tackle domestic violence. The Marshall government has committed $9 million for domestic and family violence beds, which includes $4 million for 40 additional domestic and family violence crisis beds and $5 million for interest-free loans for non-government domestic violence organisations to fund housing-related capital projects, including expansions, renovations and upgrades.

There is $1.7 million for the Women's Safety Services SA crisis hotline to operate 24 hours a day, $624,000 for peak body funding for the South Australian Coalition of Women's Domestic Violence Services to enhance its community work and activities for the prevention of domestic violence, $510,000 to the Office for Women to support a 12-month statewide trial of the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme and $150,000 for the development of a personal protection app linking at-risk individuals directly to South Australia Police and women's domestic violence services.

The bill before us today introduces a number of very important measures that tackle domestic violence, as does the recent budget. It is also important to remind us of the broader cultural change that is required to ultimately deal with the scourge of domestic violence at its source. As a former prime minister and others have said, 'While not all disrespect ends in violence, the cycle of violence certainly starts with disrespect.'

I believe that the 'Stop it at the start' federal ad campaign from a number of years ago hits the nail on the head in terms of this issue. For those who have not seen it, the ad starts with a young boy shutting a door in the face of a girl of a similar age as she was following him. That behaviour is excused by the adult in the room, telling her, 'He is only doing it because he likes you.' This ad is followed by a series of increasingly worse examples of behaviour as they both get older, to the point where she is subjected to violence with him standing over her in a threatening fashion.

We need to be more awake and active in countering this kind of behaviour in our community. It much more frequently occurs towards women than it does men. It is completely unacceptable and feeds the kind of environment that ultimately can lead to violence. A number of years ago, I remember attending a local community event where I spoke with a woman I knew through another context. An older man approached, introduced himself to me and gave me his card. He then introduced himself to the woman, gave her his card and exclaimed, 'This is for you to keep under your pillow.' It was not funny. She clearly felt uncomfortable, and his comment had the effect of making him feel more powerful and her less.

A number of weeks ago, I heard a story from many years ago from someone who used to travel away for work. This was something that she often did. On one particular occasion she stayed up late with a few work colleagues. As she was on her way back to her hotel room, a particular guy who happened to be there with them followed her and attempted to force his way into her room. Another example is someone else I know who went on an overseas trip as part of a tour. As often happens, a group of them had a number of drinks in the evening, then one of the guys there attempted to inappropriately touch her without any permission whatsoever.

Another story I heard just recently from many years ago was about a guy who apparently was one of the cool guys in his particular group. He decided to throw a girl into a swimming pool. There are numerous cases of girls walking down the street minding their own business with unwanted critiques of their body being offered by Neanderthals screaming from their cars passing by and also of getting a girl really drunk in the hope that she might change her mind. Another example is a guy continuing to pin a girl down on the bed after being repeatedly told that she did not want to go any further.

So many women can tell stories like these, and the fact of the matter is that most of us guys cannot. That is not to say that such behaviour towards men is not just as unacceptable; it certainly is. It is also certainly true that the vast majority of men do not behave in this way, but we need to acknowledge that there is an imbalance between men and women on this issue and that men play a very important role in, obviously, not behaving like that but also in calling it out when we see it.

I have two daughters, a mother, a sister and many friends and colleagues who are women, but this is not about me, and the fact that I have those connections quite frankly is irrelevant. This is really about saying that that behaviour is disrespectful and that when that behaviour demeans and creates a sense of power of one person over another it is just not okay. I do believe, as I said in my first speech in this place, that this is a problem that will ultimately be addressed, and the example of mutual respect we set for our sons and our daughters—the example as fathers to sons and daughters, in particular, and the way that fathers interact with the mother of their children—is important and it has a lasting impact.

I am proud to be part of a government that has begun the important work of tackling domestic violence. This bill is a very significant advance in that area, but there is indeed still much more work to do. I would like in particular to commend the Deputy Premier for her work in this area, as well as the Minister for Human Services in the other place and the Assistant Minister for Domestic and Family Violence Prevention. I commend this bill to the house.

