Laws to give police the power to issue on-the-spot orders to domestic violence perpetrators have passed Queensland parliament.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Under current legislation, police can only issue a five-day protection notice before they are forced to go before a judge to get a longer-term order.<\/p>\n
Once the new reforms take effect from January, officers will be able to issue a 12-month order without having to go to court.<\/p>\n
Speaking alongside domestic violence prevention advocates on Thursday, Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Minister Amanda Camm said the “landmark” reforms were about putting victims first.<\/p>\n
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Amanda Camm says the laws are about “perpetrator accountability” and putting victims first. (ABC News: Curtis Rodda)<\/p>\n
“This is all about giving police the resources and the tools that they need to be able to get to the next victim,” she said.<\/p>\n
Ms Camm said while domestic and family violence had continued to grow in the past decade in the state, resources to tackle it had declined.<\/p>\n
“Well, that changes from today,” she said.<\/p>\n
Immediate orders and GPS monitoring<\/p>\n
The new laws aim to improve productivity for police officers responding to DV calls and to give victim survivors immediate protections against respondents.<\/p>\n
Police Minister Dan Purdie said during the past 10 years, calls for service to police in relation to domestic violence incidents had increased by 20 per cent, year on year.<\/p>\n
“Our police have been calling for reforms, and they’ve been calling for change.”<\/p>\n
He said one district alone, such as Logan, could have up to 200 jobs that were not resourced.<\/p>\n
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Dan Purdie says the reforms will help ease the burden on frontline police officers. (ABC News)<\/p>\n
“That’s 200 calls for service where police don’t have an officer to attend to that victim,” he said.<\/p>\n
“That is unacceptable and it’s unsustainable.”<\/p>\n
Ms Camm said the legislation was also about “perpetrator accountability”.<\/p>\n
The bill also included an electronic monitoring pilot for high-risk domestic and family violence perpetrators.<\/p>\n
By the end of this year, 150 GPS monitoring devices will be available for courts to issue.<\/p>\n
“We plan to roll that pilot out across multiple locations in Queensland,” Ms Camm said.<\/p>\n
Family and domestic violence support services:1800 Respect National Helpline<\/a>: 1800 737 732DV Connect Women’s Line<\/a>:\u00a01800 811 811MensLine<\/a>: 1300 789 978Kids Helpline<\/a>:\u00a01800 55 1800Lifeline<\/a>\u00a0(24-hour Crisis Line): 13 11 14Changes welcomed by victim advocates<\/p>\n The parents of Hannah Clarke, Sue and Lloyd Clarke, have welcomed the law changes.<\/p>\n Hannah and her three children were killed by her estranged husband in an arson attack in Brisbane in 2020.<\/p>\n Sue and Lloyd Clarke believe the laws may have saved their daughter Hannah and her children. (ABC News: Curtis Rodda)<\/p>\n Mr Clarke said the trackers and the on-the-spot orders put “onus back onto the perpetrator and keep the victims safer”.<\/p>\n “Hannah had a good experience with the police, and if these laws would have been in place then, hopefully her and the kids would have been saved,” he said.<\/p>\n Ms Clarke said “every little resource” added to keep women safe “saves one more life”.<\/p>\n “We can’t ask for more than that,” she said.<\/p>\n Concerns about identification<\/p>\n Queensland Council of Social Service CEO Aimee McVeigh said she feared the on-the-spot orders would result in less protection for victim-survivors.<\/p>\n She said evidence showed that in more than 30 per cent of cases, women were being identified as the person perpetrating violence.<\/p>\n “If this trend continues and notices are issued by police without court oversight, we will see more and more women misidentified as the person using violence,” Ms McVeigh said.<\/p>\n Aimee McVeigh says the changes risk putting more women in danger. (ABC News: Curtis Rodda)<\/p>\n She said it was important that the state government did everything it could to keep women and children victim-survivors safe.<\/p>\n “We have seen examples of improved safety when these GPS trackers are coupled with proper case management and support services.<\/p>\n “They will only be effective if police work very closely with domestic and family violence services and domestic and family violence services.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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