An Apprehended Domestic Violence Order (ADVO) reflects the community’s expectation that the State will care and protect child. However the enforceability of ADVOs is limited because it relies upon resource efficiency in the executive powers and the compliance of violent perpetrator. An ADVO is made under the Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act 2007(NSW). Family violence is defined by the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth)(FLA) as ‘violent, threatening or other behaviour by a person that coerces or controls a member of the person 's family (the family member), or causes the family member to be fearful.’. An ADVO can be applied on the behalf of a child or be taken out by a police officer on behalf of the child if they have fears that about their
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The effectiveness of an ADVO depends on compliance with the order, the willingness of the victim to report any breaches to the police and the active policing of ADVOs. For offenders, the notion of a ‘piece of paper’ does not always prevent them from committing violence when they are determined to do so. The issue of an ADVO may also increase potential violence due to the resentment felt by the offender. As displayed in the case of Luke Batty, (The Nice House, 2015) whom his father publicly murdered even after a Victorian equivalent of an ADVO was issued. His father was the subject of four arrest warrants, was facing 11 criminal charges and evaded police but was still granted access to Luke in public when he was playing sport. This case denotes the failure of police to protect children by monitoring dangerous offenders and the failure of the judicial system to reduce ‘unacceptable risks to society’. To improve the enforceability and efficiency of ADVOs, more governmental funding should be diverted to the police in order to monitor and protect and care for children at risk of harm. This was evident in 2015, where $60 million was allocated to a new domestic and family violence package to target perpetrators and support victims (Domestic Violence: Home, 2016, para …show more content…
The Bill encourages cooperation between the NSW Police Force and their interstate counterparts to protect victims of family violence; hence protecting and caring for children and their families. However the Bill fails to provide equal accessibility for all individuals. Whilst individuals from other states moving to NSW will have their ADVO automatically registered, individuals moving out of NSW will not be protected by this state legislation since other states have not implemented equivalent Bills/Acts. Thus demonstrating that before this Bill is given assent and proclamation, other Australian states and territories need to draft an equivalent Bill to provide universal accessibility to care and protection of children. Therefore to a limited extent, ADVOs successfully reflect the community’s expectation that the government will care and protect children but recent statistics and cases illustrates that the enforceability of ADVOs is limited due to insufficient government funding. Time delays in legislative reform for FACS and ADVOs have fatal consequences for children. Although law reforms need to be passed expeditiously to ensure just outcomes for family members and
The effectiveness of an ADVO depends on compliance with the order, the willingness of the victim to report any breaches to the police and the active policing of ADVOs. For offenders, the notion of a ‘piece of paper’ does not always prevent them from committing violence when they are determined to do so. The issue of an ADVO may also increase potential violence due to the resentment felt by the offender. As displayed in the case of Luke Batty, (The Nice House, 2015) whom his father publicly murdered even after a Victorian equivalent of an ADVO was issued. His father was the subject of four arrest warrants, was facing 11 criminal charges and evaded police but was still granted access to Luke in public when he was playing sport. This case denotes the failure of police to protect children by monitoring dangerous offenders and the failure of the judicial system to reduce ‘unacceptable risks to society’. To improve the enforceability and efficiency of ADVOs, more governmental funding should be diverted to the police in order to monitor and protect and care for children at risk of harm. This was evident in 2015, where $60 million was allocated to a new domestic and family violence package to target perpetrators and support victims (Domestic Violence: Home, 2016, para …show more content…
The Bill encourages cooperation between the NSW Police Force and their interstate counterparts to protect victims of family violence; hence protecting and caring for children and their families. However the Bill fails to provide equal accessibility for all individuals. Whilst individuals from other states moving to NSW will have their ADVO automatically registered, individuals moving out of NSW will not be protected by this state legislation since other states have not implemented equivalent Bills/Acts. Thus demonstrating that before this Bill is given assent and proclamation, other Australian states and territories need to draft an equivalent Bill to provide universal accessibility to care and protection of children. Therefore to a limited extent, ADVOs successfully reflect the community’s expectation that the government will care and protect children but recent statistics and cases illustrates that the enforceability of ADVOs is limited due to insufficient government funding. Time delays in legislative reform for FACS and ADVOs have fatal consequences for children. Although law reforms need to be passed expeditiously to ensure just outcomes for family members and