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FACT SHEET
Family Violence Amendment Bill 2015
The Family Violence Amendment Bill 2015 makes a number of amendments to the Family
Violence Act 2004 and consequential amendments to the Justices Act 1959.
The amendments proposed in this Bill are designed to improve and enhance the operation of
the Family Violence Act 2004.
The Bill:
amends the definition of family violence to include ‘property damage’ as a type of family
violence in section 7;
inserts new section 9A to provide that the limitation period for commencement of
proceedings for an offence under sections 8 (Economic abuse) or 9 (Emotional abuse
or intimidation) is 12 months;
amends section 10 to provide a police officer with the power to detain a person for the
purposes of conducting a search under section 10(3) and to authorise a person to assist
a police officer to exercise his or her powers under section 10 of the Family Violence Act
2004. Failure to comply with a direction given by a police officer under new subsection
(2)(ab) carries a maximum fine of 80 penalty units;
removes reference to safety audit results in paragraph (c) from section 12(2);
amends sections 14 and 23 to clarify that a court can make an interim family violence
order where an application to vary, extend or revoke a police family violence order has
been made;
inserts a new section 25A to provide that if an application for a family violence order is
adjourned a court may choose to:
o remand the respondent in custody and issue a warrant; or
o admit the respondent to bail; or
o issue a summons to the respondent ordering the respondent to appear before a
court at a time and place to which the proceedings are adjourned.
When making a decision under the new section 25A(1) the court must consider the
safety and interests of the respondent’s spouse or partner, and any affected child, to be
of paramount importance.
Where a court remands a respondent in custody under new section 25A(1)(a), the
court is to:
o specify in the warrant:
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- that the respondent is to be in custody for a period not exceeding 28
days at any one time; and
- the date the respondent is to be brought before the court; and
o inform the respondent of the matters specified in the warrant.
The period a respondent to an application for a family violence order may be admitted
to bail in accordance with new section 25A(1)(b) must not exceed 60 days.
amends sections 26 and 27 to remove references to “Chief”;
amends section 32 to provide that it is an offence to publish any material that is
forbidden to be published under section 32(1) and that it is an offence to publish any
material that relates to proceedings under the Family Violence Act 2004 which may
disclose the identity of an affected child. The penalty for breaching subsections (2) or
(3) is a fine not exceeding 50 penalty units or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3
months;
amends the Justices Act 1959 by inserting a new section 106BA to provides that justices
may make a family violence order pursuant to section 15 of the Family Violence Act
2004 where an application for a restraint order has been made if the justices consider
that the application should have been an application for a family violence order.
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