Recently, EMH made a submission to the Attorney General's Office on improving the Family Violence Order (FVO) process. There was so much to talk about! But some of the things we emphasised were:
Our women need to have agency over the telling of their own stories. The path to getting a FVO is complex and unclear. "Anecdotal evidence suggests that court registrars play a significant role in editing, rewriting and restructuring the narratives. However, registrars are largely invisible in this process since there is no record of their contribution or changes to affected family members’ narratives.” (Agency and Resistance in Family Violence Intervention Order Narratives (Research Report) WEstjustice and Fitzroy Legal Service 28 February 2023)
Our women need to have clear and easy to access information. EMH believe there needs to be further understanding by the police and courts around why Aboriginal Affected Family Member (AFM)s may not want to liaise with Police, and coordinating efforts with services like EMH may allow for increased access to the justice system for clients. For example, a service like ours could be involved in discussion between the AFM and police to advocate on their behalf, after not answering Police calls for weeks due to fear around the consequences of the interaction.
In not liaising with clients, AFMs are having FVOs placed on their behalf that they do not agree with. This again takes away their agency and creates further consequences for them. In one example, an EMH client who had extensive FV committed against her was allowed a Full Order Interim by the Court. When this returned to Court, Police stated that they attempted to call her, but she did not pick up, and that they were seeking a Condition 1 only. After hearing the event that prompted the IVO process, EMH felt a Condition 1 was not enough, and discussed such with the client. The client told us that she desired a Full Order for as long as possible, and she attempted to reach back out to Police, but did not have a central number. If EMH had not intervened, a woman who faced an almost lethal family violence event would not have a Full Order protecting her.
In the current existing binary system of Respondent and AFM, it is too easy for the person using violence to also use these systems against her.
Our women need to feel that the court environment is safe. This could be achieved a number of ways, including with dedicated, independently funded court support workers, having different entry points so that AFMs are not exposed to Respondents while outside of, or entering the court. Once an order goes to contest, both AFM and respondent must attend court.
Currently, we are finding that a male serial perpetrator can successfully submit a cross application against an AFM which then goes through the court system, further traumatising the female AFM. This occurs even when the male has serious assault charges and full lengthy no contact orders against him.
Being misidentified as a perpetrator of family violence can have devasting effects on a woman – losing access to her children, losing her housing, her employment and engaging in years of legal battles. In Victoria, up to 58 per cent of women on Community Protection Orders have been misidentified as perpetrators. (Women's Legal Services Victoria, 2018).
Our women need to feel that their circumstances are taken seriously. The lifelong impacts of an ineffective FVO system on women and children are enormous and further impact all social services.
The financial, social, physical and mental burden on women and children when navigating abuse should be concerning to all governments.
We know that women with a history of family violence have poorer financial outcomes over a lifetime and are at significant risk of physical and mental health complications. A significant proportion of women in prison have experienced family violence. Children are also victims in family violence cases, which has a lifelong impact on their development, understanding of healthy relationships and emotional regulation.
Any changes to the FVO system must look holistically at the burden placed on women and children and the long term implications of failing to provide agency in the process.
An abuser takes away your support network, your choices, your decision making ability and any hope that things will get better. The systems you turn to for support must not reinforce these outcomes.
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