Tasmanian Government Submission - House Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs-Inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violence ...
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Tasmanian Government Submission House Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs– Inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violence August 2020 Safe at Home Department of Justice
Publisher: Department of Justice Date: August 2020 © Crown in Right of the State of Tasmania 2 Tasmanian Government Submission Inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violence
Contents
1. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 4
2. CONTEXT ...................................................................................................................... 6
2.1. Safe Homes, Families, Communities: Tasmania’s action plan for family and sexual violence 2019-2022 .................... 6
2.2. Safe at Home: Tasmania’s integrated criminal justice response to family violence ................................................. 8
3. SAFE AT HOME RESPONSES ................................................................................... 11
3.1. Department of Police, Fire and Emergency Management ............................................................................................ 11
3.2. Department of Communities .............................................................................................................................................. 13
3.3. Department of Justice............................................................................................................................................................ 20
3.4. Department of Health ........................................................................................................................................................... 26
3.5. Department of Education ..................................................................................................................................................... 28
Tasmanian Government Submission Inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violence 3
1. Introduction
The Tasmanian Government welcomes the opportunity to contribute a submission to the House of
Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs’ Inquiry into family, domestic
and sexual violence.
The Tasmanian Government recognises that domestic and family violence in Australia is
widespread—one in four women and one in six men have experienced violence by an intimate
partner since the age of 15—and that violence against women is one of the most serious
consequences of gender inequality. It increases the risk of women experiencing disadvantage and can
have far-reaching impacts on their social and economic participation, health, housing and financial
security. In Tasmania, in 2019-20, there were 5,883 family violence incidents and arguments and 206
sexual assault offences reported to Tasmania Police. Of those 206 sexual assault offences, 38% were
committed more than one year prior to being reported and 88% were against female victims.
The Tasmanian Government takes seriously all incidences of family and sexual violence. As a
signatory to the Australian Governments’ National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and their
Children 2010-2022 (the National Plan), the Tasmanian Government has committed itself over the
past decade to developing and executing family violence action plans aligned to the National
Implementation Action Plans. On 1 July 2019, in line with the Fourth Action Plan of the National
Plan, the Tasmanian Government launched Safe Homes, Families, Communities: Tasmania's action plan
for family and sexual violence 2019-2022 (Safe Homes, Families, Communities).
Safe Homes, Families, Communities built on progress made under the outgoing Safe Homes, Safe
Families: Tasmania’s Family Violence Action Plan 2015-2020 (Safe Homes, Safe Families) and was
designed following a comprehensive, cross-agency review of family violence service system in
Tasmania, including delivery of actions under the first action plan. Safe Homes, Safe Families
delivered significant new investment and activity into an existing family violence service response,
which included Safe at Home, Tasmania’s integrated criminal justice response to family violence, and
community-based specialist family violence services funded by the Tasmanian Government.
Pursuant to this cross-agency review, and in recognition that sexual violence often intersects with
family violence, it was decided that Safe Homes, Families, Communities would address both family
and sexual violence, in line with the Government’s 2018 commitment to deliver a sexual violence
action plan. Safe Homes, Families, Communities sets out a $26 million, three-year, whole-of-
government commitment to progressing long-term change in the attitudes and behaviours that lead
to family and sexual violence and support affected victims and families.
Recently, this commitment was bolstered in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Tasmanian
Government committed a further $2.7 million in family violence response funding to: increase the
Rapid Rehousing program; improve the efficiency of Safe at Home criminal justice responses; increase
operational capacity of non-government specialist family violence and sexual assault support services;
establish a one-off flexible support package to assist and support victims wishing to leave an unsafe
situation during periods of social isolation; for awareness material in print, broadcast social media
forums; and to enable women’s shelters to purchase items to increase the entertainment and
learning options for children during self-isolation.
4 Tasmanian Government Submission Inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violence
It is important to note that each jurisdiction in Australia has its own terminology and legislation
pertaining to family/domestic violence. Under the Family Violence Act 2004 (the Act), Tasmania uses
the term ‘family’ violence to acknowledge that children who witness family violence have their safety,
psychological wellbeing, and interests affected by violence directed at one of their carers and, as a
result, are victims in their own right. This submission will accordingly use the terminology ‘family
violence’, which is defined under section 7 of the Act as:
(a) any of the following types of conduct committed by a person, directly or
indirectly, against that person's spouse or partner:
(i) assault, including sexual assault;
(ii) threats, coercion, intimidation or verbal abuse;
(iii) abduction;
(iv) stalking within the meaning of section 192 of the Criminal Code ;
(v) attempting or threatening to commit conduct referred to
in subparagraph (i) , (ii) , (iii) or (iv) ; or
(b) any of the following:
(i) economic abuse;
(ii) emotional abuse or intimidation;
(iii) contravening an external family violence order, an interim FVO, an FVO
or a PFVO; or
(c) any damage caused by a person, directly or indirectly, to any property –
(i) jointly owned by that person and his or her spouse or partner; or
(ii) owned by that person's spouse or partner; or
(iii) owned by an affected child.
While there is significant work still to be done, there is evidence that generational change is
occurring. Whereas family violence was once seen as a private matter, it is now recognised as a
whole-of-community issue.
The Tasmanian Government is firmly committed to the goal of becoming a State where all people
are safe, equal and respected; and in which homes, families and communities are free from all forms
of family and sexual violence.
Tasmanian Government Submission Inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violence 5
2. Context
The Tasmanian Government is committed to delivering a flexible and responsive approach to
eliminating family and sexual violence. The Tasmanian Government’s current response plan to family
and sexual violence is Safe Homes, Families, Communities, which compliments the existing Safe at
Home service system. An outline of each is provided below.
