10.1 Overview
The following table provides a high-level overview of the support systems for victims/survivors of sexual assault and domestic and family violence in Tasmania in terms of the ‘three S’s’ structural, strategic and sustained principles for action plans.
Principles of Practice in Formulation – The Three S’s
- Structural
- Progress of the Safe at Home initiative is monitored by a steering committee with representation from five government departments:
- Department of Premier and Cabinet (Chair)
- Department of Justice
- Department of Police and Emergency Management
- Department of Health and Human Services
- Department of Education
- District structure includes a weekly Integrated Case Coordination meeting
- Strategic
- Safe at Home: A Criminal Justice Framework for Responding to Family Violence in Tasmania
- Sustained
- Interdepartmental Safe at Home Committee chaired by the Department of Justice and regional coordinating committees
- In 2004-05, $17.7 million over four years was committed to Safe at Home. In 2005-06, an extra $1.6 million over four years was committed
The following table provides a high-level overview of the support systems in place for victims/survivors of sexual assault and domestic and family violence in Tasmania in terms of the ‘three P’s’ – prevention, provision and prosecution.
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Principles of Practice in Content – The Three P’s
- Prevention
- The Safe at Home initiative was originally supported by a strong public awareness campaign
- Provision
- The Safe at Home initiative provides a range of services including:
- Family Violence Offender Intervention Program
- Family Violence Counselling and Support Services for adults and children
- Court Support and Liaison Service for adults and children
- Family Violence Response and Referral Line
- Victim Safety Response Teams
- Child Protection Advice and Referral Service
- Children and Young People’s Counselling and Support Service (now combined with adult Family Violence Counselling and Support Services)
- Prosecution
- Family Violence Act 2004
- Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act 1997
- Sentencing Act 1997
- Criminal Code Amendment (Stalking) Act 1999
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10.2 Profile
This section outlines in further detail the Tasmanian Government’s current response to violence against women and their children, using Amnesty International’s structure of the ‘three S’s’ – structural, strategic and sustainable, and ‘three P’s’ – prevention, provision and prosecution.
10.2.1 Structural
Tasmania has the following structural arrangements to coordinate responses to violence against women.
- Safe at Home: A Criminal Justice Framework for Responding to Family Violence in Tasmania is the Tasmanian Government’s response to family violence. For its innovation, the program was presented with the 2008 Australian Crime and Violence Prevention Award.221
Implementation and progress of the program is monitored by a steering committee with representation from five government departments including Premier and Cabinet, Justice, Police and Emergency Management, Health and Human Services and Education. This steering committee has responsibility for implementing and monitoring the Safe at Home initiative and meets once or twice a year.
- The predominant structure at a district level is the weekly Integrated Case Coordination meeting. It includes representatives from local service providers who review and discuss all case activity in the area. It develops collaborative strategies around the continuing risk and safety management of family violence cases. The following agencies and officers are represented at case coordination meetings:
- Victim Safety Response Team (Sergeant Police);
- Police Prosecutor;
- Family Violence Counselling and Support Service;
- Child Protection;
- Court Support and Liaison Service;
- Child Counselling Service;
- Special Needs Officer (representing services to clients with mental health matters and drug and alcohol issues);
- Senior Social Worker (Education – a pilot project in some districts only).
Training mechanisms have been established to embed the Safe at Home initiative. Training has been cross-sectoral and has included all agencies including police, courts and counsellors. Police, in particular, have been given intensive training in relation to family violence and sexual assault and about 130 police have been specially trained. A further 800 operational police officers have been trained in general family violence risk assessment, evidence collection and Safe at Home legislation and procedures.
10.2.2 Strategic
Tasmania has in place the following strategies and plans to respond to violence against women.
- The Tasmania Together Framework identifies a vision for Tasmania to 2020 and includes standards for the community and indicators and targets for these. One of the 12 standards is: ‘Support safe and responsible behaviour and ensure that community facilities and spaces, transport systems, workplaces and private homes are, and are perceived to be, safe environments’222. Key indicators for measuring progress against this standard are:
- the percentage of people who feel safe at home;
- the percentage of people who feel safe in public places;
- the reported level of family violence.
- The Safe at Home policy initiative is the state’s main mechanism for driving practice change and an integrated response to victims and perpetrators of family violence. It started in September 2004 and is a whole-of-government criminal justice response to family violence. It is reinforced by the Family Violence Act 2004 which was proclaimed on 30 March 2005.
