Category: Australia

One in four cases before NSW local courts last year related to domestic violence, data reveals | New South Wales | The Guardian

 

Data from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (Bocsar) showed 26% of matters finalised in local courts in 2023 were related to domestic violence, up from 20% in 2019.

The proportion of domestic and family violence-related assault charges withdrawn from the local court by the prosecution has also increased, from 18% in 2019 to 27% in 2023.

Meanwhile, the average time taken to finalise a contested domestic family violence matter in the local court took 266 days in 2023, up from 170 days in 2019.

Demand for Legal Aid’s help in NSW has also increased, with the agency seeing a 61% rise over two years for its legal services.

In April, the legal service said it expects the demand to increase further once the coercive control law – which makes controlling an intimate partner via abuse a criminal offence – comes into effect in NSW in July.

Bocsar’s data revealed the number of AVO breaches before courts increased by 46% from 2019 to 2023 statewide.

The number of AVOs granted also increased by 20% during the same period statewide. In Sydney, it was up by 22% and in the regions by 17%. The Grafton and Coffs Harbour region experienced the highest increase in AVOs at 41%.

Court matters relating to all significant DV offences also increased over the five years, including by 29% for matters relating to assault and by 51% for matters primarily relating to intimidation and stalking.

Vivian Galanis, the principal solicitor at Wallumatta Legal, said the uptick was not surprising and was likely due to the historical underreporting of domestic violence incidents.

“There is a significant lack of availability of government-funded services and affordable options for legal advice and representation – and my view is this is where increased government investment is most crucially needed,” she said.

[Ed: And yet FLC cannot secure funding and our Women’s Court Support Service (an unfunded DV service that has been operating almost 20 years) in the Family Court has just been booted out and replaced by a men’s support service. Please raise this with your elected representatives.]

Source: One in four cases before NSW local courts last year related to domestic violence, data reveals | New South Wales | The Guardian

Outcry sparked as federal government’s family and d… | NIT

Indigenous advocates have raised the alarm after the federal government’s rapid review expert panel on family and domestic violence was revealed to not include any Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander women.

Dr McGlade said excluding Indigenous women from  the Expert Panel “doesn’t respect the principle of Aboriginal women’s rights to self determination and risks neglecting Aboriginal women’s knowledge and expertise on violence”.

Commissioner Cronin said on Tuesday evening in senate estimates that the panel was intended to be a small group that could be brought together quickly and is not a representative group, in recognition that there has already been extensive consultation.

The government has also said the panel will work closely with the existing advisory groups leading important work under the National Plan including the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Council and the First Nations National Plan Steering Committee.

Source: Outcry sparked as federal government’s family and d… | NIT

Family violence legal services call for increased ongoing funding – ABC News

Getting access to legal advice is often crucially important for women escaping domestic and family violence. Providing the funding for legal assistance is the responsibility of the federal government.

Here’s chief political correspondent Laura Tingle and Dana Morse with this update.

Source: Family violence legal services call for increased ongoing funding – ABC News

‘Disastrous’: No body, no parole laws unfair to innocent prisoners, Folbigg says – Lawyers Weekly

NSW’s “no body, no parole” laws have been slammed as “disastrous” by Kathleen Folbigg, the woman who spent 20 years behind bars for the wrongful conviction for the death of her four infant children.

Folbigg signed her name to an open letter that called for the “no body, no parole” laws to be reformed so the State Parole Authority can regain the power to release a prisoner even if they have not cooperated in locating victims of a homicide.

The letter was organised and circulated by RMIT University’s Bridge of Hope Innocence Initiative.

The laws, which were amended in 2022, were designed to incentivise prisoners to provide closure to victims’ families.

“There is scant evidence they are effective at achieving this goal.

“Instead, no body, no parole laws are disastrous for prisoners who continue to assert their innocence, exacerbating what is commonly called the ‘innocent prisoner’s dilemma’,” the letter said.

Prior to the reform, the parole board considered the prisoner’s disclosure of their victims’ remains but retained a discretion to release them. The 2022 change removed this discretion.

Folbigg’s name joined 114 other academics, lawyers, advocates and criminal justice professionals, including former NSW Court of Appeal judge and Centre for Public Integrity’s chair Anthony Whealy KC.

Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton, who was wrongfully convicted of the murder of her baby Azaria Chamberlain, also signed the letter.

[Ed: So often well-intentioned laws have unintended consequences.]

