Background Paper to Time for Action: The National Council's Plan for Australia to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children, 2009-2021 

8.1 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 Queensland in terms of the ‘three S’s’ –structural, strategic and sustained environments.

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 Queensland in terms of the ‘three P’s’ – prevention, provision and prosecution.

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8.2 Profile

This section outlines in further detail the Queensland 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.

8.2.1 Structural

The structural arrangements in place in Queensland to coordinate responses to violence against women are as follows:

• The Office for Women (the Office) is the section of the Queensland Government responsible for implementing the Queensland Government's vision for women. The Office is situated within the Department of Child Safety. It investigates trends and provides advice from a whole-of-government perspective. It also develops and monitors policies and programs that affect women²⁰¹.
• The Department of Communities administers the Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act 1989 in Queensland. It is developing a whole-of-government strategy to respond to domestic and family violence. The ongoing governance arrangements for implementing and overseeing the strategy are to be determined.

8.2.2 Strategic

Several strategies and action plans are being developed or are in place to guide responses to violence against women in Queensland, including the following:

• In May 2007, the Queensland Government announced the development of a whole-of-government strategy to respond to domestic and family violence. A Senior Officers Group has been established to support the strategy’s development and comprises director-level officers from 13 Queensland government agencies. As part of this process an audit has been undertaken of government agency policies and programs to identify the pathways in and around the system for people affected by domestic and family violence²⁰². At the time of this analysis, a consultation paper was produced for public comment, to inform the final strategy.
• The Department of Communities’ Strategic Policy for Children and Families 2007-2011 articulates the key policy direction and objectives for the Department in building child and family-friendly communities. It aims to foster communities in which families are valued and supported in their nurturing role, and in which children are nurtured within their families and communities to achieve their full potential.

  It aims to build a local continuum of services that give families access to the right service at the right time. While starting with a broad focus on children and families, a priority is to improve outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and their families, and disadvantaged and vulnerable children and their families. It includes a commitment to work with the Department of Education, Training and the Arts and Queensland Health to research and build the capacity of the school community to support vulnerable children and families; and to work with key stakeholders to strengthen community awareness of issues pertaining to child and family safety and wellbeing²⁰³.

• The Department of Communities has policy frameworks relating to various vulnerable groups, including seniors (which consider issues such as elder abuse).
• The Interagency Guidelines for Responding to Adult Victims of Sexual Assault is the key document that provides Queensland Health and other services with an agreed framework for responding to adult victims of sexual assault. Introduced in 2002, the interagency guidelines are designed to improve responses by promoting increased interagency cooperation (primarily between Queensland Police Service, Queensland Health and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions) and coordination through clearly defining roles and responsibilities of the key agencies involved in a response²⁰⁴.
• Other relevant individual agency strategies include:
  • the Queensland Police Service has a strategic plan and performance indicators driven by an internal policy on domestic violence and family violence;
  • Legal Aid Queensland’s Violence Against Women Strategy, which includes mechanisms, best-practice guidelines, workplace behaviour policies, a risk-assessment tool and associated training²⁰⁵;
  • the Department of Child Safety’s Domestic and Family Violence and its Relationship to Child Protection, a policy and practice paper on the links between domestic violence and child protection²⁰⁶;
  • the Queensland Department of Education, Training and the Arts’ broad strategy for teaching and modelling positive behaviour to change behaviour and social norms over time.
• The Queensland Government’s broader policy statement in relation to women is Women in the Smart State Directions Statement 2003-2008 (the Direction Statement)²⁰⁷. This identifies as key priorities: health and wellbeing; balancing work, family and lifestyle; economic security; women’s safety; and involvement in leadership, decision-making and community building as key priorities. Three main strategies are identified for improving women’s safety:
  • implementing strategies to reduce violence against women;
  • helping women feel safe and supported in their homes and communities;
  • improving transport services for women.
• As the Directions Statement concluded at the end of 2008, the Office for Women is undergoing a review and consultation process to determine its strategic directions.

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8.2.3 Sustained

The Queensland Government has in place the following measures to lead and fund efforts to reduce violence against women.

