Legal eye focus on DVO

Specialist family violence court a step closer

CAIRNS comes in roughly at third or fourth in Queensland for non-lethal strangulations, and around sixth in the state for domestic violence offences, it has been revealed.

That’s according to Sandra Keogh, CEO at the Cairns Domestic Violence Service, which offers crisis support, court support and continuing support to victims of domestic violence.

The figures are high enough that early in 2022 the Queensland Attorney-General for Queensland, Shannon Fentiman, announced that a specialist domestic and family violence court would be established in Cairns to help vulnerable residents navigate the criminal justice system.

It follows the establishment of other similar courts around the state.

“We’d certainly welcome the specialist court coming to Cairns,” Ms Keogh said.

“Evaluation from other courts is it’s a real positive for the aggrieved, but also for the respondents as they have a better understanding of the process.

“The Southport Court was one of the first specialist courts and the evaluation for that has been quite positive.”

When the specialist court was announced this year, Member for Barron River Craig Crawford said funding had also been committed to upgrade the Cairns Courthouse to improve victim safety and ensure facilities were modern and functional.

“With one of the busiest magistrates courts in Queensland, which deals with a high volume of DFV matters, Cairns will benefit from this specialist court,” Mr Crawford said.

“In 2020-21, the court dealt with more than 1200 applications for domestic violence orders and more than 1400 charges of contravening a domestic violence order.”

Domestic and family violence courts were trialled in Queensland in 2015 and operate now in Southport, Beenleigh, Townsville, Mount Isa and Palm Island.

“Specialist courts are shown to be effective in prioritising the safety of victims, holding perpetrators accountable and working to promote changes in attitudes and behaviour,” Member for Cairns Michael Healy said.

The design and operation of the Cairns Specialist Domestic and Family Violence Court will be informed by the operations of those existing courts, particularly Queensland’s first permanent specialist domestic and family violence court at Southport.

Ms Keogh said one in three or one in four women experience domestic violence in their lifetime.

“Family violence is everywhere,” she said.

“Often we’d like to think it doesn’t exist, but it’s actually everywhere.

“It’s not necessarily particular to Cairns, statistics can be viewed in different ways.

“It can be seen as a good thing that people are seeking safety, people are going to court to say it’s not OK to continue with this behaviour.