2.1. Safe Homes, Families, Communities: Tasmania’s action plan for family and sexual
violence 2019-2022
Launched in July 2019, Safe Homes, Families, Communities is the Tasmanian Government’s whole-of-
government response to family and sexual violence. It represents of the second action plan under
the Tasmanian Government’s long-term commitment to address family violence, and incorporates
actions to respond to sexual violence. Its predecessor, the first action plan and nation-leading
response, Safe Homes, Safe Families, was launched in August 2015 by the former Premier the Hon.
Will Hodgman. The collaborative model of Safe Homes, Safe Families was recognised at the 2017
Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in the Public Service where the Family Violence Cross
Agency Working Group, which oversees the implementation of these reforms, was awarded the
Collaboration Award and a commendation for Sustainable Excellence in Public Sector
Management. The same cross-agency model has been retained for Safe Homes, Families,
Communities.
The development of Safe Homes, Families, Communities was informed by a comprehensive review of
the family violence service system in Tasmania, which included extensive stakeholder and community
consultation. Actions to address sexual violence were informed by comprehensive research;
examination of the existing service system in Tasmania; targeted consultation with key stakeholders;
and analysis of best-practice systems operating in other jurisdictions—to ensure the Tasmanian
Government continues to respond to emerging priorities and incorporate evidence from other
programs and policies.
Safe Homes, Families, Communities’ actions build on efforts to prevent and respond to family and
sexual violence delivered through Safe at Home (outlined below) and community-based specialist
family and sexual violence services funded by the Tasmanian Government. It invests $26 million over
three years to prevent and respond to family and sexual violence in Tasmania under three priority
areas:
Primary prevention and early intervention;
Response and recovery; and
Strengthening the service system.
These three priority areas are addressed across 40 direct and ongoing actions:
Primary prevention and early intervention
1. Membership of Our Watch
2. Establish an Our Watch Primary Prevention Officer in Tasmania
3. Embed Respectful Relationship education in Tasmanian Government schools
4. Support the successful National Campaign, Stop It At The Start
5. Support implementation of the new National Sexual Violence Campaign
6 Tasmanian Government Submission Inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violence
6. Continue to ensure that gender equality and respect are at the centre of all Tasmanian State
Service workplaces
7. Develop a family and sexual violence website
8. Work with the eSafety Commissioner to deliver education and training in response to
technology-facilitated abuse
9. Deliver a Problem Sexual Behaviours and Sexually Abusive Behaviours program for children
and young people
10. Support Tasmanian Aboriginal communities to deliver targeted primary prevention and early
intervention programs and to improve service delivery for Aboriginal people affected by family
and sexual violence
11. Trial the Step Up adolescent intervention program
12. Strengthen the Defendant Health Liaison Service to provide early intervention to offenders
13. Deliver the Men’s Referral Service
Response and recovery
14. Deliver Safe Choices
15. Support women with disability through the Local Support Coordinator role in Safe Choices
16. Support children and their families through the Safe Homes, Safe Families Support Team
17. Support Aboriginal families through the Aboriginal Family Safety Workers in Child and Family
Centres
18. Provide increased counselling services for children and young people experiencing family
violence
19. Provide counselling services for adults experiencing family violence
20. Invest in crisis accommodation through the Affordable Housing Action Plan 2019-2023
21. Deliver the Rapid Rehousing program for people experiencing family violence
22. Deliver the Keeping Women Safe In Their Homes program
23. Provide legal assistance to people experiencing family violence
24. Deliver perpetrator programs for low, medium and high-risk perpetrators
25. Introduce the ability to require mandated behaviour change program participation as part of a
Family Violence Order
26. Extend forensic medical examinations for adult victim-survivors of family and sexual violence to
a statewide service
Strengthening the service system
27. Strengthen the Safe Families Coordination Unit
28. Trial electronic monitoring of high-risk family violence offenders, with opt-in available for
victim-survivors
29. Strengthen specialist police prosecution services
30. Implement legislative reform to strengthen legal responses to family and sexual violence
31. Improve data collection and reporting
32. Membership of Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety
33. Strengthen mechanisms for schools to respond to technology-facilitated abuse including image-
based abuse
34. Roll out mobile phone data extraction devices to collect evidence of technology-facilitated
abuse
Tasmanian Government Submission Inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violence 7
35. Centralise management of family and sexual violence services within the Department of
Communities Tasmania
36. Introduce standardised risk assessment processes across government and non-government
family and sexual violence services
37. Develop and deliver training across identified Tasmanian Government services to respond to
family and sexual violence
38. Establish a Family Violence Liaison Officer in the Strong Families, Safe Kids Advice and Referral
Line
39. Undertake a feasibility study for a disclosure scheme in Tasmania
40. Review the regional sexual assault protocols
The Tasmanian Government will monitor implementation of each action and undertake ongoing
evaluation to inform future delivery.
2.2. Safe at Home: Tasmania’s integrated criminal justice response to family violence
Safe at Home is Tasmania’s integrated criminal justice response to family violence. Operating since
2004 and positioned within the Department of Justice, the service is underpinned by the Family
Violence Act and involves an organisation of governmental and nongovernmental partners working
together to address the risk and safety needs of victims and children, and to hold perpetrators
accountable. It focuses on ensuring the safety of the victim under a perpetrator accountability driven
pro-intervention, arrest and prosecution policy, complemented by a human services approach to
support recovery and change.
The objectives of the Safe at Home service system are to:
improve the safety and security for adult and child victims of family violence in the short and
long term;
ensure that offenders are held accountable for family violence as a public crime and change
their offending behaviour;
reduce the incidence and severity of family violence in the longer term; and
minimise the negative impacts of contact with the criminal justice system on adult and child
victims.