Source: ‘Disastrous’: No body, no parole laws unfair to innocent prisoners, Folbigg says – Lawyers Weekly

Teen arrested after girls targeted in AI photo scandal

A teenage boy has been arrested after fake nudes of female students from a Melbourne private school were created with artificial intelligence and circulated online.

Fifty girls in years nine to 12 at Bacchus Marsh Grammar, north-west of the city, were targeted, according to principal Andrew Neal.

Source: Teen arrested after girls targeted in AI photo scandal

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL – Signing ePetition – Removal of ‘gender identity’ from the Conversion Practices Ban Act 2024

To the President and Members of the Legislative Council, the petitioners of New South Wales state that by including ‘gender identity’ in its definition of ‘conversion practices’, the Conversion Practices Ban Act 2024 fails to recognise gender identity is synonymous with gender dysphoria, and ignores social phenomena behind the rapid increase in gender dysphoria, medical evidence against the ‘gender affirmation’ approach, and stories of detransitioners. The petitioners request that the House remove ‘gender identity’ from the Conversion Practices Ban Act 2024 and support an independent public inquiry into gender affirming care for children and young people in light of the findings and evidence-based recommendations of the Cass Review.

Source: LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL – Signing ePetition – Removal of ‘gender identity’ from the Conversion Practices Ban Act 2024

‘Choose your own gender’ bill rejected by 83pc of voters | Daily Telegraph

Almost 83 per cent of NSW residents are opposed to plans to enable people to “change” their sex by simply filling out forms, a survey has found.

New laws are being proposed in state parliament by independent Sydney MP Alex Greenwich to allow “self-ID” of sex for official government forms, junking the current requirement for individuals to undergo medical treatment to change sex.
However, a survey of 13,258 NSW citizens, conducted by a parliamentary inquiry into the impact of the Equality Legislation Amendment (LGBTIQA) Bill 2023, found the overwhelming majority ­rejected the changes.
A whopping 85 per cent of the those who took part in the online survey rejected the bill altogether, with 13 per cent supporting it and another 0.89 per cent supporting it with amendments. Plans to allow 16-year-olds to consent to medical treatments without their parent’s permission were rejected by 82 per cent.
Equality Australia chief executive Anna Brown welcomed the parliamentary inquiry’s final report, which recommended the bill now be debated by parliament.
But an alliance of GPs, psychiatrists, psychologists and families called Genspect said it was dismayed the laws would be debated after the overwhelming rejection by the public in the survey.
“The public have clearly expressed their opposition to the introduction of gender self-ID and amendments that make it easier for minors to access puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones without parental consent, but the government appears not to be listening,” Genspect spokeswoman Jude Hunter said.
She said the bill reached into 20 different pieces of legislation and would “seriously diminish the rights of women and girls, permits children to change their name and sex on their birth certificate without parental consent and will lead to more children with gender confusion”.

Source: ‘Choose your own gender’ bill rejected by 83pc of voters

A letter from members regarding the Cass Review and the College’s response | RANZCP

A letter from RANZCP members: Cass Review Final Report

As RANZCP members, we believe our serious professional concerns regarding the gender interventions being provided to Australian children and adolescents are not being adequately represented by the College in its media communications and political advocacy.

On 10 April 2024, the Cass Review Final Report was released. Commissioned by the UK’s NHS, the report conducted eight independent systematic reviews of the global research literature to underpin its recommendations. It reveals there is no clear evidentiary basis for gender affirmation interventions and evidence for puberty suppression and cross-sex hormone treatment is of such poor quality that no foundation exists for clinical decisions and informed consent.

The review recommends puberty blockers be restricted to ethics-approved research trials and cross-sex hormones be used with extreme caution in people between ages 16 and 18, with approval from an independent expert panel required. It cautions that social transition is an active intervention that may have significant effects on psychological functioning and longer-term outcomes. It concluded: “the evidence does not adequately support the claim that gender affirming treatment reduces suicide risk” and that treatment for gender dysphoria should not be based on the “gender-affirming” model, which is the model used by Australian paediatric gender services.

We request the RANZCP urgently:

  • acknowledge the recommendations of the Cass Review as relevant to Australian paediatric gender services, and
  • call for health ministers to establish an independent body to investigate Australian paediatric gender services and implement relevant recommendations from the Cass Review

Source: A letter from members regarding the Cass Review and the College’s response | RANZCP