Special domestic violence court axed
Specialist domestic violence courts will be axed by the State Government because they have failed to reduce rates of re-offending and protect victims.
The decision will mean that the thousands of family violence cases dealt with in the dedicated courts each year will be sent back to the mainstream system from June.
Attorney-General Michael Mischin's decision comes nine months after the release of details of a draft review which found that offenders dealt with in the five Perth family violence courts, which cost close to $10 million a year to operate, were 2.4 times more likely to go on to commit further acts of violence than matched offenders in the mainstream system.
The review found there was some reduction in re-offending rates by perpetrators dealt with in the Barndimalgu Court in Geraldton, but it was not statistically significant.
Mr Mischin said the assessment of the court model, which was rolled out from 2006, found its effectiveness was "at best equivocal".
He said the decision to close the courts, which had followed consultation with stakeholders and a cost analysis, was not aimed at saving money.
"Even if one accepted that involvement with the specialist family violence courts made victims of family violence more comfortable about reporting violence, the evaluations do not provide compelling evidence of the success of this approach," he said.
"It is time to apply the lessons learnt from this experiment by formulating a more effective approach to the problem of family violence, rather than to continue with a strategy that is expensive in money and resources but unsuccessful in achieving the objective of reducing recidivism and protecting victims."
He added: "I have asked the department to report to me on how an integrated model for tackling family violence in the court system should operate."
Women's Council for Family and Domestic Violence Services chief executive Angela Hartwig said there had been a lack of consultation on the decision, which had placed too much emphasis on cost and rates of re-offending, and there were concerns about the closure.
Ms Hartwig said the family violence courts provided better support for victims, information sharing and training for magistrates, while there were concerns that decisions in the mainstream system were failing to protect women from violence.