Within government, the service is a collaboration between the Department of Justice, Department of
Police, Fire, and Emergency Management, Department of Health, Department of Education and
Department of Communities Tasmania. It includes the following outputs:
Community Corrections, Department of Justice;
Court Support and Liaison Service, Department of Justice;
Defendant Health Liaison Service, Tasmanian Health Service;
Family Violence Units, Department of Police, Fire and Emergency Management;
Family Violence Counselling and Support Service (Adult Program and Children and Young
Persons Program), Department of Communities Tasmania;
Legal Aid Commission of Tasmania – specialist family violence legal practitioners;
Safe at Home Coordination Unit, Department of Justice;
Specialist Police Prosecutors, Department of Police, Fire and Emergency Management; and
Special School Social Workers and Psychologists, Department of Education
The Department of Justice is the lead agency, and Tasmania Police is the gatekeeper to the integrated
response. It involves a range of services working together to protect and support victims of family
8 Tasmanian Government Submission Inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violence
violence, including young people and children, while making offenders responsible for their behaviour.
Victims, children and perpetrators enter the Safe at Home service system when a family violence or
family argument report is made to Tasmania Police. Safe at Home is built on the principle that the
safety of the victim is paramount.
Safe at Home represents a mature best practice program to address family violence, supported by a
dedicated legislative framework, a purpose-built case-coordination database, a robust governance
framework, extensive police powers to provide immediate safety, an evidence-based risk assessment
screening tool, detailed mapping of high risk offenders, and most importantly, a genuine long-term
commitment from all agencies involved to improve outcomes for families and children experiencing
family violence.
The program is underpinned by extensive, proactive sharing of information across government,
supported by legislation (section 37 of the Family Violence Act 2004), which ensures that relevant
information can be shared to support the safety, psychological wellbeing and interests of people
affected by family violence. 2004. Information sharing underpins the all-agency Integrated Case
Coordination (ICC) meetings that manage parties affected by family violence at a regional level.
ICC meetings are held on a weekly basis in each of Tasmania’s four regions (East, North, South, and
West) and are attended by all service providers in the Safe at Home service system, except Legal
Aid. The meetings are lengthy and require significant preparation by all ICC members in collecting
and sharing information so that risk and safety concerns of all reported family violence incidents and
family arguments can be managed appropriately.
The aim of the ICC approach is to contribute to the safety of adult and child victims of family
violence and mitigate against the risk that an offender will repeat or escalate their violence by
coordinating an integrated service response that is proactive, timely, holistic and effective. More
specifically, case coordination involves developing a series of agreed goals, interventions and
responsibilities that provide a cohesive and integrated approach to address identified risk and safety
needs.
To efficiently operationalise this information sharing framework across the Safe at Home service
system, the software-based Safe at Home Information Management System (SIMS) was developed,
which has greatly enhanced the performance of Safe at Home. SIMS became operational in 2012 and
incorporates business rules that reinforce the integrated response to family violence. The system
supports the nomination of case coordinators, transfer of workflow activities between government
agencies, produces notifications to review expiry of family violence orders, and provides a
transparent record of ICC decision making and accountability.
On the frontline, each of the three geographical police districts maintain specialist Family Violence
Units, focusing on victim safety, and who provide support in crisis situations and work to hold
perpetrators to account. Family Violence Units come under command of a Detective Inspector of
the Criminal Investigation Branch. All Tasmania Police receive family violence training to provide an
appropriate response and support to victims of family violence.
There have been four reviews of Safe at Home: the Urbis review of the Family Violence Act 2004
(2007); the Success Works review of the Safe at Home integrated response system (2008); an
Internal Performance Review (2014) and as part of the Family Violence Service System Review
(2019). These reviews positively found that:
Tasmanian Government Submission Inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violence 9
The safety of adult victims of family violence has improved as a result of new police powers and
changed practices;
Safe at Home had increased public awareness of family violence, improved legal recognition of
family violence as a crime, ensured that the victim is not the driver of the legal response, and
improved the police response to family violence;
Integrated Case Coordination was an effective mechanism to facilitate information sharing
between different agencies to manage risk and safety; and
The pro-arrest, pro-prosecution policy was seen as one of Safe at Home’s greatest strengths in
addressing family violence.
The Safe at Home Program was recognised for its response to family violence when awarded gold in
the community-led category of the 2019 Australian Crime and Violence Prevention Awards. The
Awards recognise best practice in the prevention or reduction of violence and other types of crime
in Australia and play a vital role in highlighting effective community-based initiatives to prevent crime
and violence, before it actually occurs.
In addition to service system coordination, Safe at Home also has oversight over the Keeping
Women Safe in their Homes (KWSITH) program and for providing Flexible Support Package funding
to victims of family violence.
KWSITH enhances Safe at Home’s capacity to support women experiencing family violence to
remain safely in their own homes, or a home of their choice, where it is safe to do so; deter
perpetrators from re-offending; and facilitate the collection of admissible evidence to improve justice
responses.
The KWSITH grant has been used to install a variety of security enhancements, including security
screen doors, solid core doors, security window screens, deadlocks, sensor lights, and security
cameras to collect admissible evidence. A percentage of funding through the Keeping Women Safe
in Their Homes funding is available to provide disability upgrades alongside other supports such as
case management, risk assessment and security upgrades. Disability modifications may related to the
needs of the woman, or any child in her care. Where there is a delay in access to NDIS funded
supports, and a disability modification is required in order to facilitate a move to a new property,
applications can include a request for such upgrades. These may include, but are not limited to:
Installation of ramps;
Widening of doorways;
Bathroom modifications; and
Bedroom modifications.
