On Monday 19 November 2018 the Victorian Family Law PathwaysNetwork held a forum on the recent changes made within the Victoria Police inresponse to the ongoing issue of Family Violence in Victoria.

In the year ending June 2018, a total of 76,124 family violenceincidents were reported by Victoria Police, of these the majority were for breachesof previous orders followed by assault and related offences.

In the last 12 months, approximately 75% of the 76,124 reportedaffected family members were female, 71.5% of whom were aged between 20-49years old.

The Royal Commission into Family Violence in 2016 made variousrecommendations as to actions the be taken by Victoria Police to aid in thefight against Family Violence, including:

1. Support and Safety Hubs in local communitiesthroughout Victoria, to make it easier for victims to find help and gain accessto a greater range of services;
2. An immediate funding boost to services thatsupport victims and families; and
3. An expanded investigative capacity for policeand mobile technology for front-line police.

Many of these recommendations have been implemented and werediscussed at the forum.

The Victoria Police Family Violence Unit investigates seriousoffences in which family violence is identified to be the determining factor.There are currently 21 Family Violence Units across the state, with one‘Command Centre’ which manages larger cases.

The Family Violence Unit has a focus on “high risk” or “priorityincidents”. These are incidents in which there may be high levels ofaggression, or escalating or erratic behaviour.

In addition to the creation of the Family Violence Unit, therecommendations of the Commission has seen the introduction of the SafetyNotice. A Safety Notice is similar to a court awarded Intervention Order,however is issued on the spot by Police Officers. Safety Notices are interim innature, listing a court date on which the person in question is required toappear. Safety Notices work to prevent the respondent from using familyviolence, and may include similar conditions to an Intervention Order. A SafetyNotice continues until a Magistrate makes a decision as to whether an IntentionOrder is necessary.

A central discussion at the forum was in regards to RiskAssessment, and the factors used by Police Officers whilst on the scene of afamily violence incident in determining what steps are to be taken movingforward.

Responding Police Officers conducting a risk assessment on sceneare looking to identify the following factors:

1. Assault; including threats, weapons, strangulation and sexual assault;
2. The frequency of family violence incidents; officers particularly look at whether the frequency of the incidents are escalating;
3. Whether there is an Intervention Order in place, and whether the Intervention Order in question is sufficient;
4. Contributing factors, including:
   1. Financial difficulties
   2. Drugs, alcohol or prescription medications
   3. Unemployment
   4. Pregnancy or new birth

A primary development has been the reclassification of childrenpresent at the incident. Previously, children were only considered to be‘present’ if they were physically involved in a family violence event. It isnow understood that a child is ‘present’ for family violence if they experiencethe preceding events, or the aftermath of the incident itself.

When considering whether to involve the Department of Health andHuman Services, the Family Violence Unit considers the risk to the child.Often, this does not only involve the family violence incident itself, but caninclude the consideration of external factors such as the child’s clothing, theenvironment the child is living in, and previous reports.

The modification and review of risk assessment factors and the development of the Family Violence Unit is aimed at reducing the instances of family violence incidents through the reduction of breaches of previous orders, which, as noted, continues to be the most commonly reported event.

By Charlotte Wyles, Law Graduate