Legislative Council, Tuesday 26 November 2024

Ms FORREST (Murchison) - Mr President, I thank the member for Elwick for bringing this bill to the House on behalf of the member for Franklin in the other place. I have for many years been an advocate for reform in this important area and fully support this amendment to bring us in line with and, in this case, ahead of other Australian jurisdictions. As the member for Elwick referred to, it is timely to be debating this bill during the UN 16 Days of Activism against gender-based violence. To quote the UN Women website:

… across the world every 10 minutes a woman is killed. There is no excuse for violence against women. UN Women inform us that nearly one in three women experience violence in their lifetime. Girls are a particular risk of violence. One in four adolescent girls is abused by their partners. For thousands of women, the cycle of gender-based violence ended with one final and brutal act, their murder, by partners and family members. Femicide, or feminine-cide is the intentional killing of a woman or a girl because of her gender. It is a universal problem and the most brutal, visible and extreme manifestation of the cycle of gender-based violence that women and girls endure. Violence against women and girls can and must be prevented.

That is from the UN website in reference to the 16 days of activism. With regard to this bill, I agree that family violence is one of the most serious and confronting issues in our society. I wish to recognise and acknowledge family violence victim/survivors, advocates and all those who support Tasmanians who are experiencing the impacts of family violence. In particular, I wish to acknowledge those who have lost their lives as a result of family violence and those who have lost loved ones as a result of this horrendous abuse and violence.

I am also aware, as the member for Elwick pointed out, there may be people listening today who have been directly or indirectly impacted by family violence. Some of the content that we will be talking about and that I will be referring to can be triggering. The member for Elwick gave a couple of support services, including Lifeline and the Safe at Home numbers; the national Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence counselling service on 1800 RESPECT is also available.

On the 1800 Respect website, it describes family and domestic violence as: (ok)

Domestic and family violence happens when one person in a relationship hurts another or makes them feel unsafe and is a repeated pattern of behavior.

They note:

It can happen in any kind of relationship - not just with husbands and wives or boyfriends and girlfriends (intimate partners).

Abuse doesn't have to involve hurt to your body, or physical violence, to be domestic or family violence.

Therefore, I will reiterate that if anyone here or listening elsewhere or reading this later themselves are experiencing family or domestic violence or know someone who is, they can call 1800 RESPECT on 1800737732 or text 0458737732 or visit the 1800 RESPECT website for an online chat or video call services. Those websites also have rapid exit buttons if you need to leave the site promptly. If anyone's in immediate danger, they should bring 000, because this can be a life-threatening situation. I acknowledge that.

I wish to refer to some of the very important information on the 1800 RESPECT website, as it directly informs my support of this bill.

To be clear, domestic and family violence can involve behaviour that makes another person feel scared, involves threats to the person, their children or pets and denies the individual choice. Domestic and family violence almost always involves an ongoing repeated pattern of behaviour to control the other person. This is known as coercive control which can include both physical and non-physical abuse. Violent behaviour can include psychological and emotional violence, sexual violence, financial abuse, physical abuse, spiritual abuse, social abuse, legal abuse, reproductive abuse, neglect and stalking. It causes fear and stops the person living as they want to, often forcing them to behave in ways they do not want to.

Family violence, as I have said, is not always physical, and evidence shows in some cases the first act of physical violence is murder. Sometimes it is harder for people to seek help when there is no physical sign they are being abused. The number of women killed at the hands of a current or former partner in Australia this year is over one a week. That is, women who have been killed at the hands of a former or intimate partner. According to the Counting Dead Women Australia group, as at 20 November this year, 66 women have died at the hands of their current or former intimate partner.

There are still six weeks in the year to go and we know the Christmas period is extremely stressful for many. These figures are truly horrific. These figures represent a national shame. Those 66 women have families, friends and communities that they lived in or with, all of whom suffered loss as a result of these shocking deaths.

