Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme: The Right to Know or an Unjustified Intrusion on Privacy?
New South Wales residents may soon be able to call a hotline or access an online portal to check whether the person they claim to be their partner has a history of domestic violence. The proposal builds on a pilot...
What Amounts to Self-Defence in New South Wales?
Self-defence is a ‘complete defence’ to a criminal charge, which means you are entitled to a verdict of not guilty if it applies in your case. Where is the defence contained in the law? The defence is contained in section 418...
The Evolution of Responses to Domestic Violence in Modern Society
The term domestic violence commonly refers to abuse by one spouse, or de-facto or intimate partner, against another, but also encompasses such conduct against a person’s child, parent, grandparent or sibling. Historically, such violence has been characterised by verbal, physical...
Domestic Violence Group Warns Proposed Coercive Control Laws Could Escalate Abuse
Domestic violence organisations have been advocating for the criminalisation of coercive control, a series of behaviours that usually sees males acting emotionally abusive towards female partners, and often it occurs in an escalating manner prior to intimate partner homicides. The...
Domestic Violence Groups Call for Greater Community Consultation for Coercive Control Laws
Midnight on Wednesday saw the “short six-week consultation period” close on submissions to the NSW government’s coercive control legislation, and an impressive list of domestic and family violence advocates are calling for an extension, as, currently, the draft is potentially harmful....
Tennis Star Accused of Domestic Violence
Australian Tennis player Nick Kyrgios has been accused of domestic violence by his former girlfriend. Mr Kyrgios is due to appear in court in the ACT Magistrates’ Court next month, facing charges of assault that relate to an alleged incident...
Has the Depp v Heard Trial Damaged the #MeToo Movement?
The high-profile defamation trial between Johnny Depp and his former wife Amber Heard saw the dirty laundry of each party aired to the world - the former’s alleged drug and alcohol abuse, disturbing text messages and destruction of property, and...
COVID Restrictions Have Eased, But the Impact on Mental Health Continues
Now that the Covid -19 pandemic has settled, and while life might ‘appear’ to be returning to some sort of normality, it is far from ‘normal’ for hundreds of thousands of people across Australia - including those who remain homeless,...
New NSW Police Commissioner: All Talk, No Action
There is mounting pressure on newly appointed NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb to make good on her promises to reform the culture of unaccountability and lack of transparency within the force, including changes to support victims of domestic violence offences....
NSW Police Needs Greater Transparency Around Domestic Violence, Says DVNSW’s Renata Field
Currently, there are at least six senior police officers, who’ve recently been found guilty of serious domestic violence offences, yet they’re continuing to serve on the NSW Police Force. Indeed, over 2018-21, 56 officers were charged with domestic violence offences and...
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