Mrs POWER (Elder) (16:56): As a government, and as a community, we stand united in our view that domestic violence is unacceptable in any form, and so it is a great privilege to rise today and speak in support of the Statutes Amendment (Domestic Violence) Bill 2018.

This bill not only gives effect to our election commitments but also sends a clear message to our community and to those who come to reside in South Australia about what we consider acceptable behaviour and what behaviour related to domestic violence will not be tolerated in our state. We know the shocking statistics related to domestic violence that plague our community, with one in three Australian women having experienced physical violence since the age of 15 and one in five Australian women having experienced sexual violence; put another way, this means that on average one woman a week is murdered by her current or former partner.

In 2016, there were more than 8,400 reported occasions of domestic violence in South Australia. Further, last month alone nine women were killed, seven allegedly in the context of a current or former relationship. Out of the 23 convictions for homicide last year in South Australia, 10 were related to domestic violence, so there has never been a more important time to strengthen laws around domestic violence—and this is exactly what this bill does. I am proud that as a new government we are prioritising this.

In particular, this bill, which was subject to a four-week public consultation process, seeks to increase the penalties for repeated breaches of intervention orders, create a new offence for strangulation, allow evidence recorded by police to be used in court and expand the definition of aggravated domestic abuse. By introducing tougher penalties for intervention order breaches (previously called domestic violence retraining orders), and those breaches that involve serious physical violence in the first instance, we are sending a clear message to our community that this type of offending will not be tolerated and that those who do offend in this way will face severe consequences. This is so vitally important, given that intervention orders exist in the first place to set clear boundaries for perpetrators and, most importantly, to protect people from their abuser.

As mentioned, the bill creates an offence for strangulation. We know that hands are the weapon of choice for perpetrators of domestic violence, and for many this extends beyond hitting and includes choking and strangling a partner. Non-lethal strangulation has been identified as one of the top risk factors in cases where people were later killed by partners. A Queensland university report showed that a woman whose partner attempts to strangle her is eight times—eight times—more likely to end up dead.

Clause 6 inserts a new stand-alone offence of choking, suffocation or strangulation in a domestic setting; that is, the new offence applies where the victim and the defendant are or have been in a relationship. The new offence has a maximum penalty of seven years' imprisonment and will apply if a person who is or has been in a relationship with another person chokes, suffocates or strangles that person without their consent. There is no requirement that harm be intended or caused; rather, it is the conscious and voluntary act of choking, suffocating or strangulation that proves the offence.

This legislative reform has been well received by the community, as the consultation showed that 67 per cent of the respondents said that this was an appropriate change to the law. Nevertheless, should there be anyone in the community who may be wondering why we would want to create a new offence, rather than simply rely on existing offences, such as causing harm or endangering life or attempted murder, I would like to highlight that it is through the creation of this new offence that we are effectively increasing the penalty for this behaviour where no harm is caused. Further, we are acknowledging the inherent dangerousness of this behaviour and that it is a predictor of future serious or fatal domestic violence incidents, and we are educating the police and the community along the way.

In addition to this new offence, new subsection (4) provides an alternative verdict of assault where a jury is not satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the strangulation offence has been established. Interestingly, a similar offence was introduced in Queensland in 2016, with almost 800 people charged within the first 12 months—clearly showing the need for action. Linked to the new strangulation offence is an amendment to section 10A of the Bail Act 1985 to provide a presumption against bail for a person taken into custody in relation to the new strangulation offence—a good move indeed.

Another key feature of the bill is the insertion of new section 13BB into the Evidence Act 1929 to allow for the admission of recordings taken by police. In many cases, domestic violence offences may not be prosecuted. This can happen for a range of reasons, including a victim withdrawing their evidence due to fear or pressure from their abuser or a desire to no longer go ahead with the court process. Allowing video and audio recording taken by police to be admissible in court will help authorities gather the evidence they need to prosecute. In addition, this new provision will help reduce stress and trauma for victims associated with the court process.