This bill is one more piece of the picture that can assist police to build the evidence needed to hold the perpetrators of family violence to account and protect the victims of family violence. Of and in itself it will not address the underlying issues. That requires a much bigger body of work and these are matters I spoke about in the past and continue to advocate for. I am really pleased to have the minister for the Prevention of Family Violence back in our Chamber, acknowledging the enormity of the task and the very difficult challenge that it is.

Just to return briefly to the 1800RESPECT website, it notes the forms that this sort of violence can take. This website states:

It is never okay for anyone in a relationship to:

• Tell you they will hurt you, your children, your pets, or the people you care about.

• Say they will hurt themselves if you try to leave.

• Cut you off from family and friends.

• Refuse to provide essential care and support for you if they are your parent, guardian, carer, or paid support person.

• Make looking after a baby hard by not letting you feed or settle your baby.

• Scare you by following you, harassing you, or refusing to leave you alone.

• Control what you do, who you talk to, or where you go.

• Make you question your own memory and mental health - also known as gaslighting.

• Use the legal system to bully or intimidate you.

• Stop you from making decisions about whether or not to have a baby, or other reproductive issues.

• Stop you from having medicine you need or from seeing your doctor.

• Give you medicine you do not need or more medicine than you need.

• Take your money or use your money to make your life hard.

• Touch you in ways or places you do not want to be touched.

• Force you to have sex or do sexual things.

• Say and do things that make you feel scared or unsafe.

• Monitor your phone, social media and emails without your permission.

• Share private photos or videos of you online without your permission.

• Stop you from following your religion or cultural practices.

• Damage walls, parts of your home, or your things.

• Hit, kick or do other things that hurt your body.

These are only some of the things that domestic and family violence may involve; there are others. If anyone is making another person feel scared, worried, or unsafe, they should feel safe and okay to ask for help.

Coercive control is almost the underpinning dynamic of family and domestic violence. Perpetrators exert power and dominance by using patterns of abusive behaviour over time that create fear and deny liberty and autonomy.

A person who uses coercive control may use the physical and/or non-physical abusive behaviours that I have already outlined to make people feel afraid and take away their freedom and independence.

Perpetrator behaviours can be subtle and specific to the individual. That is what sometimes makes them so hard for other people to recognise. Sometimes this behaviour can mean that the person and the person using the violence against that individual can tell you how harmful the behaviour is.

The impacts of coercive control are serious no matter which abusive behaviours are used.

Coercive control could have physical, emotional, psychological, spiritual, cultural, social and financial impacts. The impacts of coercive control also build over time.

It can start off with very minimal controls and build over time.

The perpetrator's abusive behaviours may make a person feel trapped, making it harder to seek and receive support or leave a relationship. I have read a lot and paraphrased a lot of information from that site because I know, from my experience, that you never know who is listening. You never know who might be reading this in the future and you never know how this information may save someone's life.

I have spoken in the past on radio about coercive control and other matters like this. I walked out of a radio studio once, and a woman was crying. She had been listening to me on the radio and I had just described her life. She said she realised it was not her fault, that she was not the problem, and that she was safe to reach out for help. You never know who is listening. When you have a voice, as we do in this place, and you have an opportunity to help people understand what this is, what it can look like, how it can be so subtle, we should use it.

This bill is important to address a current gap around the harm or threats of harm to pets. Pets do not have a voice of their own and they cannot speak up. It can be a clear target for perpetrators of family violence. Pets are generally very important parts of families. They can be a source of great comfort to any victim, including children and young people, especially those children and young people living with intimate partner violence that I spoke about recently at length. We have often read and been made aware of circumstances where this is the case, where young people highly value their pets and they are often a source of great comfort when they witness family violence or they are experiencing family violence. We have often read and been made aware of circumstances where this is the case. It is cruel; it is intended to create fear; it is intended to control another person; it is intended not only to hurt the animal but also hurt the victim of family violence.