• Since 2005, the Ministerial Advisory Council on Domestic and Family Violence has provided advice to the Minister for Communities and the Queensland Government on issues that relate to family violence. It replaced the previous Queensland Domestic and Family Violence Council and is a representative council made up of: an independent Chair; a representative from each of the Department of Community’s 10 regions; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representatives; a multicultural representative; and Queensland Government representatives from relevant agencies²⁰⁸. The council is: providing advice on the development of a whole-of-government strategy to respond to domestic and family violence (see below); identifying linkages between domestic and family violence and other social issues such as alcohol and drug abuse, health problems and mental illness; and giving advice for Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Month 2009. Other specific tasks of the council include:
  • providing timely and expert advice to the Minister for Communities and other relevant Ministers where appropriate, on matters relating to the prevention and early intervention of domestic and family violence;
  • researching and providing advice on legislation, policy and programs relating to domestic and family violence, as requested by the Minister for Communities;
  • providing advice to the Minister for Communities on existing and emerging issues and concerns of importance in relation to domestic and family violence;
  • monitoring and advising on the implementation and impact of the Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act 1989, community awareness and service-delivery initiatives, and research priorities.
• The Integrated Human Services Chief Executive Officer Committee is tasked with tackling social exclusion by improving the effectiveness of the human services system for vulnerable people in highly disadvantaged communities. The Committee is chaired by the Director-General, Department of Communities, and comprises heads of nominated Queensland Government human services agencies, Commonwealth agencies and the Queensland Council of Social Service.
• The funding environment for domestic and family violence and sexual assault initiatives and services in Queensland is framed by the following programs.
  • Queensland Health administers the Domestic Violence Initiative, which involves universal, routine screening for domestic violence when women present to public-sector antenatal, emergency, mental health, alcohol, tobacco and other drug clinics and to children and youth services²⁰⁹. It also provides and funds counselling, forensic and medical services to adult victims of sexual assault. Under the Sexual Assault Support and Prevention Program, it provides $6.1 million recurrent funding to the 20 non–government services and nine Queensland Health Service Districts for the provision of counselling and support services to victims of sexual assault. These services are managed through funding and service agreements that end in June 2009.
  • The Department of Communities administers the $14.9 million Violence Prevention Program, which includes women, children and perpetrator programs delivered by non-government organisations. Initiatives include the regional domestic violence services, most of which have counsellors for children exposed to domestic and family violence, as well as delivering counselling and support services for women and undertaking community education at a regional level. This program also funds the Queensland Centre for Domestic and Family Violence Research at CQUniversity.

    The Department administers Referral for Active Intervention programs of intensive support for families of vulnerable children who been involved with the statutory child protection system and who have complex or diverse needs. It received funding of $7.6 million in 2005-06 and an additional $900,000 in 2006-07²¹⁰. It also administers the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program, including funds for women and children escaping domestic and family violence. This provides: $15.7 million recurrent funding for 50 services and for crisis accommodation; $5.6 million recurrent and $4.8 million capital funding over three years from 2008-09 for the Safe Havens initiative (a joint Australian and Queensland governments initiative to respond to the safety needs of children and young people affected by domestic and family violence in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities); and $600,000 in 2008-09 to pilot Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander domestic and family violence counselling services²¹¹.

  • The Department of Housing funds a $26.9 million Crisis Accommodation Program including ‘Roma House, Lady Bowen Centre’ to support and accommodate homeless people. Through the Housing Register, it recognises that women fleeing domestic violence need to be given high priority for the allocation of social housing; and it delivers the Community Renewal Program, an initiative delivered in partnership between state and local governments, businesses, residents and the community to implement projects that improve people's lives in disadvantaged Queensland communities. Through Community Renewal, Health Relationship Projects provide a holistic approach to the issue of family violence in culturally and linguistically diverse communities. The Community Renewal Program delivers Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander domestic and family violence initiatives.

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8.2.4 Prevention

The three strategies to improve women’s safety outlined above include a public education campaign Meeting Challenges, Making Choices. This was developed in response to the Cape York Justice Study, which aims to reduce the level of violence and alcohol-related harm in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and create opportunities for education and economic development. It also seeks to increase funding to accommodate new categories of people protected under amendments to the Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act 1989.

Strategies to help women feel safe and supported in their homes and communities include:

• the development of a Safe and Active Women initiative, aimed at empowering women to feel safe at home and active in the community;
• the development of a Social Isolation of Older People project to identify ways of reducing the isolation of older women;
• strategies to improve transport services including the Safe Mobility for All for Life, a project aimed at providing safe transport to all Queenslanders; and increasing funding to the Citytrain After Dark Security Initiative which provides additional staff at selected stations during the evening.

Broader service systems and programs relating to the prevention of violence against women and children include drug and alcohol programs and supported accommodation assistance services.

8.2.5 Provision

The Queensland Government provides services for victims/survivors including telephone services (DVConnect), crisis and support services for immigrant women (Immigrant Women’s Support Service), court support services, refuges and counselling services (such as through Relationships Australia, Centacare, Lifeline and Anglicare). It also provides Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-specific programs such as Indigenous Family Violence Programs, the Cape York Welfare Reform trial, and alcohol reforms in communities.

