Setting the Foundation for Compliance
Improving Comprehension and Compliance with Family Violence Intervention Orders.
This project developed new standard conditions for Family Violence Intervention Orders to promote greater safety and compliance.
In 2015 the CIJ was asked by the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria (MCV) to support its development of new standard conditions for Family Violence Intervention Orders. Accordingly, the CIJ conducted several rounds of consultations, first with internal court practitioners and Magistrates about the problems with comprehension and compliance; and then with a wider range of external agencies, including lawyers, police, civil prosecutors, specialist family violence services and Men’s Behaviour Change Programs. The CIJ then developed a set of new standard conditions for Family Violence Intervention Orders which were endorsed by the Court.
Finally, the CIJ used these new conditions in (separate) research directly with victims and perpetrators of family violence, in order to test their accessibility with users of the service system. With some valuable additions and refinements as a result of this ‘user testing’, the MCV approved a final version of the conditions in 2017.
The CIJ is now further supporting the MCV through membership of the working group established to implement these new standard conditions, subject to significant overhaul of the MCV’s Information Technology system. A publication reporting on this process will be released once the conditions are ready to be implemented by the MCV.
