8. Family Violence and the Criminal Law—An Introduction

Recommendation 8–1 The Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) or another suitable federal agency should gather and report data about federal offences committed in a family violence context. This should include data about:

  1. which of these federal offences are prosecuted and the result;
  2. who conducts the prosecution;
  3. whether the offences are prosecuted jointly with state or territory crimes committed in a family violence context; and
  4. when the offences form the basis of a protection order.

This information should be regularly given to the AIC or relevant agency by either the courts or Commonwealth, state and territory prosecutors—including police and directors of public prosecution.

Recommendation 8–2 Police, prosecutors, lawyers and judicial officers should be given training about potential federal offences committed in a family violence context, including when such offences should be prosecuted or used as a basis for obtaining a family violence protection order.

This training should be incorporated into any existing or proposed training about family violence that is conducted by, among others: state and federal police, legal professional bodies, directors of public prosecution (state and Commonwealth), and judicial education bodies.