Finally, funding for the delivery of Flexible Support Packages has enabled Safe at Home to provide
immediate financial support to victims of family violence experiencing crisis as a result of COVID-19
isolation. In April 2020, through a Tasmanian Government family violence COVID-19 stimulus
package, the Safe at Home Coordination Unit launched the Flexible Support Packages in Tasmania.
These funding packages have supported victims to relocate from abusive households, both within
Tasmania and moving interstate, and achieve economic independence through the provision of
household items such as furniture and white goods, financial support for bond and initial rent
payments where they do not have access to other rental support programs, paying of debt incurred
due to being forced to purchase items for the perpetrator who then refuses to pay it off.
10 Tasmanian Government Submission Inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violence3. Safe at Home responses
For the purposes of responding to this Inquiry, and as a multiagency service system, relevant responses
to the terms of reference have been provided by each Safe at Home agency partner.
3.1. Department of Police, Fire and Emergency Management
Under the Family Violence Act 2004, Tasmania Police are authorised to intervene directly in family
violence incidents. Tasmania Police applies a pro-intervention policy in relation to family violence,
holding perpetrators of family violence to account for their actions. In appropriate cases, police may
also issue an immediate Police Family Violence Order, or make an application to a Court for a Family
Violence Order. Orders are made to increase the safety of victims.
The Department of Police, Fire and Emergency Management (DPFEM) supports the National
Domestic Violence Order Scheme (NDVOS) which was introduced on 25 November 2017. The
NDVOS enables:
Victims of domestic violence to be protected, no matter where the DVO was issued.
Police and the courts to better protect and empower victims of domestic violence.
Perpetrators of domestic violence to be held account for offences and breaches nationwide.
DVOs issued prior to 25 November 2017, to become nationally recognised by applying to any
court in Australia.
Although mindful of specific issues affecting diverse groups, Tasmania Police manages and investigates
incidents of family violence similarly. The focus of Tasmania Police is to protect and support the
victims, including children involved, while holding the perpetrator to account.
In 2016, under Safe Homes, Safe Families, Tasmania Police led an expansion in family violence
information sharing between Tasmanian Government agencies, developed under the multiagency Safe
Families Coordination Unit (SFCU).
The SFCU was created to achieve an integrated family violence intelligence resource to ensure
greater support to families affected by family violence. With no comparable Tasmanian model
previously available, South’s Australia Multi-Agency Protection Service (MAPS) response was used as
a template for the development of a Tasmanian multi-agency service. The SFCU model considerably
extended the scope and design of the MAPS process in a number of vital ways, which has contributed
significantly to the success of the program including:
Access to all relevant government information.
Professional analysis of collected data in a report form.
Professionally developed ‘Recommendations’ for each front-line government agency.
Creation and management of ‘High Risk’ offenders.
Creation of a formal notification system for all schools.
Creation of a review function for all family violence reporting.
Education function for all related government services.
The SFCU aims to provide the best available information about high-risk family violence parties. The
SFCU ensures that victims and children are supported as early as possible, and perpetrators of family
violence are held to account. Working together, staff from each agency are able to assess relevant
Tasmanian Government Submission Inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violence 11family violence related information from over 60 of the government agencies databases. This information is collated and used to inform and provide recommendations to the appropriate front line response dealing with each family violence matter. As part of overall SFCU cumulative risk assessment, the SFCU Department of Justice representative will access the information on the participation of perpetrators in programs to determine their level of engagement. The comprehensive mapping report containing detailed actions is disseminated to the partner agencies for completion/information. The information is transmitted and recorded in SIMS. The SFCU’s innovative model actively shares analysis to directly promote victim safety (including children) and hold perpetrators to account. The creation of a real-time priority perpetrator resource and management system and the formal notification system to schools further extends the utility of this analysis function. The pro-active approach identifies key service requirements and shares essential information to enable appropriate interventions and helping to close existing and predicted services gaps. Importantly, sharing this information ensures each agency is cognisant of current and predicted interventions from all services. Incorporating these elements has contributed to ensuring greater consistency in responses and reporting and continues to promote family violence issues more broadly. The collaborative approach of the SFCU in addressing the harm caused by family violence, was recognised in 2017 when presented with the Institute of Public Administration’s Best Practice in the Public Sector, Service Delivery Award. SFCU aims to provide the best available information about high-risk family violence parties. Each agency represented in the SFCU is able to assess relevant family violence related information from the government agency databases. This information is collated and used to inform and provide recommendations to the appropriate front-line response dealing with each family violence matter. To enhance decision-making through information captured by the SFCU, a data analyst has been embedded within the unit. The data analyst is responsible for the development and delivery of data driven recommendations and to identify trends. This analysis is conducted predominantly from the Family Violence Management System and is used in conjunction with DPFEM Corporate Reporting. The SFCU data analyst has conducted analysis of the incidence of family violence during and after natural disaster events to inform future planning. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, focussed attention has been placed on family violence incidence reporting to determine trends and issues early. The SFCU Data Analyst has compiled a weekly report to monitor trends of family violence, which is disseminated to all Safe at Home partner agencies to determine spikes or anomalies that will inform appropriate responses. Complementing this data analysis has been the adoption of novel technologies, notably the use of electronic monitoring of high-risk family violence perpetrators as a Family Violence Order condition (Action 28 of Same Homes, Families, Communities), and body worn police cameras. Electronic monitoring has been implemented as a joint project between Tasmania Police and the Department of Justice (Community Corrections). Section 16 of the Family Violence Act 2004 enables Tasmania Police to apply to the court for electronic monitoring as a Family Violence Order condition 12 Tasmanian Government Submission Inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violence
for a perpetrator. The program targets high-risk family violence perpetrators, and includes
monitoring of victims on an opt-in basis. Its key objectives include:
To increase the safety of family violence victims and their children.