It is delivered through an integrated service delivery system designed to manage the safety of the victims and the risk that the offenders may repeat or escalate their violent behaviour. One of its aims is to keep victims of family violence, generally women and children, safe in their homes and minimise the need for relocation.
Key elements of the Safe at Home strategy include:
- a new Family Violence Act in 2004 focusing on the criminal nature of family violence and introducing Police Family Violence Orders, Family Violence Orders and increased penalties for breaches of orders and violence in the presence of children;
- a statewide family violence response and referral line;
- Victim Safety Response Teams established within the four geographical police districts with specially trained police officers;
- a pro-intervention, pro-arrest, pro-prosecution approach by police, supported by increased numbers of police prosecutors and increased funding to courts and Legal Aid;
- an Aboriginal Family Violence Working Group (the Ya Pulinga Kani Working Group) to provide advice on culturally appropriate responses for Aboriginal people.
Safe at Home also established services to respond to victims and perpetrators of violence. These are discussed further in the section on ‘Provision’.
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10.2.3 Sustained
Tasmania has put in place the following measures to fund and lead responses to violence against women.
- An Interdepartmental Committee chaired by the Department of Justice also supports the Safe at Home initiative. This Committee meets monthly and is responsible for the coordination of service delivery and implementation of the continuous improvement strategy. There are three regional co-ordinating committees that liaise with the service providers at a local level and monitor service delivery. These have cross-sectoral representation from all services involved in responding to family violence.
- Safe at Home is a long-term commitment from the Tasmanian Government and attracted $17.4 million in funding for both development and implementation. An evaluation of the Family Violence Act 2004 was finalised earlier in 2008. This evaluation identified strengths and weaknesses of the initiative, including the need for:
- improved data collection;
- counselling and support for children;
- responses to offenders;
- responses to inter-generational violence.
- A second evaluation of the integrated response is under way. Implementation of Safe at Home was accompanied by strong data collection mechanisms with a shared police database that can be accessed by a range of service providers, including child protection, justice and counselling services. Data is monitored by the Department of Justice and analysed for trends. Once each family violence incident report is quality assured by police, it is sent to a shared server where a relational search for family members is conducted. It is then turned into a victim-centred case record that links all known related family violence incidents so that outcomes for all family members (victim, offender, and children) can be tracked. These case records form the basis of the agenda for the Integrated Case Coordination meetings.
10.2.4 Prevention
The Safe at Home initiative focuses on prevention through the provision of a consistent and clear response to perpetrators. It was originally supported by a strong statewide public awareness campaign.
This prevention-focus is evident in school programs in Tasmania, delivered mainly through the Safe and Supportive Schools and Communities initiative. Local prevention assistance is given upon requests arising from the community service education provided by police, family violence counselling services and school programs.
10.2.5 Provision
The Tasmanian Government provides services to survivors/victims under the whole-of-government Safe at Home initiative including the following.
- Family Violence Counselling and Support Service – this service started in 2005 and is a government-funded counselling, therapeutic and support service for adult victims.
- Children and Young People's Counselling and Support service – this service started in 2005 specifically to address child and youth trauma inflicted by family violence and has been combined with the Family Violence Counselling and Support Service.
- Court Support and Liaison Service – this service started in 2004 through the Department of Justice and helps victims (including children) through their legal and court processes. It offers practical support to victims of domestic violence who attend court for criminal or protection order (Family Violence Order) matters. The service’s role in Safe at Home is to ensure that the legal outcomes for victims are effective in terms of risk management and enhancing safety.
- Court Support and Liaison Service workers – these services collaborate with police, prosecutors and Legal Aid (specialist family violence workers) to ensure a streamlined and coordinated approach to their legal system needs. The program operates in all Tasmanian courts, with staff based in Launceston, Burnie and Hobart. The service provides safe rooms, information, advocacy, referrals and, crucially, involvement in drafting applications to ensure they best meet victim’s needs. They also participate in the weekly Integrated Case Coordination meetings. The service provides an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander worker who provides court support to the Tasmanian Aboriginal community223.
- Family Violence Response and Referral Line – this offers information and referral services for callers who are then able to access the full range of response, counselling, information and other support services provided by Safe at Home on a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week basis.
