Reforms to target those accused of serious DV offences

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The New South Wales government is introducing sweeping changes to make it harder for people accused of serious domestic violence offences to get bail.

Transcript

00:00 These changes are designed to better protect the victims of domestic violence and address

00:06 the problem of people who have been accused of serious domestic violence offences then

00:10 committing new crimes while out on bail.

00:13 What it will mean is that soon people charged with the most serious domestic violence offences

00:18 including things like sexual assault, some forms of strangulation, kidnapping as well

00:24 as coercive control will soon have to show cause as to why they should not be kept in

00:29 custody on remand as opposed to the onus being on the prosecution to prove why they should

00:35 be.

00:36 Now currently that high threshold is only reserved for the most serious of crimes so

00:40 things like murder, child sexual assault but soon after this legislation is passed through

00:46 the NSW Parliament those people charged with the most serious domestic violence offences

00:50 will also be added to that list.

00:52 Now for those who are granted bail they will be subject to electronic monitoring although

00:57 at this stage the Premier Chris Minn says exactly how that will work, whether or not

01:01 victims will be alerted if somebody breaks the conditions of their bail is yet to be

01:07 worked out and he says that will take some time to work through those details.

01:11 The system doesn't currently work in any jurisdiction other than in a trial phase and as a result

01:18 in Australia's largest jurisdiction we have to stand it up.

01:21 It also needs to be remembered however that the vast majority of the proposed legislative

01:26 changes that we are introducing will be switched on as soon as the legislation passes so the

01:32 reversal of the presumption for bail for serious domestic violence offences will be switched

01:37 on as soon as the legislation passes.

01:42 Now as well as those changes there are also other changes that apply more broadly to domestic

01:46 violence offences.

01:48 For example registrars will no longer be able to make bail decisions for people charged

01:52 with domestic violence offences including on weekends.

01:55 Those decisions will have to be made by a magistrate and magistrates will also have

01:59 to consider red flag behaviour so things like stalking or animal cruelty in their decisions

02:05 as well as taking into consideration their views and thoughts of victims and their families

02:09 Ros.

02:10 And Sarah these changes come after a string of high profile domestic violence cases including

02:15 the death of Forbes woman Molly Tyser last month.

02:18 What's been the reaction to the government's announcement?

02:22 Well the Attorney General Michael Daley says he had a phone call with Molly Tyser's father

02:27 yesterday and that it was a very sad but respectful conversation where her father welcomed these

02:33 changes and was grateful that they were being introduced.

02:36 It was Molly Tyser's death which has really set in motion this series of reforms but there

02:41 of course has been a real spotlight on the domestic violence incidents since that death

02:45 as well so the public outcry over this issue has been mounting.

02:49 Now in response to the announcements today domestic violence advocates have broadly welcomed

02:54 them.

02:55 They have expressed some concern about how they'll operate in practice particularly the

03:00 issues of ankle monitoring.

03:01 They say that really that should not be seen as a substitute for keeping people in custody

03:06 on remand.

03:07 However they're also saying that bail laws and bail reforms are good but there needs

03:12 to be broader changes, more funding and that simply changing the bail laws is not going

03:16 to be the silver bullet for this problem.

03:19 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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