To increase accountability of perpetrators and positively impact upon perpetrator behaviour.
To increase the conviction rate where family violence offences are disclosed.
To reduce the social and justice costs related to family violence.
A recent interim review of the program (December 2019) found that there had been a demonstrable
decrease in physical violence by monitored perpetrators, which was consistent with significantly
improved safety outcomes for potential victims; and indicated that the program was meeting its
objective of reducing incidences of family violence overall. A longitudinal study of the program, being
completed by the University of Tasmania, is scheduled for release in December 2020.
In May 2017, the Tasmanian Government announced the roll out of body worn cameras (BWC) to
frontline police officers. BWC is an additional tool to assist police officers to perform their duties
safely, to gather contemporaneous evidence and intelligence, and maintain a high level of
professionalism and accountability.
The use of modern BWC technology further enhances the police response to incidents of family
violence, particularly taking into account the Final Report of the Victorian Royal Commission into
Family Violence (the Report). The Report makes a number of recommendations including:
More mobile technology for police, including cameras worn by the police to support in
gathering evidence.
The Report found that the use of BWC technology can support reluctant family violence witnesses
through the Court process and may lead to the increase in victimless prosecutions using initial scene
footage, including victim statements.
3.2. Department of Communities
The Department of Communities Tasmania
3.2.1. Children, Youth and Families
The Family Safety Secretariat in the Department of Communities Tasmania plays a key role in
coordinating the Tasmanian Government’s policy response to family and sexual violence in Tasmania,
including coordinating delivery of Safe Homes, Families, Communities. The team works with
Tasmanian Government agencies, the Australian Government and community stakeholders.
Primary prevention and gender equality
Safe Homes, Families, Communities recognises that a comprehensive and holistic approach to family
and sexual violence must involve a continuum of interdependent and interlinked strategies, where
prevention efforts are integrated with early intervention and response initiatives.
Primary prevention complements work undertaken in the response system. It is designed to stop
violence before it starts by addressing its deep-seated drivers. Because primary prevention targets
whole of population, it inevitably reaches those who are already experiencing or perpetrating
violence (or who are at increased risk of doing so). As such, primary prevention also enhances early
intervention and response activity by helping reduce recurrent perpetration of violence (which is
Tasmanian Government Submission Inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violence 13driven in part by similar factors to initial perpetration) and shifting attitudes and practices in service
and justice systems that may inadvertently tolerate, justify or excuse family violence.
Through Safe Homes, Families, Communities, the Tasmanian Government recognises and supports
Our Watch and Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS), as
leading practitioners and research bodies in the prevention of violence against women and their
children, and to improve gender equality. ANROWS has played a key role in establishing an
evidence base to inform policy responses to violence against women in Australia. It remains a crucial
element in the national commitment to end violence against women, producing internationally
recognised research and leading the national research agenda.
As outlined above, Safe Homes, Families, Communities includes funding for primary prevention and
early intervention through:
Action 1 – Membership of Our Watch and Action 2 – Establish an Our Watch Primary
Prevention Officer in Tasmania;
Action 3 – Embed Respectful Relationships education in all Tasmanian Government schools
(delivered by the Department of Education);
Action 4 – Support the successful National Campaign Stop It At The Start and Action 5 –
Support implementation of the new National Sexual Violence Campaign;
Action 6 – Continue to ensure that gender equality and respect at centre of Tasmanian State
Service workplaces;
Action 7 – Develop of a family and sexual violence website;
Action 8 – Work with the eSafety Commissioner to deliver education and training in response
to technology-facilitated abuse;
Action 9 – Deliver a Problem Sexual Behaviours (PSB) and Sexually Abusive Behaviours (SAB)
program for children and young people;
Action 10 - Support Tasmanian Aboriginal communities to deliver targeted primary prevention
and early intervention programs and to improve service delivery for Aboriginal people
affected by family and sexual violence;
Action 11 – Trial the Step Up adolescent intervention program;
Action 12 – Strengthen the Defendant Health Liaison Service (DHLS) to provide early
intervention to offenders; and
Action 13 – Deliver the Men’s Referral Service.
Barriers to women leaving
In addition, the Tasmanian Women’s Strategy 2018-2021 provides a framework for Tasmanian
Government, the private sector, and the wider Tasmanian community to take significant action to
achieve gender equality in Tasmania. It identifies actions across four priority areas, which result in
barriers to women experiencing family or domestic violence from leaving an abusive partner:
1. Financial security.
2. Safety;
3. Leadership and participation; and
4. Health and wellbeing
Financial (in)security can be a barrier to women leaving abusive relationships, either through lack of
or limited independent income, perpetrators withholding money, and adopting hostile court
strategies (notably in the Family Court). In Tasmania, men take home on average $8,897 more per
14 Tasmanian Government Submission Inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violenceyear than women. A lack of superannuation and financial security during retirement is also a
significant issue facing older women which may deter them from leaving abusive relationships. Many
women earn less superannuation due to working part-time or casually, or not earning while on
parental leave.