As mentioned, the bill expands the definition of domestic violence. When an offence is classified as aggravated, harsher penalties apply. Under current law, domestic violence is classified as aggravated if it occurs against a current or former spouse, current or former domestic partner, or certain children. The bill expands the definition to include relationships such as grandchild, sibling, carer, person related according to the Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander kinship rules and members of some other culturally recognised family groups. This means that an abuser's criminal record will more clearly show that their offence was domestic abuse. By way of background, this is because aggravated offences list the specific circumstances of the incident, which is not required for a basic offence.

Finally, clause 9 of the bill expands the list of examples of emotional psychological harm to include forced marriages, threatening to distribute invasive images without consent and preventing the person from entering the person's primary place of residence. By capturing more circumstances that represent domestic and family violence, such as forced marriage and threats to distribute invasive photos without consent, we can intervene earlier to protect people from family violence.

Whilst this bill is a key part of our strong commitment to end domestic violence, it is only one of several initiatives that this government is taking to reduce the prevalence and impact of domestic and family violence. In addition to strengthening our laws, we have announced an incredible $11.9 million of new investment over the next four years in combating domestic and family violence. This funding will see us deliver on all our election commitments related to domestic and family violence and implement a range of initiatives which will include the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme.

The Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme commenced in early October and provides an avenue for a person who may be at risk of domestic violence to get relevant information about their partner or former partner to help them make decisions about their safety and the future of their relationship. A request for information can be made online by either the person who is feeling unsafe in the relationship or a person who is concerned about the welfare of someone they know—a sister, niece, a brother, whatever the case may be.

By knowing whether their partner has a violent history of offending, people will be better placed to make informed decisions about their future and potentially prevent domestic violence from occurring in the first place. One of the key aspects of the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme is that, regardless of whether there is information to disclose or not—that is, whether their partner has a record of violent history—applicants will be connected with specialist domestic violence services. I think that is one of the greatest strengths of our Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme.

We are also establishing a 24-hour domestic violence crisis hotline. Currently, the South Australian domestic violence crisis hotline operates during business hours only. This line has been in operation for almost 30 years and I think it stands as a dark shame on the previous Labor government for not providing funding to ensure this line could operate 24/7. We know domestic violence does not only occur during business hours, so the new Liberal government has provided $1.6 million over the next four years to Women's Safety Services to enable the crisis hotline to expand its services from business hours to operate 24 hours, seven days a week. This initiative will help ensure that hundreds more women, children, people who are living in a violent or abusive relationship are able to access immediate and specialist support from experts trained in the field.

Another initiative of this government is the development of a personal protection app, which involves $150,000 having been allocated in the recent state budget for the development of a personal protection app linking at-risk individuals directly to South Australia Police and women's domestic violence services. The development of a personal protection app will be delivered through adapting an existing app. The adaptation will provide a safety measure for women assessed by the Domestic Violence Crisis Line and/or regional specialist women's domestic violence services as being in medium to high risk.

Our other initiatives will see the Coalition of Women's Domestic Violence Services, which was an unfunded peak body for South Australian domestic violence services under the previous Labor government, receive peak body funding. This funding, made by the new Liberal government, will enable the South Australian Coalition of Women's Domestic Violence Services to coordinate its activities across the state, provide advice to government, support its members through information sharing and experience, and work with the community to prevent domestic, family and sexual violence.

We have also committed to providing an additional 40 domestic and family violence crisis beds. The exact locations and service models will be determined in consultation with the domestic and family violence sector. I am proud that we have already completed five domestic and family violence round tables: one in metropolitan Adelaide and four across the regions.

Most importantly, we are currently developing a new framework for the prevention of domestic and family violence, stopping it at the start by building three pillars of response: primary prevention, service and support, and justice. The framework will be action focused, incorporating the election commitments we made and are now delivering, and will reflect the diverse needs of different population groups.

These are just a few of the activities we are undertaking to address domestic and family violence, in addition to the bill being debated in parliament today. Everyone has the right to feel safe in their homes, at their kitchen tables and in their family relationships. No one government or organisation alone can end domestic violence, but together we can look to eliminate domestic violence and create a community where women, children and men feel safe in their homes.

This bill is an important step to this end. I commend the bill to the house, and I acknowledge the Attorney-General for her incredible work in introducing this much-needed and long-awaited legislative response to domestic and family violence.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Kaurna, I will give you the call.

