Screening and risk assessment practices
21.51 A key element of FDR in practice is the process of screening and risk assessment, which is designed to ensure that victims of family violence are not using FDR in inappropriate circumstances, or to identify and mitigate any risk factors where FDR may be appropriate despite family violence or other risks.[90] Two issues arise …
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Read moreProtection orders and children—the current legal framework
20.106 In practice, family violence protection orders for the protection of children are usually obtained in a magistrates court. Most commonly, children are named as protected persons on applications for family violence orders made to protect a parent, although they may also be sought directly in the child’s own right. In some jurisdictions, family violence …
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Read moreChild protection and juvenile justice
20.154 There is a strong correlation between juvenile participation in crime and rates of reported neglect or abuse,[189] and, in particular, between juvenile involvement in criminal activity and neglectful parenting.[190] Research indicates that an offending child or young person is likely to have a history of abuse or neglect,[191] and to have been in out-of-home …
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Read moreIntroduction
20.1 The interaction of state and territory child protection laws with a range of other state and territory laws is one of the areas under consideration in this Inquiry.[1] This chapter focuses on the intersections between child protection law, the criminal law and the law relating to family violence protection orders, and considers ways to …
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Read moreCriminal offences relating to child protection
20.6 Parents, caregivers and those with parental responsibility have a duty, at law, to provide children in their care with the ‘necessities of life’, which includes providing financial support, food, clothing, accommodation, healthcare and access to education.[6] The duty normally extends to children up to the age of 16 years, but may apply to older …
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Read moreThe power of children’s courts to make parenting orders
19.101 Some cases start in the child protection context, but are later referred to family courts. A child protection agency may investigate reported abuse or neglect and, during the course of that investigation, identify a viable and protective carer for the child. This may happen before or after proceedings are commenced in a children’s court. …
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Read moreFamilies in both courts—duplication of proceedings
19.146 The possibility that proceedings will be duplicated also arises in child protection cases. For example, proceedings may be commenced in a children’s court by a child protection agency but, whilst those proceedings are in train, a parent who wishes to spend time with her or his children, will make an application to a family …
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Read moreLegal intervention in child protection
19.20 This section of the chapter considers the development of state intervention in relation to children in need of care and protection, from the parens patriae jurisdiction to legislative schemes involving the establishment of specialist children’s courts and, among other things, defining thresholds for state intervention. The chapter also considers the procedure for triggering state …
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Read moreImproving evidence in protection order proceedings
18.56 Improving the availability and quality of evidence about family violence is an important aspect of promoting better outcomes for victims of family violence involved in multiple legal proceedings. As noted in Laing’s study of the experiences of victims of family violence in family court proceedings:The Family Court relies on evidence from interventions in other …
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Read moreRecognising family violence in criminal offences
Criticisms of the incident-focused nature of criminal offences Case study ‘Some of the women I have assisted have experienced years of violence, including rapes, which have been reduced to one charge of common assault. There is no way a just sentence for her suffering and trauma, and the harm done to society by his actions, …
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