Victorians could be allowed to check whether a partner has a history of domestic abuse under a Labor election promise that also proposes banning convicted abusers and sex offenders from dating apps.
Premier Ben Carroll is due to announce the package on Tuesday, ahead of the state election on November 28. Labor has also pledged to restrict the use of smart glasses in public settings and prevent perpetrators from becoming the next of kin of their victims.
The proposed disclosure scheme, to be known as Clare’s Law, would allow a person to ask police whether their partner had a history of domestic violence. Friends and relatives could also make an enquiry on behalf of someone they believed was in a dangerous relationship.
Police would have the power to disclose information proactively if they believed someone’s safety was at risk. The scheme is named after Clare Wood, a British woman murdered by her former partner in 2009, and already operates in South Australia.
Under the South Australian model, police can share details including previous convictions, police reports, charges, arrests, intervention orders and breaches. “You deserve to know if your partner has a secret violent past,” Mr Carroll said.
Funding for family violence services
Labor’s package includes a promised $31.5 million increase for the family violence sector if it is returned to government.
That includes $15.5 million for The Orange Door support service, funding additional staff and resources and extending assistance to 10,000 more victim-survivors. A further $16 million would establish a fund for early-intervention programmes intended to reduce violence.
Family violence organisations welcomed the funding, although experts questioned how Clare’s Law and the dating-app ban would work in practice.
Professor Kate Fitz-Gibbon, a family violence researcher at Monash University, said the investment in frontline services was encouraging but criticised the timing of the commitment.
“The sector has been calling for greater investment for years, with services struggling to meet demand and too many victim-survivors unable to access the support they need when they seek safety,” she said.
Professor Fitz-Gibbon also cautioned that the effectiveness of domestic violence disclosure schemes remained unproven.
“Our research has found limited evidence that domestic violence disclosure schemes actually prevent violence or improve safety outcomes,” she said. “We need to be careful that governments don’t prioritise reforms that are politically appealing over those that have a stronger evidence base for improving women’s safety.”
Phillip Ripper, chief executive of men’s behaviour change and safety agency No To Violence, said the proposed funding was welcome but insufficient compared with the cost of responding to violence through police and courts.
“Victim-survivors do need police to respond in a crisis, but they want action earlier. They want to be safe at home and they want the interventions to end men’s violences before it escalates,” he said.
Smart-glasses and dating-app restrictions
Labor also plans to make it a criminal offence for convicted domestic abusers or sex offenders to use dating platforms, arguing that the apps should not become places where perpetrators can target victims.
The government would expand an already announced ban on smart glasses in schools, kindergartens and childcare centres. The proposed restrictions would cover public swimming pools, changing rooms, community sports venues, hospitals, aged-care homes and family violence services.
The devices can record video from the wearer’s point of view and have legitimate uses, but have faced criticism over their potential to film people covertly. The issue drew wider attention after Kmart began selling a pair for $89, with the devices quickly selling out.
“Tech has changed, so must our laws,” Mr Carroll said. “Creeps shouldn’t be able to secretly film kids at Saturday sport.”
Under another Labor pledge, coroners would be given powers to prevent an alleged abuser from remaining next of kin to a victim in cases involving domestic violence or estrangement, by appointing an alternative person.
Dr Joumanah El-Matrah, chief executive of the family violence peak body Safe and Equal, said the commitment to expand The Orange Door would provide a vital increase in support.
She said the proposals on smart glasses and dating platforms sent an “important signal” that people’s safety had to be considered.
