The aim of the DVDS - based on a similar initiative in the UK called Clare’s Law – is to increase the safety of people potentially at risk of domestic violence.
Redfern Legal Centre’s Sydney Women’s Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service would prefer to see the It Stops Here Safer Pathway element of the NSW Domestic and Family Violence Reforms roll out across NSW completed before any other new initiatives are implemented.
However, should the DVDS be implemented, Sydney WDVCAS has recommended it be delivered through Safer Pathway Local Coordination Points.
- Support for the introduction of a ‘right to ask’ for information, for those in a current intimate relationship with the subject of the DVDS application.
- Support for the introduction of a ‘right to know’ information in cases where a victim has been assessed as 'at serious threat’ under Safer Pathway assessments.
- Support for multiple entry points to the ‘right to ask’, including through NSW Police Force, local NGOs, and by making an online application.
- Support for utilising the Local Coordination Point and Safety Action Meeting elements of Safer Pathway to consider applications on a case-by-case basis and make decisions based on all of the contextual information available.
- Support for utilising Local Coordination Points to provide support and appropriate referrals to victims or applicants, whether or not there is disclosure.
We did not support the suggestion that a third party should be able apply to the DVDS under the ‘right to ask’.
The NSW Government is currently considering submissions and will be announcing a policy in the upcoming months.