- Victim Safety Response Teams – these are police teams specially trained to respond to victims of violence. They focus on managing victim safety and supporting victims in crisis. Activities include: quality assuring the conduct of investigations when the offender is removed from the home; gathering evidence and supporting information for a Family Violence Order; assisting in the preparation of the Family Violence Order; conducting a safety assessment of risk to the victim and initiating support or their removal from the home should they need a place of safety; notifying the Child Protection Agency of the presence of children (this is the responsibility of attending police); undertaking a safety audit of the home; arranging the upgrade of security of the victims home where it is deemed appropriate; providing a safety plan to the victim where it is appropriate; advising the victim on the options to be considered, including referral to support and counselling services; investigating breaches of Family Violence Orders; and organising additional security patrols if required224.
- Safe at Home – this provides brokerage for perpetrators of family violence to access accommodation outside of the family home to ensure the safety of victims.
Programs also exist to work with perpetrators, including:
- a Safe at Home program delivered through Community Corrections called Family Violence Offender Intervention Program (a mandated program for high risk offenders), a sentencing option available to the courts upon conviction of a family violence offence;
- services provided at a local level through non-government services, including Changing Abusive Behaviours delivered through Centacare (for voluntary perpetrators).
Other victim service provision for adults and children include:
- non-government organisations providing services for women and children including counselling and crisis (shelter) accommodation (for example, Galileo House);
- counselling and medical responses for victims of sexual assault provided through three sexual assault services;
- legal aid for victims of family violence or sexual assault and offenders facing criminal charges;
- services for offenders (such as those offered through Centacare and Relationships Australia).
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10.2.6 Prosecution
The Tasmanian prosecution environment for family violence comprises the following legislation:
- The justice response centres on the Family Violence Act 2004. This provides for an integrated criminal justice response to family violence that promotes the safety of victims. Tasmania is the only state that explicitly mentions sexual forms of family violence in its legislation. Tasmanian legislation defines ‘family violence as assault, including sexual assault’225. The legislation is also unique in that it introduces economic abuse and emotional abuse and intimidation as criminal offences and as grounds for obtaining Family Violence Orders226.
Part 2 of the Family Violence Act 2004 defines the various forms of family violence covered by the Act and gives penalties for such offences, describes police powers to enter premises, and explains conditions under which arrest and detention may occur. Part 3 describes Police Family Violence Orders and Part 4 Family Violence Orders. Schedule 1 includes consequential amendments to the various Acts affected by this new legislation, including the Justices Act 1959, Police Offences Act 1935 and the Criminal Code Act 1924227.
- A related Act is the Children, Young Persons and their Families Act 1997228 which provides the legislative framework for child protection in Tasmania. Under the legislation, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Child and Family Services is responsible for intervention in cases of children at risk of abuse or neglect. This Act stipulates mandatory notification of family violence. Child Protection regions receive notifications of child abuse and refer them for investigation through regional offices in Hobart, Launceston, Burnie and Devonport. The child protection system is a major element of the sexual assault support system for children. Child protection has a strong relationship with the Children’s Therapeutic Service established as part of the Safe at Home strategy.
- The law relating to family violence in Tasmania includes the following features229.
- Police can enter premises, conduct searches, seize weapons and evidence, and make arrests without a warrant in circumstances where they suspect family violence has occurred.
- Police can detain a suspected person for the period necessary to prepare and serve a Police Family Violence Order, or to conduct a risk assessment and a safety audit.
- A risk assessment is an assessment of the magnitude of the risk posed by the accused to the victims and their children. A safety audit is an assessment of the safety of the premises in which the victim resides.
- People charged with a family violence offence will not be granted bail unless their release would not adversely affect the safety, wellbeing and interests of victims.
- Where police are satisfied that a person has committed family violence they may make a Police Family Violence Order with respect to that person. Such an order can require the offender or alleged offender to move out of their residence, not to enter certain premises, to surrender firearms, and to refrain from behaviour such as assault, harassment, and approaching or contacting people named in the order.
- Magistrates can make a Family Violence Order on the application of victims, police or a person given leave to make application by the court.
- These orders can include orders to remove the offender’s or alleged offender’s name from a tenancy agreement.
- The Family Violence Act 2004 requires courts to consider matters such as the presence of children and pregnancy as aggravating factors when determining sentence with respect to a family violence offender.
- The law relating to family violence can also require that people found guilty of a family violence offence attend a family violence rehabilitation program as part of their sentence.
- Other relevant pieces of legislation include:
- the Criminal Code Act 1924 which has been amended to include assault on pregnant women;
- the Criminal Code Amendment (Stalking) Act 1999 which has been amended to include stalking behaviour;
- the Sentencing Act 1997, in particular section 7 (ea), which allows courts in the case of a family violence offence, with or without recording a conviction, to make a rehabilitation program order230.
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