https://ntcoss.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/231129-DFSV.pdf
Stakeholders welcome DV law changes but say more funds required.
Advocates have welcomed reforms to modernise and strengthen the Territory’s domestic violence laws, but say it will be “meaningless” without needs-based funding.
Northern Territory Council of Social Service similarly warned that without more money and training, the Territory’s domestic violence crisis was unlikely to improve.
“We welcome the modernisation of the definition of ‘domestic violence’ to include coercive control to better reflect the experiences of victimsurvivors in the NT,” senior policy officer Sophie Hantz said.
“Legislative change is one piece of the broader solution, we need comprehensive training provided to those who will implement these laws.
“The NT domestic, family and sexual violence sector needs a significant increase in funding to meet the extraordinary level of need. Without funding based on need, women and children will continue to go without access to support and safety, which will continue to result in deaths.” The rate of domestic violence homicide in the NT is seven times higher than the national average, and Indigenous women are 13 times more likely to be killed by their intimate partners than non-Indigenous women and men.