Family violence continues to affect too many people in our community, and eliminating it remains a top priority for our Government.
The Family Violence Amendment Bill 2022 has today passed the House of Assembly, which will amend the existing legislative framework aimed at reducing levels of family violence in Tasmania, and strengthen the way our justice system deals with repeat perpetrators of family violence.
The passing of these reforms will send an even stronger message that this violent and criminal behaviour will not be tolerated in Tasmania, ensuring those who repeatedly commit family violence offences against a single partner, or multiple and successive partners, are held to account for their heinous actions.
This brings our election commitment to provide a ‘serial family violence perpetrator’ declaration framework another step closer, which will see Tasmania become the second Australian jurisdiction to implement this important protection.
It also adds to the significant reforms I have delivered in recent years and months to strengthen our laws to protect victim-survivors and eliminate family violence, such as our legislation to introduce a stand-alone offence of non-fatal strangulation.
I now look forward to the Bill’s passage through the Legislative Council.