Mr PICTON (Kaurna) (17:11): Thank you, Deputy Speaker. I commend you for your excellent chairmanship of the house.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: It is best that we alternate.

Mr PICTON: That is right, it is best that we alternate. Thank you, Deputy Speaker. I appreciate the call, because I rise to support this very important piece of legislation. The Statutes Amendment (Domestic Violence) Bill is yet another step towards ending domestic violence, family violence and violence against women in our state. It is a horrible scourge in our society and has sadly been a feature, not just in South Australia but across the whole world, for far too long.

There are far too many women who are living in fear within abusive relationships. There are far too many children who live in fear and grow up in a fearful environment. It results in the awful destruction of families for generations, and is the root of many issues in our society. We all need to stand together as members of parliament and as government officials to work towards saying that enough is enough—not one more.

We need to do everything we can to prevent domestic violence from occurring, and if it does occur we need to make sure that justice is swift. We need to focus on ensuring offenders receive necessary punishments and that women and children who are victims of domestic violence are protected. Our laws have come a long way in that regard. If you go back 30, 40 or 50 years, the laws were not at all shaped in order to protect women and children; they were shaped to protect the perpetrators.

Our laws were such that if police turned up at a domestic dispute after somebody had called them out, they would essentially take the perpetrator's viewpoint, even if there was clear evidence that violence had occurred. That is how our laws were shaped. We have been progressively changing those laws to make sure that we are protecting victims and bringing them into safety, and this bill is the latest step. It cannot be about laws alone; legislation is only one key aspect.

So many excellent South Australian non-government organisations work in the community to prevent domestic violence and to keep women and children who are fleeing domestic violence safe. Another aspect is the excellent work undertaken by our police force to combat domestic violence. Last year, I was lucky enough to be police minister for six months and see firsthand the excellent work of our police in dealing with domestic violence issues, which are an increasing part of their role. It is a very complex issue to deal with, and it is something that police patrols deal with day in day out. That is why it is important that we in this parliament given them the legal leverage and the legal powers that they need to take action and also make sure that there is proper coordination between services.

I note in particular the work that has been done over recent years by MAPS in South Australia, where we are getting all agencies to work together, which is really leading the world in terms of coordination between police, child protection, health services and education, making sure that no perpetrator can escape justice. We are also making sure that we are using every piece of information that we have across government and sharing that information to make sure that we are keeping people safe and developing plans to keep people safe, in particular women and children. That is having a difference. That model is now being copied and replicated in other parts of Australia, if not the world, and that should be rolled out progressively.

Also, our front-line police do an excellent job in terms of the officers who deal with domestic violence in each local services area, whose job it is to specialise in this very complex area. Each case can take a very long time to negotiate and work through, and they do an amazing job on behalf of the people of South Australia. A number of the elements in the legislation that we have before us are going to take us further in terms of the laws in South Australia and our ability to make an impact on reducing domestic violence. The first introduces a new offence of strangulation in relation to a domestic violence situation, in particular strangulation or suffocation of somebody's partner, family member or close intimate relation.

Sadly, the evidence clearly points to this offence being very common in terms of domestic and family violence situations. I believe that the bill will now bring in a very significant maximum penalty of seven years imprisonment for strangulation offences, specifically when it occurs within a domestic relationship. I think that is a very strong signal from this parliament that we do take such instances very seriously, and it should be seen as a very strong message to the community that such horrible violent behaviour is not at all acceptable and should be dealt with very harshly.

The second issue the bill deals with is in terms of changes to the Evidence Act to make it much clearer that police can rely more heavily upon video evidence being submitted. South Australia has made a very significant investment over the past few years in body-worn video cameras for our police officers. When I was police minister, I spoke with officers who were using body-worn cameras, whether in city or country locations. They were very appreciative of this new technology being rolled out for them because it provided them with not only additional safety but also additional evidence of their actions, making sure that they were able to later account for what happened in a courtroom and explain, through the use of video evidence, that they took the appropriate action in those circumstances.