The major domestic and family violence and sexual assault prevention activities undertaken by the lead agency, the Department of Communities, include:

• providing funding to domestic and family violence support services throughout Queensland, including rural and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities;
• developing, monitoring and reviewing practice standards for service delivery;
• designing and developing operational policy, protocols, programs, procedures and practice guidelines for the delivery of domestic and family violence services;
• monitoring and reviewing operational policy, protocols and programs;
• monitoring, evaluating and reporting on the impact of the Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act 1989;
• designing and developing protocols and programs to facilitate community awareness and community education initiatives;
• developing new violence prevention initiatives²¹².

The department also supports the following initiatives:

• Violence Prevention Program;
• Referral for Active Intervention;
• Safe Havens;
• Supported Accommodation Assistance Program.

Examples of specific services provided through other Queensland Government agencies include:

• Legal Aid Queensland provides court assistance workers at the Brisbane Magistrates Court.
• Queensland Police Service has a dedicated Domestic and Family Violence Unit as part of the Office of the Commissioner. In addition, there are 22 dedicated full-time District Domestic Violence Liaison officers throughout the state.
• Domestic and family violence workers in mainstream services such as Queensland Women’s Legal Service.
• Indigenous Family Violence Program, Cape York Welfare Reform trial and alcohol reforms in communities.
• Domestic Violence Initiative.
• Sexual Assault Support and Prevention Program.
• Women’s Infolink - a telephone and online referral service and service finder by the Office for Women.
• Community Renewal Program.

8.2.6 Prosecution

The Queensland prosecution environment for domestic and family violence centres on the Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act 1989, as mentioned above. It provides protection for people subject to actual or threatened violence where there is a spousal, intimate personal, family or informal care relationship. It explains how domestic violence is handled under the Act, the powers of the courts and domestic violence orders, and the registration of interstate orders. It also deals with appeals and police functions and powers²¹³. The legislation includes provision to have the perpetrator of domestic and family violence removed from the home (an ‘ouster’ condition’). A total of 20,284 domestic and family violence applications and 13,567 orders were made in Queensland in 2005-06²¹⁴.

Other key legislation includes:

• Domestic and Family Violence Protection Regulation 2003 deals with the registration of an interstate or New Zealand protection order and provides details for dealing with a person in custody (for domestic violence offences under the Act).
• Criminal Code Act 1899 Part 5 deals with offences against the person which are detailed within chapters 26-34: chapters 26 and 30 cover assaults and violence generally; chapter 28 – homicide; chapter 32 – rape and sexual assaults; chapter 33 – threats; and 33A –unlawful stalking²¹⁵.

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201. Office for Women, Our Vision, Queensland Government (www.women.qld.gov.au/about-us/), Brisbane, 2008, viewed October 2008, <http://www.women.qld.gov.au/about-us/>.
202. Department of Communities, Whole of Government Domestic and Family Violence Strategy, Queensland Government, Brisbane, 2008, viewed October 2008.
203. Department of Communities, Strategic policy for children and families 2007-2011, Queensland Government, Brisbane, 2007, viewed October 2008.
204. Queensland Health, Queensland Department of Justice and Attorney General, Queensland Police, Response to Sexual Assault: Interagency guidelines for responding to adult victims of sexual assault, Brisbane, 2001, viewed September 2008.
205. Legal Aid Queensland, Best Practice Guidelines Framework, Queensland Government, Brisbane, 2008, viewed October 2008
206. Department of Child Safety, Domestic and family violence and its relationship to child protection, Queensland Government, Brisbane, 2006, viewed October 2008.
207. Office for Women, Women in the Smart State Directions Statement 2003-2008, Queensland Government, Brisbane, 2003.
208. Department of Communities, Ministerial Advisory Council on Domestic and Family Violence, Queensland Government, Brisbane, 2008, viewed October 2008.
209. Australian Family and Domestic Violence Clearinghouse, Record Number 24: Queensland Health’s Domestic Violence Initiative, viewed October 2008.
210. Department of Communities, Queensland Child and Family Support Services, Referral for Active Intervention Services Funding Information Paper 2005-06, Queensland Government, Brisbane, 2005, viewed October 2008.
211. Queensland Government, Queensland State Budget 2008-09, Budget Paper 5 – Service Delivery Statements, Part 5, Queensland Government, Brisbane, 2008, viewed October 2008.
212. Department of Communities, Department’s role in domestic and family violence prevention, Queensland Government, Brisbane, 2008, viewed October 2008.
213. Australian Family and Domestic Violence Clearinghouse, Policy and Legislation, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, 2007, viewed September 2008.
214. Department of Communities, Queensland Office of Economic and Statistical Research, Queensland Government, Brisbane, 2008, viewed October 2008.
215. Australian Family and Domestic Violence Clearinghouse, Policy and Legislation, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, 2007, viewed September 2008.