Housing
Personal safety is a major cause of homelessness in Australia, with 42 per cent of clients accessing
Specialist Homelessness Services having experienced family violence. Nationally, over 50 per cent of
women who left a violent partner reported that they, not their partner, moved out of the home they
shared. Safe Homes, Families, Communities also includes actions that address the link between
family violence and homelessness, including:
Action 20 – Investing in crisis accommodation through the Affordable Housing Action Plan 2019-
2023 which includes:
o investing in new homeless accommodation for men with or without accompanying
children and homeless youth accommodation in the North West;
o expanding accommodation services to increase support for women to move out of
crisis and into stable accommodation and provide short term accommodation for
young people in the North; and
o co-investing in new homeless accommodation for older men, women with or
without accompanying children, and men in the South;
Action 21 – Deliver the Rapid Rehousing program for people experiencing family violence,
which provides supported housing options for families affected by family violence, allowing
them to access safe and affordable rental homes. Perpetrators can also access the program to
enable victim-survivors to remain in their own homes when it is safe to do so; and
Action 22 – Deliver the Keeping Women Safe In Their Homes program which provides access
to security upgrades for women and children experiencing family violence so that they can
remain safely in their own home or a home of their choice.
Notably, the introduction of Flexible Support Packages in 2020 through Tasmanian Government
funding in response to COVID-19, has enabled tailored responses to support victim-survivors leave
violent relationships. Flexible Support Packages are designed to contribute to a holistic response to
people experiencing family violence by providing practical supports to enhance safety and wellbeing
when leaving an abusive relationship.
Technology-facilitated abuse
Safe Homes, Families, Communities recognises the increasing use of technology to perpetrate abuse
and includes several actions in response:
Action 1 – Membership of Our Watch, which includes support and promotion of campaigns to
address/educate on different forms of violence.
Action 3 – Embed Respectful Relationships into Tasmanian Government schools.
Action 8 – Work with the eSafety Commissioner to deliver education and training in response
to technology-facilitated abuse.
Action 33 – Strengthen mechanisms for schools to respond to technology facilitated abuse
including image based abuse.
Nationally consistent data
Tasmanian Government Submission Inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violence 15The Tasmanian Government recognises that ANROWS has played a key role in establishing an
evidence base to inform policy responses to violence against women in Australia.
The National Outcome Standards for Perpetrator Interventions (NOSPI) is a set of
outcomes-focused standards designed to drive reform across the perpetrator system, improving the
way the system works together to ensure:
there is confidence that the system works, and that family, domestic and sexual violence is
being recorded and dealt with appropriately;
the system is accountable to the public; and
the system reduces violence by making sure that perpetrators are held to account and face
consequences for their violence, as well as providing services to work with them to change
attitudes and behaviours.
The complexity of data collection across jurisdictions with differing definitions, legal responses, and
data sources restricts annual data reporting information under NOSPI. For instance, its current
report does not make national comparisons or between jurisdictions. It does however, provide an
opportunity to compare individual jurisdictional data over time.
Perpetrator intervention programs
Research suggests that violence occurring in families may be a strong predictor of other violence,
with many adult perpetrators having experienced some form of familial violence. Violence young
offenders may come from homes where familial and family violence has occurred.
To address this, the Tasmanian Government is trialling ‘Step Up’ an early intervention program for
young people that aims to assist them to understand the consequences of violent behaviour;
strengthen family and intimate relationships; and provide referral pathways to other specialist
services (Action 11 - Safe Homes, Families, Communities). The program is delivered to streams for
young people aged between 12 and 17 years and also engages parents to support behaviour change in
young people.
The Tasmanian Government is also currently developing a therapeutic program to address harmful
sexualised behaviours in children and young people (Action 9 - Safe Homes, Families, Communities).
The program will provide services from early intervention through to tertiary interventions, including
working with those who are engaged with the criminal justice system and/or who display violent or
aggressive behaviours and who are often excluded from existing intervention programs.
The impact of natural disasters and stakeholders
The Department of Communities Tasmania is developing a resource on raising awareness between
the correlation between family violence and emergencies. This resource will be available online and
will be accessible to individuals with emergency management roles and those who play a part in the
response phase of an emergency.
The Department of Communities Tasmania works closely with government agencies and family and
sexual violence community sector organisations to ensure the views and experiences of frontline
services are captured. For example, a Family And Sexual Violence Sector Group was established and
has met on a fortnightly basis since March 2020 to provide a forum for issues relating to COVID-19
and its impacts on the sector.
16 Tasmanian Government Submission Inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violence3.2.2. Family Violence Counselling and Support Service
The Family Violence Counselling and Support Service (FVCSS) is a partner in the Tasmanian Safe at
Home initiative.
FVCSS works together with Tasmania Police, the Court Support and Liaison Service and other key
agencies to contribute to a violence free community.
The FVCSS provides the following services
• Information, counselling and support
• Information and support to family and friends
• Arranging assistance from the police.
• Assistance in organising a safe place to stay
• Assistance in accessing limited financial assistance
• Referrals to Legal Aid and/or Court Support
• Act as an advocate in accessing assistance, e.g. Housing Tasmania, Centrelink
• Liaison with Government and non-government sector on behalf of clients
• Participation in weekly case coordination with other Safe at Home providers.
• Therapeutic services, individually and in groups.
The Family Violence Counselling and Support Service is available to anyone who needs support or
information because their partner or ex-partner is or has been violent or abusive to them. People
can self-refer, or be referred by another person or service. Services are available to people in
heterosexual and same-sex relationships.
In Tasmania, family violence is seen as a form of child abuse under child protection legislation.
Children and young people are often affected by family violence. As well as providing the above
services through their Adult Program, FVCSS deliver the Children and Young Persons Program
(CHYPP) where they help children and young people express and resolve their feelings about family
violence under a therapeutic model that includes:
• Play
• Writing activities
• Games
• Art and drawing
• Books
• Sand Play
• Group work
3.2.3. Housing
The Family Violence Act 2004 introduced the legislative framework for addressing family violence in
Tasmania and was instrumental in improving service delivery and service coordination. It also
provided an improved ability for police to enter a property and to arrest without warrant a person
suspected of committing family violence and to issues orders for offenders to vacate and/or not
Tasmanian Government Submission Inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violence 17return to a premise. Importantly, it improved the ability to act in the best interest of safety and
wellbeing of affected person or child.
