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Domestic violence laws in Australia

1. Introduction

6.1.1. This Part identifies and analyses areas of overlap and potential conflict between the FL Act and the State and Territory laws providing for the making of domestic violence protection orders or similar (see Part 2 of this Report).

Terms used in Part 6

6.1.2. For convenience, in this Part we refer to the relevant State and Territory laws, collectively, as ‘the State/Territory protection orders legislation’. In the FL Act, relevant orders made under State/Territory protection orders laws that are prescribed, for the purposes of the FL Act,270 are referred to as ‘family violence orders’(seethe definition of that term in s 4(1)). To avoid confusion, however, in this Part we refer to those orders as ‘State/Territory protection orders’. We refer to orders and injunctions for the personal protection of a person made under s 68B or s 114 of the FL Act as ‘FL Act protection orders/injunctions’.

6.1.3. It should also be noted that the FL Act uses the term ‘family violence’ rather than the term we use elsewhere in this Report, ‘domestic violence’. ‘Family violence’ is definedins 4(1) of the FL Act, and its meaning, as defined, is narrower than that of cognate terms used in some of the State/Territory protection orders legislation. So as to maintain accuracy, therefore, in this Part we use the term ‘family violence’ when discussing relevant provisions of the FL Act.

Structure of Part 6

6.1.4. In Chapter 2 of this Part, we consider the potential for inconsistency between, on the one hand, State/Territory protection orders and, on the other, orders or injunctions made under the FL Act relating to the care of, or contact with, children. This is the area in which there is the greatest potential for conflict between the operation of the FL Act and the State/Territory protection orders legislation.

6.1.5. Chapter 3 is concerned with the interaction between State/Territory protection orders and FL Act protection orders/injunctions.

6.1.6. In Chapter4, we briefly examine a number of matters that have emerged as key issues in relation to the operation of the FL Act and its relationship with State and Territory legislation.

  1. The State and Territory Acts that have been prescribed for the purposes of the definition of ‘family violence order’ are listed in Attachment A to Part 5 of this Report. It should be noted that these are not wholly co-extensive with the State and Territory Acts examined in Part 2 of this Report, and also considered in this Part. This is because, as indicated in Part 2, the legislation in Victoria and the ACT is shortly to be superseded by new Acts and, for the purposes of this Report, we have examined these new Acts rather than the Acts that are currently in force in those jurisdictions. We assume that, upon commencement of the new Acts, they will be prescribed for the purposes of the definition of ‘family violence order’ in the FL Act.

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