You are invited to join us for Afternoon Tea
to launch the new edition of Women and Family Law
Where: The State Library on
When: Thursday 16 May 2014, 3pm - 5pm
with special guest Sue Waldron
Cost: $30

Please RSVP here

Women’s Legal Services NSW (WLS) undertook an exploratory study of its 2010 experience of representing women who were defendants to Apprehended Domestic Violence Order (AVO)proceedings in order to better understand what appeared toWLS, and a growing body of anecdotal reports from other agencies, to be a growing phenomenon.
  
The research was limited by a number of factors and is not a random sample of all NSW cases. However the results illustrate some of the systemic issues experienced by women AVO defendants. Given the number of cases examined and the particular expertise of WLS this report should be of use for the broader legal community.

The study findings include that over two-thirds of our women clients defending AVOs reported that they were the victims of violence in their relationships. Fewer than 40% of these clients had a final AVO made against them when the case came before the court.

Many of the women defending AVOs reported that when police had been called after a violent incident, they felt that their version of events had not been viewed as credible compared with the other party, due to the circumstances of their heightened stress and anxiety.

Other women reported that they believed the other party had deliberately initiated AVO proceedings as a further mechanism of controlling their behaviour, by giving them the ability to threaten them with reports to police in the future.

In the majority of cases where women were defending AVOs, the other party's complaint related to a single incident only. In several of these cases injuries to the other party could be indicative of self-defence, such as scratching or biting on the arm or hand.

Although further research is needed to determine the frequency with which inappropriate AVOs are pursued against women defendants, it is clear from the study that in a number of cases, the applications initiated against women defendants appeared unnecessary for the protection of the other party.

This report identifies the following recommendations:

1.Improved data be collected and made available by key agencies in the domestic violence sector in order to build a further evidence base on the experience of women defendants to AVOs.

2.The Bureau of Crimes Statistics and Research undertake a discrete project into the experience of women defendants to AVOs in the justice system.

3.The NSW Police continue to strengthen their policies and procedures around identification of the ‘primary victim’ in domestic violence incidents, and provide continuous training about the nature and dynamics of domestic violence.

4.The NSW government take into account in its Domestic and Family Violence reforms that women defendants to AVOs may, in fact, be victims, rather than perpetrators of violence.

To read the full report click here.

On 24 March 2014 WLS NSW made a submission to the Senate Community Affairs Reference Committee Inquiry into Grandparents who take primary responsibility for raising their grandchildren.
 
We focused on the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women. While we note this inquiry is about grandparents, the issue is often raised in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities that kinship is extensive, including parents, grandparents, great grandparents, sisters and brothers, aunts and uncles, daughters and sons, nieces and nephews. Furthermore, kinship extends beyond blood relatives within kinship groups.
 
There are significant barriers that prevent grandparents who are the primary carers of children (either in the short or long term) from obtaining adequate financial, legal and social support; and housing and recognition.
 
In summary, we recommended:
1. The term ‘grandparent’ should be expanded to recognise other non-parent carers in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kinship groups;
2. The NSW Statutory Declaration for Informal Relative Caregivers should be accepted by all state and federal government agencies;
3. A community awareness campaign about financial and non-financial support available for grandparents and how to establish grandparents are the primary caregivers of children be developed with the active participation of grandparents;
4. The NSW Statutory Declaration for Informal Relative Caregivers should be valid for 12 months;
5. Special processes to provide adequate functional recognition of the particular child rearing and kinship practices within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities as outlined by the Family Law Council in 2004 described as Option 2;
6 The agency at which the document described by the Family Law Council in Option 2 be registered be an agency other than a government agency;
7 Better recognition that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families are suffering the effects of trans-generational traumas and disenfranchised grief and should be provided appropriate support to address their traumas;
8 Where consent is not provided by one or both parents of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child to recognise an appropriate person under Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander customary law as having parental responsibility (Family Law Council Option 2), mediation be available for the parents and grandparents. Where one or both parents withdraw consent and a grandparent has concerns about the safety or well-being of the child, mediation should also be available;
9 Additional funding for early intervention legal services and support;
10 An Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander caseworker be assigned to an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander family where child protection services are involved; and
11 Grandparents with the primary care of children should be able to access respite without the fear of being judged and deemed no longer able to care for their grandchildren.