As noted above, the Safe Homes, Safe Families introduced the Rapid Rehousing program. This was
designed on the successful Rapid Rehousing program from New South Wales as a model for
implementation. Family Violence Rapid Rehousing enables vulnerable households experiencing family
violence to quickly access a safe and affordable private rental home. It provides transitional
accommodation for 12 months with subsidised rent. The program is available for both victims and
perpetrators of family violence. This is consistent with the intent of the Family Violence Act 2004 that
includes the ability to remove perpetrators from the home and to implement an Order to not return
to the premise. It ensures that the affected victim and/or family is able to stay in their own home
when it is safe to do so.
The Family Violence Rapid Rehousing program was initially introduced to provide 50 rental
properties to enable families to move into secure, supported accommodation. Under Safe Homes,
Families, Communities, the Rapid Rehousing program was expanded and around 250 households
have been assisted at the end of June 2020.
Recent research by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI)1 considered the
Rapid Rehousing program in Tasmania and found that this type of model is good practice in terms of
alleviating pressure on the social housing system and providing access to housing to vulnerable
women that they otherwise would not have had. Such initiatives provide a pathway into the private
rental market. The success of the Rapid Rehousing program in Tasmania has resulted in the program
being extended to other vulnerable cohorts including ex-prisoners and clients exiting Mental Health
Services inpatient units.
The Rapid Rehousing model operates very effectively based on the coordination and positive
relationships between the organisations involved.
AHURI research identified that good housing outcomes for people experiencing family violence are
associated with connected and collaborative approaches, consistency of practice and capacity building
with non-specialist agencies. The effectiveness of a well-coordinated services system is underpinned
by good relationships. They also found that a positive relationship with a support worker is
conducive to good outcomes for clients.
The Rapid Rehousing program in Tasmania demonstrates collaborative relationships across
government and non-government organisations. This includes the Department of Communities,
private landlords, community housing providers and Housing Connect. Properties are leased by the
private rental market from community housing providers who manage the residential tenancy
agreement with tenants. Housing Connect identify suitable applicants that are matched to
appropriate properties in liaison with the community housing provider. There is a Family Violence
Worker in each region located within Housing Connect Front Door services who provide intake and
assessment services and assess suitable applicants.
1 Flanagan, K, Blunden, H, valentine, k, and Henriette, J. Housing outcomes after domestic and family violence. From the AHURI Inquiry, Integrated
housing support for vulnerable families. For the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute. April 2019.
18 Tasmanian Government Submission Inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violenceAccess to safe, appropriate and affordable housing is a key element in ensuring good outcomes for
people experiencing family violence. In Tasmania, the Housing Assessment Prioritisation System
(HAPS) is used to assess housing need and it ensures that people escaping from family violence are
given priority under this model. Households escaping from family violence with an existing housing
application are assessed as Priority Applicants under HAPS. Perpetrators with an existing housing
application may or may not have priority status.
Participation in the Family Violence Rapid Rehousing initiative will not affect the social housing
application status of applicants experiencing family violence. Tenants exiting out of the Family
Violence Rapid Rehousing can have a priority exiting status under the HAPS if applying for social
housing and will be eligible to apply for Private Rental Assistance.
Discretion may also be applied to applicants experiencing family violence who may not meet social
housing eligibility requirements (such as income and asset limits). Additionally, the circumstances of
the applicant may be reviewed if there are previous debts associated with arrears or damage of
properties that were family violence related.
The Housing Assessment Prioritisation System (HAPS) considers safety issues broadly as sexual
abuse, domestic and family violence, non-family violence and children exposed to abuse or neglect.
Applicants are assessed as Priority Applicants if they have one of these safety issues.
Tasmania participates in the national Specialist Homelessness Services data collection. Data is
collected through the information system and data items recorded in the Specialist Homelessness
Information Platform (SHIP). This includes data collection for people who are assisted with main and
all reasons for assistance that identify domestic and family violence. The data collection also
identifies if assistance is provided, not provided or referred and related to domestic and family
violence. This is a nationally consistent data collection that is overseen by the Australian Institute of
Health and Welfare. This ensures there is data available to identify trend analysis of family violence
and homelessness, and to implement any policies or services to respond to trends if required.
In Tasmania, there is a separate component of SHIP-TAS that has been designed with the information
system developers (InfoXchange). This records data for Housing Register applicants and identifies if
applicants have experienced family violence. Data is integrated with the Housing Management System
(HMS) that manages application, tenancy and property information for social housing. This enables
applicants to be matched with appropriate properties that meet their needs. Housing and
homelessness services in Tasmania are available to women and families of various backgrounds
experiencing family violence as required.
The Specialist Homelessness Service data collection records data on Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander women, country of birth and people living with disability. Data is available to identify trend
analysis of family violence and homelessness, and to implement any policies or services to respond to
trends if required.
According to most recent Specialist Homelessness Services data (to end March 2020), there was a
slightly higher number of support periods related to family violence between July 2019 to March
2020 (1,272), when compared to the same period from July 2018 to March 2019 (1,233). In March
2020, the Specialist Homelessness Service data collection also commenced recording data on
COVID-19 as a reason for seeking assistance. However, this data is preliminary and has not been
approved for release by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) due to potential
issues with comparability across jurisdictions.
