Opposition unveils Tara’s Law

NATALIE Hinton says the future for her daughter Tara Brown would have been much different under the LNP’s proposed domestic violence laws.

LNP MP Ros Bates sought advice from Ms Hinton before drafting the Opposition’s DV policy for the State election.

The reforms drill down on the key failures in the system which resulted in Ms Brown (above), a 24-year-old Southport office worker, turned away from police and unable to get proper support from agencies just days before her death.

The LNP’s five-point plan will enable police to charge perpetrators on the spot, give families access through police to a register on past offenders and provide a one-stop shop for support services.

“If this was in play before Tara, I would certainly have had access. I’d feel at ease that any other parent could get access to it as well,” Ms Hinton told the Bulletin.

Ms Bates yesterday announced a Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme which would be called Tara’s Law, honouring the legacy of young Gold Coast mother bashed to death by her estranged partner Lionel Patea in 2015.

Ms Bates said the LNP in government would introduce a trial pro-disclosure scheme in line with Clare’s Law which had worked successfully in the UK.

She said the legislation needed changing because Queensland did not have a specific domestic violence offence where they could charge an offender.