Category Archives: Domestic violence

Scale of sexual violence online ‘difficult to comprehend’, minister says ahead of Australian roundtable

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Michelle Rowland, state and territory ministers and representatives of dating apps to discuss ‘unacceptable levels of abuse and harassment’

The scale of sexual violence linked to online dating is “difficult to comprehend”, the communications minister has said, with representatives of Tinder, Bumble and Grindr due to join a national roundtable in Sydney on Wednesday.

“People who cause harm in the digital world must be held accountable as they would for their actions offline,” Michelle Rowland said.

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NSW hotline for women to ask about partners’ past convictions could give false sense of security, critics warn

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No new evidence scheme enhances victim-survivor safety and that resources wouldn’t be better spent elsewhere, experts say

Women at risk of domestic violence could be lulled into a false sense of security by a reheated New South Wales government scheme that would allow people to look up their partner’s offending history, a leading expert has said.

The premier, Dominic Perrottet, said on Monday the Right to Ask scheme would keep women safer by allowing police to release information to them about their partner’s domestic violence convictions, over the phone or through an online portal.

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Women in NSW could check partners’ past domestic violence convictions under Coalition plan

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Premier says proposed Right to Ask scheme ‘all about ensuring that women across NSW are safe’

Residents of NSW would be able to find out if their partner has a history of domestic violence by checking with police, under a scheme proposed by the Coalition.

The NSW government revealed on Monday it would allow people in a relationship to access the domestic violence offending history of their partner if it wins the March state election.

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‘Horrific’: decade-high number of women killed in December demands ‘serious investment’ in prevention

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Experts say ‘year after year we see abuse ramp up in December’ and it’s up to men to stop gendered violence

A sharp rise in the number of women allegedly killed by men has prompted calls for greater investment in family and domestic violence prevention ahead of the dangerous Christmas period.

At least 10 women have been killed this month in Australia, more than three times the average rate of one woman per week.

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Safety fears force Ngozi Fulani’s charity to pause work after palace racism incident

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Sistah Space says many domestic abuse services temporarily halted after founder spoke of encounter with Susan Hussey

A charity led by a black domestic abuse campaigner who was asked where she “really came from” by the late queen’s senior lady-in-waiting has had to pause its operations because of safety fears.

Sistah Space said it was “forced to temporarily cease” working after its founder, Ngozi Fulani, spoke out about her treatment by Susan Hussey at a reception at Buckingham Palace. The charity supports women of African and Caribbean heritage who have been affected by domestic and sexual abuse.

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Home Office adviser Nimco Ali appears to quit by criticising Suella Braverman

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Adviser on violence against women says on live radio she is on a ‘completely different planet’ to home secretary

A government adviser on violence against women appears to have effectively resigned from her role on live radio after saying she is on a “completely different planet” to the home secretary, Suella Braverman.

Nimco Ali, a social activist who was appointed to the independent role by the then home secretary, Priti Patel, in 2020, used an interview to criticise Braverman’s stance on the issue and announce her intention to relinquish her role.

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Queensland watch house whistleblower labelled ‘dog’ in Facebook group for police

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Exclusive: current and former officers appear to be involved in the conversation about the whistleblower on a private group

A Queensland police whistleblower who leaked audio recordings of officers using racist and violent language has been called a “rat” and a “dog” in a private Facebook group for police officers.

The QPS has apologised for the “sickening and disturbing” Brisbane city watch house recordings – which included comments that black people should be beaten and buried – and said the incidents are being investigated.

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Australia news live: Ed Husic says government must intervene in gas market; Pocock backs fossil fuels super profits tax

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Industry minister says gas companies are ‘not picking up the signals’. Follow all the day’s news live

Gas supply not a problem, ‘glut of greed is’, industry minister says

Husic:

This is not a shortage of supply problem; this is a glut of greed problem, that has to be basically short-circuited and common sense prevail.

The pricing mechanism is the one that I think needs to be seriously examined.

The LNG exporters are offering gas to the domestic market at prices they couldn’t reasonably expect on the international market.

We have the ACCC looking at that [code of conduct] and that code of conduct is to help better guide the way in which these contracts get negotiated … in terms of the other areas, we want to work through that internally.

If you look at what the treasurer has said over the last few days, he is examining those type of options and again that will be in the mix of things he thinks through.

I think the bigger focus long-term is the price mechanism.

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Queensland police: woman who was raped and abused killed herself after being wrongly identified as offender, report finds

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Domestic and Family Violence Death Review Board’s 2022 annual report found Maeve* took her own life after protection order issued

A Queensland woman who was raped, physically assaulted and subject to financial abuse by her partner, killed herself after being wrongly identified as a perpetrator of domestic violence by police, a coronial study has found.

The 2022 report of the Queensland Domestic and Family Violence Death Review Board raised concern that police and support services are missing – or not adequately responding to – key indicators of lethal risk.

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Queensland police commissioner vows to do more to protect whistleblowers after inquiry revelations

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Officers who made complaints say internal witness support unit is understaffed and overwhelmed

Queensland’s police commissioner has vowed to do more to protect whistleblowers, after an inquiry revealed that officers who expose sexual abuse, misogyny and racism in the service often face reprisals from their colleagues.

Police who made complaints against their colleagues have told Guardian Australia that the internal witness support unit – established to support whistleblowers who report breaches of discipline, misconduct or corrupt conduct – is understaffed and overwhelmed.