Tasmanian Government Submission Inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violence 19From March to June 2020 the number of applicants on the Housing Register who have applied for
social housing has significantly decreased from 3 578 to 3 373 applicants. This may be associated with
a greater number of properties becoming available in the private rental market with short term
accommodation reverting to long term accommodation. It also could be associated with fewer
people submitting housing applications during isolation periods.
Anecdotally, homelessness services have reported a higher incidence of family violence experienced
by clients since the commencement of the COVID-19 pandemic.
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic services reported having less clients present than usual,
however it appears that this was because women may have had difficulty accessing support services
and seeking help when isolating at home.
Housing Connect services reported in May 2020 that the number of women and children accessing
services who were escaping violence was increasing. The Tasmanian Government has increased
capacity of existing shelters, and also made additional brokerage funding available for emergency
accommodation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Housing Connect services reported that this
increase in resources was having a positive impact on the ability to assist clients.
3.3. Department of Justice
As outlined above, the Department of Justice is lead coordinator of the Safe at Home service system,
underpinned by the Family Violence Act 2004. Outputs within the Department that contribute to Safe
at Home include Community Corrections, the Legal Aid Commission of Tasmania, the Office of the
Director of Public Prosecutions, Office of Strategic Legislation and Policy, the Court Support and
Liaison Service, the Magistrates Courts, Victim Support Services, Family Violence Counselling and
Support Service, and Safe at Home Prosecutors.
In response to COVID-19, $1.9 million was allocated to Safe at Home, to support improved
efficiency of the service system. Between 27 April and 30 June 2020, the Safe at Home Coordination
Unit administered flexible support package funding to 41 victim-survivors of family violence. These
packages provided assistance for a wide range of needs, including assisting four victim-survivors to
relocate interstate, assisting 23 victim-survivors with purchasing furniture and whitegoods for new
homes after they had fled or were planning to flee an abusive relationship, assisting ten victim-
survivors to relocate within Tasmania through the provision of funding for removalist costs, bond
deposits and/or upfront rent payments and supporting five victim-survivors to achieve financial
independence through the provision of funding to pay outstanding debts incurred as a result of living
in an abusive relationship.
3.3.1. Community Corrections
Introduced in Tasmania through the Safe at Home Program, the Family Violence Offender
Intervention Program (FVOIP) is delivered by the Department of Justice, Community Corrections
since 2007. FVOIP is a court mandated program. It uses motivational interviewing techniques and
cognitive behavioural principles to assist offenders take responsibility for their offending, as well as
supporting offenders to develop skills for challenging distorted cognitions, emotion regulation and
interpersonal skills. The aim is to reduce the risk of re-offending through behavioural and attitudinal
change. An offender is eligible for referral to the program if assessed as high risk of re-offending as
20 Tasmanian Government Submission Inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violencemeasured by the Spousal Assault Risk Assessment (SARA). Subsequently all offenders referred are
subject to a Community Corrections Order and are supervised by a Probation Officer for the
entirety of their time on the program.Family Violence Offender Intervention Program (FVOIP) has
undergone two evaluations, 2014 and 2017. The 2014 evaluation found the following;
Family violence offenders, who completed FVOIP, self-reported a significant reduction in the
use of physical and psychological abuse toward their victim following completion of FVOIP;
Following completion of FVOIP, offenders demonstrated a tendency to blame their victims less
and took greater responsibility and acknowledgement for their offences than they had on initial
presentation to Community Corrections;
Probation Officers who worked directly with family violence offenders reported that offenders
presented with a greater acknowledgement of their history of offending; took greater
responsibility; engaged in less victim blaming; and reduced their substance use after program
completion.
This research project focused on the individual changes offenders made in response to FVOIP;
however it did not look at whether these changes reduced an offender’s risk of re-offending.
In 2017, through National Outcome Standards for Perpetrator Interventions (NOSPI) funding a
review of the Family Violence Offender Intervention Program (FVOIP) was undertaken by the
Tasmanian Institute of Law Enforcement Studies and School of Psychology, UTAS. Findings of the
review were delivered in 2018. Results of the study indicate that completion of the program as
delivered resulted in “significantly lower levels of family violence reoffending” and “fewer types of
family violence behaviours being perpetrated” by participants when compared to a similar sample of
offenders who had not undertaken this intervention.
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Community Corrections had to transition to support
remote supervision practices, including the use of videoconferencing. This ensured that case
management and interventions could continue while reducing the risk of COVID-19 transmission.
Community Corrections has returned to face-to-face contact and program delivery, but will
incorporate remote practice in its suite of interventions as appropriate.
Under a Service Level Agreement between the Department of Police, Fire and Emergency
Management and Community Corrections, the Monitoring and Compliance Unit (MCU) provides 24-
hour, seven-day-a-week monitoring of family violence perpetrators subject to family violence orders
with electronic monitoring conditions, and victims who have volunteered to carry an electronic
monitoring device. An alert is raised in the MCU when a perpetrator is in close proximity to a
prohibited geographical area, or has breached a condition of their FVO. The MCU commenced its
family violence monitoring services on 1 April 2019.
3.3.2. Strategic Legislation and Policy
The Tasmanian Government has been responsive to emerging evidence around forms of family
violence since introducing Safe Homes, Safe Families. ‘Strengthening our legal responses’ is a key
priority under Safe Homes, Families, Communities, and follows a significant reform agenda since the
introduction of our first family violence action plan in 2015.
Under Safe Homes, Families Communities, Action 25: Introduce mandated behaviour change
program participation as part of a Family Violence Order is due for introduction in early 2021, along
Tasmanian Government Submission Inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violence 21You can also read