The statistics of the prevalence of family violence are indeed horrifying, and the member for Elwick referred to that, noting that more than 32 per cent of women in Tasmania have experienced violence, emotional abuse or economic abuse by a cohabiting partner. This does inflict physical injury, psychological trauma and emotional suffering. That is why they do it. That is exactly why they do it. These effects can be long lasting, and they do in fact affect future generations. If anyone has read a book, or many books on the topic, one called The Body Keeps the Score, it is a really important read, it is a harrowing read that clearly outlines that intergenerational impact of violence, family violence and those sort of things.

We cannot overstate the seriousness of it. As the member for Elwick stated, the Australian Law Reform Commission's landmark 2010 report, Family Violence: a National Legal Response, made a recommendation that injury to animals be included as a form of family violence in each state's and territory's relevant domestic and family violence legislation. I support this bill that fully adopts this recommendation. As stated by the member for Elwick, by explicitly recognising this common form of family violence and legislation, it is the intent of the bill to empower police officers, support services and Tasmania's justice system to appropriately and rapidly recognise and respond to such conduct as a family violence matter.

As I said, pets do not have a voice. They cannot speak up themselves. We need this legislation to ensure that it is taken into account. I would also note that the bill includes the element of neglect of an animal in addition to actual harm or injury to the animal. I support this inclusion as this too can cause harm to both the animal and the victim of family violence over an extended period. As a victim of family violence sees a pet deteriorating, not getting the care it needs, and suffering, they will suffer as well. It can be a long, drawn-out period of suffering, which is a different form of torture for that person as opposed to the outright killing of an animal.

The second variation between this bill and other jurisdictions is the bill includes the objective test of 'knows or reasonably ought to know' within subclause (f). I also support this inclusion as I believe it will improve the provability of this type of family violence and be beneficial to victim/survivors. We know that in the past it has sometimes been difficult to prove some of the non physical forms of violence that victims of family violence experience because there is not a physical sign of it. You may be able to see a cruelly treated animal, that may be more evident, but it is important these provisions make it really clear and to help those trying to prosecute perpetrators of family violence.

I thank the member for Franklin, Mr O'Byrne, and those who provided expert advice, including the Department of Justice and Safe at Home members, to ensure this bill truly reflects the needs of those who experience family violence in this form - and all forms.

I also agree that harm against a dearly loved pet should not be considered or referred to as damage to property because that diminishes the reality of this form of abuse and the relationships people have with their pets. As the member for Elwick stated, pets and support animals are much more than property to many people, often providing critical emotional support for people who are experiencing immense trauma and fear at the hands of the perpetrator of family violence. I am sure that we have all seen photos or images of children hugging their pets while they are witnessing an episode of family violence in the home, as their source of comfort. You attack that source of comfort, you attack the person.

As the member for Elwick did, I also acknowledge the not-for-profit organisation Lucy's Project, which has been a fierce advocate for better supports for people and animals experiencing family violence and our Tasmanian-based Engender Equality, which I had the privilege of being a board member of for a number of years. This is a hardworking and small organisation struggling to keep up with demand. I particularly also recognise the work of CEO Alina Thomas in the ongoing advocacy and work that they do. It is really important work and it is hard work. I also note the support by RSPCA Tasmania, the Community Legal Centres, the Huon Domestic Violence Service and the Sexual Assault Support Service. These organisations are incredibly important in supporting victims of family violence, and also advocacy in this area.

I also acknowledge and recognise the invaluable work of Our Watch. This important organisation works to progress opportunities for the prevention of violence against women and children in Tasmania. In doing that, it is looking at a primary prevention approach. That approach will change behaviours and prevent family violence happening. What we are dealing with here in this bill and all other matters related to this legislative approach, is after the event. We need to change attitudes, we need to change behaviours and the work of Our Watch is focused on that area particularly. Its work is vital if we are to reduce the shocking and absolutely unacceptable levels of violence against women and children, including in family and domestic settings. I support this bill and I look forward to it becoming law in this state.