Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party calls for collaboration and change to end violence against women and children

Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party commends the goal of a society free of violence and welcomes the recognition within the National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children that violence causes significant and enduring harm to victims and victim-survivors. But any plan can only be as good as the actions that follow.

The party is of a firm view that state and national responses to violence must be victim-centred, provide appropriate interventions to address the causes of violence, and ensure offenders are held to account for their actions. Primary prevention and early intervention which is evidence-based and sustainably funded should be informed by a process of robust and transparent evaluation and the regular collection and analysis of data.

The process of challenging and changing societal norms that reinforce violent behaviours must be reflected by changes in our public institutions; including the response and supports to victim- survivors through the justice and health systems to reduce re-traumatisation, secondary victimisation and the risk to our community of continued and escalating offending.

Given the scale of violence in Australia and the complex and intersecting factors that contribute towards violence, it is our firm view that intervention programs must be delivered earlier and more intensively to deliver real change.

The National Plan recognises that trauma presents differently and uniquely for each victim. Assistance schemes and therapeutic supports should reflect this and provide flexible and enduring services to victim-survivors.

Our legal responses to violence should reflect the pervasive and invasive course of conduct behaviours that, on their own, may not constitute a criminal offence, but that in culmination bring great harm. These behaviours are often explicitly used by perpetrators of family violence, but also extend to other offending that can be familial or non-familial, such as stalking.

States and territories should work together to ensure that accountability and visibility of offenders is not reduced when they move between states. Information sharing and technology should support the work of police and agencies across and between jurisdictions to monitor high-risk offenders and manage risk for victim-survivors.

Read the submission

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Image: Tania Maxwell and Lee Little, mother of Alicia Little – who lost her life to family violence in 2017 near Kyneton