Safety over privacy

From: The Age, Melbourne

IT IS clear that further reform is required as the scourge of domestic violence continues to affect the lives of countless Australians. Victoria Police says it has started an assessment of how to implement reviews of family violence-related homicides, but we need to be proactive about urgent reform for the future. A domestic violence disclosure scheme is being trialled in NSW, and a similar pilot is due to start in South Australia in October.

The schemes are based on Clare’s Law, which was introduced in England and Wales in 2014 after the murder of British woman Clare Wood, who was unaware of her partner’s violent criminal past. Scotland and New Zealand followed suit the following year. The scheme has been considered successful. So, should all Australians who fear they might be at risk of family violence have the right to confidentially access their partner’s criminal record? Public policy, after all, frequently involves balancing individuals’ liberty and the public interest.

In this case, it is reasonable to hold that safety should trump privacy. There is a profound and pressing need to stop the carnage associated with the fact that violence by a partner or former partner is the leading preventable contributor to death, disability and illness for women aged 15 to 45 in our nation. In recent years, one woman a week has been killed by her current or former partner. One in four Australian women has experienced physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner.

This is nothing short of a national catastrophe. Ultimately, the solution must involve the perpetrators changing their brutish, criminal behaviour. But all of us need to be aware of the staggering scope of the problem and show zero tolerance by carefully reporting any instances of which we are aware. If you see it, call it out.

Mute bystanders add to the problem.