Today marks another significant step forward as we pave the way to a Tasmania where families feel safer, with the tabling of the Family Violence Amendment Bill 2015.
The Tasmanian Government has committed $25.57 million to implement Tasmania’s first action plan to address family violence, the Safe Homes, Safe Families: Tasmania’s Family Violence Action Plan 2015-2020.
The amendments tabled in Parliament today are the first tranche improvements to the Family Violence Act 2004. These proposed amendments will improve and clarify the operation of the Act and improve the effectiveness of the response to family violence.
The amendments include key provisions, such as:
• An automatic ban on the publication of any material that might identify an affected child in family violence proceedings;
• Extending the time within which a prosecution under the Act may be brought for economic abuse or emotional abuse or intimidation from six to twelve months; and
• Amending the definition of family violence to include ‘property damage’ as a type of family violence, will improve and strengthen the operation of the Act.
These proposed amendments have undergone extensive consultation across a wide range of stakeholders including the Safe at Home Steering Committee, Interdepartmental Committee on Family Violence, Legal Aid Commission of Tasmania, Magistrates Court, Supreme Court, Law Society of Tasmania, Women’s Legal Services and Community Legal Centres.
Through the Action Plan we will bring family violence from behind closed doors and make an unprecedented investment in prevention and early intervention, as well as holding perpetrators to account.
The $25.57 million we are committing over the next four years is in addition to the $16 million direct and $24 million indirect already spent annually on family violence, and the additional funding committed in the 2015-16 State Budget.
Will Hodgman, Premier