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Housing, Indigenous and domestic violence services to receive extra $560m in federal budget

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Exclusive: The partial indexation of funding aims to help community organisations cope with rising costs

Community organisations such as housing, Indigenous and domestic violence services will receive an extra $560m over four years in Labor’s first budget since its re-election.

The partial indexation of funding revealed by the finance minister, Katy Gallagher, aims to help community services keep up with rising costs.

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Federal government launches ‘world-leading’ bid to end violence against women and children within a generation

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National plan calls for improved crisis housing and assisting men to develop ‘healthy masculinities’

The federal government is setting an ambitious goal to end violence against women and children within one generation, with the release of a new national plan on family violence calling for better crisis housing and assisting men to develop “healthy masculinities”.

The new plan calls for reforms to how media, schools, justice systems, tech companies, the health sector and perpetrators themselves act, with the new National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children giving dozens of suggestions to improve violence prevention and response.

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Queensland government moves to legislate coercive control as a form of domestic violence

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The bill would amend laws to include a ‘pattern of behaviour’ and update the definition of stalking

The Queensland government will seek to broaden the definition of domestic violence to include coercive control, as it moves towards making it a criminal offence in its own right.

The bill, introduced into parliament on Friday, would amend legislation to include a “pattern of behaviour” and update the definition of stalking to reflect modern technology.

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‘Devastating’ outcomes for woman abused by police officer husband after Ibac failures, report finds

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Woman’s escape plan had previously been leaked to abuser, but Victorian anti-corruption body referred case back to police’s internal investigations

Victoria’s anti-corruption commission fundamentally failed a woman who was abused by her police officer spouse, with delays in the handling of her case meaning a second officer who leaked her escape plan could not be prosecuted, a report has found.

The Victorian Inspectorate, the body responsible for overseeing the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (Ibac), tabled a special report to parliament on Tuesday regarding the case of a woman known as Emma.

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Queensland police inquiry hears allegations of recruits being taught racism, officers being raped

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State’s police commissioner reveals she too suffered sexual assault and harassment early in her career

Senior Queensland police officers taught racist attitudes to academy recruits, including comments about Indigenous people that “you can smell them before you see them”, recordings obtained by an inquiry have revealed.

The “distressing” evidence given to the inquiry into Queensland police service (QPS) responses to domestic violence included revelations the police service failed to discipline officers in cases where they were found to have racially abused colleagues, or made racist remarks.

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In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14 and the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123 and the domestic abuse helpline is 0808 2000 247. In the US, the suicide prevention lifeline is 1-800-273-8255 and the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines can be found via www.befrienders.org

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‘Fear of speaking out’: Queensland police officer’s sexual assaults went unreported for years, inquiry told

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Counsel assisting the inquiry Ruth O’Gorman KC suggests system is ‘stacked against female victims’

A Queensland senior sergeant who was found by an internal police investigation to have committed nine sexual assaults of junior female officers engaged in unchecked problematic conduct for 16 years due to a culture that discouraged complaints, an inquiry has heard.

The commission of inquiry into Queensland police responses to domestic violence heard the man’s conduct included touching the breasts of a female subordinate, and following another into a toilet and suggesting he had come “for a blowjob”.

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Ex-Spice Girl Mel B tells Tory conference of need for domestic abuse reforms

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Singer tells event societal change is required if the lives of women are to be freed from threat of abuse

The former Spice Girl Melanie Brown has told an event at the Conservative party conference of her fears that the “massive issue of domestic abuse” will slip down the agenda during “these times of absolute economic chaos”.

The singer, known to millions as Mel B or “Scary Spice”, was speaking at a meeting organised by the Sun and Women’s Aid, which she became a patron of in 2018 after leaving what she described as an abusive relationship.

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Apparent rise in use of fire in domestic violence attacks must be investigated, expert says

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Research into cases of arson and burn injuries suggests links between use or threat of fire, and domestic and family violence

The apparent increase in the use of fire, petrol “dousing” or related threats by perpetrators of domestic and family violence requires greater attention from researchers and authorities, one of Australia’s leading legal experts on domestic violence says.

Domestic violence support services in Queensland have previously expressed concern that the volume of domestic cases involving fire had increased since reporting on the killing of Hannah Clarke and her children, in early 2020.

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‘Where is the evidence?’: critics take aim at NT judge who says antiracism is becoming ‘a religion’

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Opponents say it is ‘surprising’ for Judith Kelly to claim that ‘on the whole, modern Australian society is not racist’, in speech on Indigenous domestic violence

Lawyers and academics have criticised comments by a Northern Territory supreme court judge that antiracism was becoming a “religion” preventing honest discussions about the “epidemic of extreme domestic violence” against Aboriginal women.

In the 26 August speech to a gathering of women lawyers, Justice Judith Kelly said there was a “cultural component” to the violence inflicted on Aboriginal women by Aboriginal men in the territory.

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Queensland police commissioner’s evidence to inquiry sparks new call for submissions

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Commission examining responses to domestic violence says Katarina Carroll’s appearance led to ‘further communications’ from officers

Queensland’s commission of inquiry into police responses to domestic violence has unexpectedly reopened submissions to the public, citing the reaction to evidence given by the state’s police commissioner as a driver for the decision.

Queensland’s police commissioner, Katarina Carroll, was interrogated for more than eight hours at a public hearing in Brisbane last week after she initially declined an invitation to attend.

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