Major reform for domestic and family violence puts victims ahead of perpetrators
- Major domestic and family violence reform announced to bolster protections for more victims.
- Police will be empowered to give on the spot 12-month Protection Directions, to offer immediate protection to victims.
- Reform will also make police body-cam vision permissible as video recorded evidence for court in domestic and family violence cases, to reduce trauma for victims and bolster evidence.
- New laws will allow police officers to get to more victims sooner.
The Crisafulli Government will deliver major domestic and family violence reform to protect more victims sooner and hold perpetrators to account.
The proposed changes will allow police officers responding to a domestic and family violence incident to issue on the spot Police Protection Directions, offering immediate protection to victims.
Between 2012-2024, the number of calls for service to domestic and family violence incidents increased from 60,000 to more than 192,000, an increase of 218 per cent, with many victims left waiting hours or days for help.
The data reveals it takes on average 4.6 hours for an officer to respond to each incident, exacerbated by the evolving and complex nature of domestic and family violence.
Under the Crisafulli Government's changes, police officers will be able to issue a 12-month on the spot protection direction from January 1, 2026.
How police investigate allegations of domestic and family violence will not change under these reforms.
The Queensland Police Service, Queensland Police Union and domestic and family violence sector, have been consulted on the proposed changes.
The reform also expands the use of video recorded evidence-in-chief for domestic and family violence victim survivors, to ease trauma on victims during the court process and bolster evidence for Court.
The introduction of video evidence across the State follows a successful trial in Southport, Coolangatta and Ipswich Courts.
The new legislation will also include the Crisafulli Government's election promise of a roll-out of GPS trackers on high-risk domestic violence offenders, with 150 devices available from later this year.
The former Labor Government failed to act on repeated recommendations during their decade in power, resulting in the number of domestic and family violence victims skyrocketing across Queensland.
Minister for the Prevention of Domestic Violence Amanda Camm said this reform and further reforms to come were about protecting victims and holding perpetrators to account.
"We promised to put victims first and hold offenders to account for the significant amount of domestic and family violence that is happening behind closed doors across this State," Minister Camm said.
"We must protect victims of domestic violence and we must hold perpetrators of these heinous acts to account, that's why we are embarking on significant reform.
"This is the first tranche of reforms, and they are about giving victim survivors immediate protections against offenders, stopping the retraumatising of victims and helping our hardworking police get to more offences to protect some of the State's most vulnerable people.
"This is just the start, the Crisafulli Government is committed to the better protection of domestic and family violence victims and holding perpetrators to account."
Minister for Police and Emergency Services Dan Purdie said the scourge of domestic violence was placing significant strain on frontline police resources and impacting officers' ability to attend to the growing list of calls for help.
"Our victims deserve better and we have always committed to bringing in significant reform to fix this broken system," Minister Purdie said.
"The Queensland Police Union tell us 90 per cent of their workload is related to domestic violence and the growing list of unresourced calls for service has reached breaking point.
"What this reform means is our police will be able to get to the next victim faster."
