National Domestic Violence Order Scheme Bill 2016

Mr J. BULL (Sunbury) — I am pleased to contribute to the debate on the National Domestic Violence Order Scheme Bill 2016. This is a very important bill. All of us in this house are now aware of the tragedy of family and domestic violence in our community. Before being elected, like so many, I was aware of the harms of family violence — the destruction of confidence, the physical harm, the emotional abuse, the manipulation and the destruction, essentially, of one’s self — but I do not think I quite understood the scale and the severity of the problem before becoming a member of this house, nor did I understand the rates of injury and death. These are figures that are a national shame, a national disgrace. I do not think that until becoming a member of this place I realised the harm that we cause to one another, tragically, on such a regular occurrence, and it is harm that can be prevented.

I heard the member for Yan Yean mention being at Moonee Valley Racecourse when the Premier, then the opposition leader, announced Australia’s first royal commission into family violence. That came with mixed emotions for me, as I am sure it did for many members on the government benches. It came with a deep sadness because we needed to address the issue in the first place, and it also came with a deep determination because we were committed to actually addressing it. How is it that in 2016 the greatest cause of death and disability for women under 45 is domestic violence? How is it that 34 per cent of women have experienced violence from a partner or ex-partner? It is with deep sorrow that I note that already this year 46 women have lost their lives to violence.

I think that, certainly thanks to the work of the Premier and this government, family violence is at the front and centre of this government’s agenda. I am extremely proud to be a member of the government that commissioned the first ever royal commission into family violence and that we are implementing all 227 of the recommendations. I am proud that we invested $10 million to deal with immediate changes in family violence, with further reform to our system to come with future investment, and the $572 million that other members have mentioned as a first and significant step to implementing these recommendations.

I do recall last year hosting a family violence forum at the Sunbury Aquatic Centre and having the Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence and Minister for Women in attendance with representatives from Victoria Police, the Sunbury Community Health Centre, the Hume City Council and the Melton City Council and community leaders and individuals from Sunbury, Bulla, Diggers Rest, Gladstone Park and Tullamarine. I recall, sadly, hearing stories of abuse that spanned not just years but decades — stories of broken families, stories of shattered lives of women who could not escape their partners and partners that would essentially use this system to abuse them and continue to abuse them. At this forum I undertook to do more, and as a government, through the royal commission and with the Premier and the minister, we all made a commitment and promised to do as much as we possibly could to address these terrible events.

This bill tonight is one of many steps to addressing such a serious problem in our community. Currently, as we know, in Victoria if a person wants to have a court-ordered domestic violence order (DVO) recognised in a state or territory other than where it was issued, they must register their DVO in the new state or territory for it to be enforceable. This government, along with governments across Australia, is committed to both making perpetrators of family violence accountable and ensuring that we enhance the protection of survivors by creating the national domestic violence order (NDVO) scheme. In line with decisions made at the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) in 2015, as we have heard, the NDVO will streamline the issue of DVOs, meaning if a DVO is issued in one state, it will be recognised in other states and territories, which is certainly a very important step.

This is part of a whole range of measures that were decided by COAG, including developing standards to ensure that interventions with perpetrators are effective around Australia and taking actions to limit technology-facilitated abuse, which is certainly something that is increasing. I was pleased that COAG not only recognised family violence in Australia as the no. 1 law and order issue but also fully committed to introduce legislation to support the national DVO scheme across the country. The protection of victims and survivors of family violence has been certainly placed at the front and centre of our government’s agenda in this Parliament and in our society. It is incredibly important — right from the day someone is born, through preschool, primary school and high school — that we as a society and we as a government are doing all that we can to ensure that the protection of our community is paramount.

In terms of consultation for the new DVO process, Victoria Police, the Magistrates Court and the Department of Justice and Regulation were all represented on the national working group responsible for the development of the model laws, and police from other states and territories were also represented. Further to this, Victoria Police, the Magistrates Court and the Children’s Court were consulted during the drafting of this bill, along with broader family violence stakeholders who were provided with a high-level briefing on the national DVO scheme.

It is important to note that the bill also amends several other acts to ensure that recognised DVOs have the same status and are treated the same. This bill starts to fix the unacceptable holes in our system. If I cast my mind back to the local forum with the minister, I remember there were so many examples — tragic examples, sad examples — of people in our community, predominantly women, who have experienced shocking cases of family violence. The destruction of their lives and the destruction of the lives of their children and of other relatives and family members is, as I said, a national disgrace and a national shame.

This is the most serious law and order issue we are facing and one that requires all governments, all MPs — and I have listened closely to the contributions this evening — no matter what their political view is, to put politics aside and say, ‘Enough is enough’. I will never forget those stories, nor will I forget the hundreds of lives that were taken from us through domestic violence.

I want to take the opportunity in the time remaining to me to commend the Premier on his resolve, his determination and his passion in addressing this national disgrace. I think that when you are elected to Parliament there are things you think you know, there are things that you know and then there are things that you do not know. Sadly, this is one of those examples of public policy that I would have said I thought I knew enough about. However, upon coming to government I found that it was deeply shocking to me and something where I think, when you really unpack the issue, when you see the statistics, when you see the loss of lives and when you think about the devastation for women, their families, their children and their households, you are thankful — I know I certainly was thankful — for the life opportunities you were given in being raised in a very loving and safe household.

But you are conscious of the fact that there are so many thousands of Victorians who do not have those protections, and it is our responsibility — it is incumbent upon all of us in this place, in the other place and in Canberra — to do everything we possibly can to be a safety blanket, a security blanket, for those who suffer these unspeakable acts. Once again, I would like to commend this very important bill to the house.