Consult with and community stakeholders Department of Justice 6, 7 118, 120 through the release of public consultation papers and Attorney-General to identify: how to reinforce the nature and seriousness of criminal offences involving domestic and family violence and ensure perpetrators are held to account ways to improve the legal system’s response to non-lethal strangulation. Make amendments to ensure that patterns of Department of Justice 6, 7 119 domestic and family violence are reflected in a and Attorney-General perpetrator’s criminal history. Expand the domestic violence duty lawyer service Department of Justice 7 126, 127, 128 to a total of 14 locations across the state through and Attorney-General Legal Aid Queensland. Work with Legal Aid Queensland to develop position descriptions and guidelines which are of a high quality, underpinned by an appropriate knowledge and skills base and ensure that appropriate referrals are made to other legal and support services. Consult with and community stakeholders on Department of Justice 7 130 a model for a sexual assault counselling privilege and Attorney-General to apply to criminal proceedings and limited civil proceedings on the same facts. Review the current of investigative Queensland Police 5, 6, 7 131 methodologies, evidence gathering techniques, Service and prosecution practice to ensure offenders are held more accountable for their actions. Amend the Evidence Act 1977 to ensure that Department of Justice 7 133 victims of domestic violence automatically have and Attorney-General status as a witness’ in criminal ‘special proceedings, allowing the court to make a range of orders and directions to support them in giving evidence. Consider whether there should be a process to allow the use of video-recorded police interviews as the evidence of domestic violence victims in criminal matters. Revise operational policy and guidelines to ensure Queensland Police 5, 6, 7 134 decisions prioritise the safety of the victim and, Service sufficient evidence is available, perpetrators of domestic and family violence are arrested, brought before a court, and prosecuted to the extent of the law. Undertake a thorough, evidence-based Queensland Police 5, 6, 7 135 assessment of current and future demand to Service inform staffing and resource distribution for the District Domestic and Family Violence Coordinator Network.
Consult with and community stakeholders through the release of public consultation papers to identify: how to reinforce the nature and seriousness of criminal offences involving domestic and family violence and ensure perpetrators are held to account ways to improve the legal system’s response to non-lethal strangulation. Department of Justice and Attorney-General 6, 7 118, 120 Make amendments to ensure that patterns of domestic and family violence are reflected in a perpetrator’s criminal history. Department of Justice and Attorney-General 6, 7 119 Expand the domestic violence duty lawyer service to a total of 14 locations across the state through Legal Aid Queensland. Work with Legal Aid Queensland to develop position descriptions and guidelines which are of a high quality, underpinned by an appropriate knowledge and skills base and ensure that appropriate referrals are made to other legal and support services. Department of Justice and Attorney-General 7 126, 127, 128 Consult with and community stakeholders on a model for a sexual assault counselling privilege to apply to criminal proceedings and limited civil proceedings on the same facts. Department of Justice and Attorney-General 7 130 Review the current of investigative methodologies, evidence gathering techniques, and prosecution practice to ensure offenders are held more accountable for their actions. Queensland Police Service 5, 6, 7 131 Amend the Evidence Act 1977 to ensure that victims of domestic violence automatically have status as a ‘special witness’ in criminal proceedings, allowing the court to make a range of orders and directions to support them in giving evidence. Consider whether there should be a process to allow the use of video-recorded police interviews as the evidence of domestic violence victims in criminal matters. Department of Justice and Attorney-General 7 133 Revise operational policy and guidelines to ensure decisions prioritise the safety of the victim and, sufficient evidence is available, perpetrators of domestic and family violence are arrested, brought before a court, and prosecuted to the extent of the law. Queensland Police Service 5, 6, 7 134 Undertake a thorough, evidence-based assessment of current and future demand to inform staffing and resource distribution for the District Domestic and Family Violence Coordinator Network. Queensland Police Service 5, 6, 7 135
dfv-first-action-plan.docx