Protection from family violence is a postcode lottery, and children should be allowed to apply for their own family violence orders, a parliamentary inquiry into the system has found.
The parliamentary inquiry into family violence orders (FVOs) said the Australian government must act swiftly to coordinate rules for protection orders across states and territories, finding wide variation across the country is a barrier to justice for victim survivors.
“Australians have a right to expect access to the same protections, regardless of where they live, but this is not currently the case,” the committee said in its report.
Advocates are backing the inquiry’s call for children and young people to be able to apply for their own FVOs and say such a step could help break the cycle of violence.
Children would be the main applicant on an order, rather than having to rely on a third party like a parent or a police officer.
The inquiry also found community legal centres supporting victim survivors to escape violence are overwhelmed and having to turn people away, with staff calling on the federal government to urgently address the problem.
I had a voice, the court wouldn’t let me use it: victim survivors support child FVOs
Conor Pall, deputy chair of the Victorian government’s Victim Survivors’ Advisory Council, backed the inquiry’s call for children to get FVOs in their own right.
“When I was 17, my mum applied for an FVIO to keep us safe, I went to the court with her — it was my way of standing up to the perpetrator and signalling that enough was enough,” he said.
But even though being in court was important to Mr Pall, he wasn’t allowed in.
“The magistrate asked how old I was, when I replied that I was 17, I was told to leave the courtroom as it’s “not a place for children”.
He said the culture of children being talked about, rather than to, is pervasive throughout the justice system.
“I had a voice, I wanted to use it,” he said.
“The court didn’t let me.”
Conor Pall says children and young people must be heard in the court system. (Supplied)
Mr Pall said the system is lagging when it comes to supporting children and young people and that the inquiry’s recommendations don’t go far enough.
“Allowing children and young people to apply and be a Protected Person under FVOs is one thing, but doing the urgent work to change the cultures of judicial officers is another.”
Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commissioner Micaela Cronin said the change could enable intervention to stop the cycle of violence.
“It’s been a real priority that the commission has identified that we have a long way to go to recognising children in their own right as being impacted by domestic, family and sexual violence.
“The more we can do to help people be safe … the more likely we are to reduce violence in future.”
Family violence legal system under strain during cost of living crisis
Arlia Flemming, CEO of Central Tablelands and Blue Mountains Community Legal Center and chair of Community Legal Centers Australia, said the rules around children and FVOs vary widely around Australia.
“What this report is identifying is that in some cases, children really should be able to articulate what is happening for them, and for those applications to kind of stand alone,” she said.
The centre is regularly having to turn away people asking for help navigating the legal system while they try to escape family violence.
“One of the recommendations is about having services that can really walk with people, and we find that that’s so crucial, people are often passed around between various different services, a bit lost in the system, not knowing which door to walk through,” she said.
“It really just puts people in a position of sometimes returning to the perpetrator.”
But she said governments urgently need to boost resources to allow centres to assist people seeking help.
“We’re all incredibly stretched, and it’s getting worse because there’s a cost of living crisis.”
The federal election has to be held before May 17, meaning the federal government is running out of time to respond to the recommendations this term.
A spokesperson for Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said the government will consider the report’s findings and continue to make changes to the justice system to improve the experience and safety of victim survivors.
Government MP and chair of the inquiry Susan Templeman said the federal government is uniquely placed to help fix the pitfalls in the family law system.
“When you’re trying to get so many territories and states on the same page, there is no other level of government that can help do that,” she said.
“You’ve got different Australians in different parts of the country having different experiences … when you add the inconsistencies you can see there are a lot of opportunities to improve this system so women and their children are safer.”