We want to make sure that that video evidence can be used and relied on in domestic violence situations. We also want to make sure that it can be used and relied upon where, for whatever reason, a victim may be nervous or particularly afraid to come forward and give evidence in court. We want to ensure that that video evidence can be used before the court and can be relied upon by the court in finding the guilt, or lack thereof, of a particular person.

I think it will have a very strong effect in helping to reach conclusions in a number of these situations because, obviously, there are situations in which a victim of domestic violence is fearful about coming forward and giving evidence, or fearful about the repercussions of appearing before a court and testifying in relation to the conduct of a person. In taking on domestic violence, we have always had to be mindful of how we can best shape our laws to protect people who are fearful of taking that step of providing reports and evidence in court. This will be another step in terms of doing that.

The third issue that the bill deals with is in relation to intervention orders and breaches of intervention orders, particularly where threats of violence are made when intervention orders are in place. Obviously, as the parliament will know, we have taken a number of steps recently in terms of strengthening the ability for police to make their own orders, which is very important. As I mentioned, sometimes victims of domestic violence are too fearful to take that step themselves, so it is important that the police have the ability, if they are clearly seeing something that is happening, to make their own police orders. That has been a very welcome change. It has been welcomed by police and by the anti-domestic violence sector.

This will take that another step further in terms of where people are breaching the orders that are placed upon them. It is something I have heard of in my own electorate. I have spoken to a number of people who are fearful in terms of what has happened when orders have been breached. They live in fear that those orders will be breached and they are not quite sure whether it will be followed up and what the repercussions will be if those orders are breached. This will take us another step further in increasing the penalties for breaches of those orders. Making sure that those penalties are strengthened is something that I certainly support and it has the support of this side of the house.

All those measures will improve our situation in terms of domestic violence but, as I said, I do not think that is where this will end. I do not think it is purely a legal situation that is going to end this in its entirety. Obviously, our entire community needs to work together. We need not just women but men to stand up and say that domestic violence is not okay in order to ensure that we create a culture and a community in South Australia that does not allow domestic violence to occur, that we do not tolerate it when we see it occurring or when we see signs of it occurring. We need to stand up and take action and we need to be very clear that it is not okay for any man to make a violent action against a woman.

In the last few weeks, in my community a terrible tragedy happened, very close to where I live in fact, at Colonnades at Noarlunga Centre where a woman was killed. Clearly, it is before the courts at the moment and a number of orders are in place. It was an absolutely horrible situation that occurred and it has really rocked my entire community in the southern suburbs. We had a vigil last week, which I, the member for Reynell, the member for Hurtle Vale and the federal member for Kingston attended.

It was a very emotional experience. There was a very strong turnout by the community. A huge number of people came to express their sorrow for what had occurred and to also express that they believed that we need to stand together as a community and say, 'Not one more,' and say very clearly that all of us need to work together to make sure that violence like that should not occur anywhere in South Australia and that women have the right to go about their business as they please.

Obviously, this was not a domestic situation, but it is an example of the violence that can occur against women in our community. We need to make sure that any violence against women is not tolerated and that women have the right to be anywhere in our society. They also have the right to be in a domestic relationship without living in fear. That takes all of us. This is not going to be the last step. I am sure that this will not be the last bill that our parliament debates to take further steps in terms of domestic violence or violence against women.

We need to work continuously. We are going to need to continue to approve the resources and capabilities that our police have available to them to combat violence against women and domestic violence. We are also going to need to strengthen our community programs, our resilience as a community and the programs available for people fleeing those situations, particularly women with children.

There has also been a lot of work in recent years in terms of making sure that pets are looked after in those situations as well. That has often been something that has been forgotten, and it can be a barrier in terms of fleeing; that is, people need to look after their pets as well, so programs have been put in place through the RSPCA and others to make sure that it is not a barrier.

We need to remove each and every one of those barriers to enable women to live in safety and escape situations that are violent and threatening. I think this bill goes another step forward to doing that. There is a lot more to do, and I look forward to working with all members of this house, and our community more generally across South Australia, to make sure that we do everything we can to protect women and stop violence against women and domestic violence.

PARLIAMENTARY BUSINESS
MEMBERS
GET INVOLVED
ABOUT PARLIAMENT
VISIT
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY
CONTACT