Breaches of domestic violence orders rise

THE number of people breaching domestic violence orders rose by nearly 5 per cent in Townsville last year, according to Queensland Police data.

There were 2724 breaches of domestic violence orders in 2017 and 2852 in 2018.

Townsville police domestic violence co-ordinator Sergeant Elise Feltham said it was hard to conclusively pin down the reason for the increase, but hoped greater confidence in reporting breaches was a factor.

She said a single domestic violence-related call-out could take up between 45 minutes and eight hours of police time.

Townsville does not have a State Government-funded high risk team for domestic violence matters but does have the locally created Domestic Violence Integrated Response Group.

It is an information-sharing body comprising police, corrections staff and representatives from government departments and support services.

Opposition domestic and family violence spokesman Stephen Bennett said the rise in breach offences was a disturbing trend that urgently needed attention.