


It stressed the strategy should be operative before legislation to criminalise coercive control is introduced. It also recommends the Queensland government work in partnership with First Nations people to co-design a specific, whole-of-government and community strategy to meet the state's Closing the Gaps justice targets, and to address over-representation. It said that, at a minimum, it should have terms of reference wide enough to consider recruitment, promotion, resourcing and the handling of complaints against serving officers.īefore introducing legislation, the taskforce recommends an independent judicial commission be established that could receive and respond to complaints about judicial officers. The report recommends an independent commission of inquiry to examine "widespread cultural issues" within the Queensland Police Service relating to the investigation of domestic and family violence. Many feel that the justice system is failing them." "I did not expect to hear that women perceived their perpetrators are emboldened by police, legal practitioners and judicial officers. "I expected to hear from women about their mistreatment at the hands of perpetrators. "Some are from men, a reminder that, exceptionally, women can be perpetrators," she wrote. In the report foreword, Justice McMurdo wrote that the taskforce received a diverse range of submissions from people sharing their lived experience. "The task force heard in many submissions than women did not get an appropriate response from the police - and there is always more that can be done." 'The justice system is failing' "The task force also includes several recommendations aimed at improving both police and judicial responses to domestic and family violence," Ms Fentiman said. The report recommends immediate legislative reform - including expanding the offence of "unlawful stalking" to capture technology-facilitated abuse and amending the Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act to clarify definitions and reduce the incidents of perpetrators using cross-applications to inflict "violence and coercion" on their victims.
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"The report is also clear that we cannot criminalise this behaviour until our systems, our community and our first responders understand, identify and know how to respond to this form of abuse," she said. Ms Fentiman said the task force was clear that moving to a criminal offence requires a staged approach. The brutal murder of Hannah Clarke and her children sent shock waves across the nation, but it was short-lived, snatched away by what was perceived as a greater threat to come. Fundamentally it is about power and control and the belief that too many men have that they are entitled to this power over women." "Coercive control is a dangerous form of domestic violence, used to instil fear in victims. "We hear your voice and we will listen," Ms Fentiman said. More than 700 submissions were made to the taskforce, including about 500 from "brave" survivors who shared their lived experiences. Hundreds of submissions from 'brave' survivors Its report, titled Hear Her Voice, has now been handed to the Queensland government.Īttorney-General Shannon Fentiman told parliament the government would carefully consider the report's 89 recommendations. Family and domestic violence support services: The Women's Safety and Justice Taskforce, headed by former Court of Appeal president Margaret McMurdo, has been conducting a wide-ranging review into the experience of domestic and sexual violence victims in Queensland's criminal justice system. The approach would include public education, an implementation plan to prepare for criminalisation in 2024 and co-designing a strategy to address the over-representation of First Nations people in the criminal justice system before the legislation is introduced. The Women's Safety and Justice Taskforce has recommended a staged approach for Queensland to criminalise coercive control.
