The ACT Wants Australia’s First Permanent Domestic Violence Court and Magistrate

Today, members of the Australian Capital Territory legislative assembly will be asked to support the establishment of a specialist domestic violence court with a devoted magistrate.

If successful, the court will be the only one of its kind in Australia. Last year Western Australia trialled specialist domestic violence courts and magistrates, but they were closed in January of this year when the state government claimed they failed to reduce rates of assaults and reoffending.

Despite WA's failure to prove their viability, there have been public calls for them in Queensland and New South Wales in the last 12 months. Michaelia Cash, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women, has also thrown her support behind them.

While other states struggle to get the proposals across the line, or maintain support for them, the ACT's chance of success is buoyed by broad parliamentary support. The request is led by state opposition leader Jeremy Hanson, who in a media release this week called the court a "practical measure that will help victims who are suffering from domestic violence". In the state the opposition and government hold a bipartisan cooperative arrangement when it comes to managing family violence.

Mr Hanson believes people will feel more confident to move forward with domestic violence cases and press charges if they know the person hearing their case is experienced. And while WA's trial was criticised for its failure to drastically reduce rates, supporters of the idea still feel the arrangement has benefits. Arguments for its implementation include the idea that the consistent approach offered by a single magistrate would help build knowledge and precedents around the management of these cases. And on a more basic level, a specialist court and magistrate would reduce the trauma for victims reporting and pressing charges around domestic and family violence.

These opinions have been echoed by domestic violence support networks, who say a dedicated magistrate would also provide a more victim-centered approach, and be more attuned to the sensitive and complex nature of family violence.

Speaking to VICE, senior researcher at domestic violence group One in Three, Greg Andresen, said a specialist magistrate working singularly on these issues would allow them to develop a more nuanced understanding of the complexities of family violence. "We've heard of general magistrates in the past having unsympathetic approaches to the issue, they may place blame of victims, or not realise the safety issues involved," he explained. Like many others working across family violence support services, he flagged the need for a broader understanding of what constitutes domestic violence to be recognised and addressed.

By having a single court managing these cases, he hypothesised it would allow magistrates to be more "sympathetic for both male and female victims of family violence, whether it's same sex violence, violence between husbands and wives, de facto partners, or between broader family members."

The idea of a specialist magistrate was raised in June of this year by Victims of Crime commissioner John Hinchey. He argued the present Court wasn't able to end domestic violence without community support. Commenting to the ABC, "I think our current response is far too disjointed to make any real long-term change or impact on the incidence of domestic violence."

This discussion comes months after Police Minister, Joy Burch, stated the ACT had faltered in its attempt to stem domestic violence. Despite an increase in the reporting of family violence in the state, and an extra $1.2 million allocated to help combat domestic violence in in the most recent budget, at least three women have allegedly been killed through domestic violence in the ACT this year. Minister Burch commented to the ABC in June that "a community that accepts one-in-three women experiencing violence of any kind, is failing itself as a society."

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