Women at risk of domestic violence could be lulled into a false sense of security by a reheated New South Wales government scheme that would allow people to look up their partner’s offending history, a leading expert has said.
The premier, Dominic Perrottet, said on Monday the Right to Ask scheme would keep women safer by allowing police to release information to them about their partner’s domestic violence convictions, over the phone or through an online portal.
“With changing technology it’s incredibly important that women are safe and secure and have access to information to ensure that the relationship they are in is safe,” he said, referring to the rise in people meeting partners online.
But Prof Kate Fitz-Gibbon, the director of the Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre, said there had been no evidence that such a scheme would make women safer since the government first trialled it in 2016.
“We have no new evidence that a domestic violence disclosure scheme enhances victim-survivor safety,” she said.
“We don’t have any further information to suggest that the resources that go into this scheme, which is extremely resource intensive, wouldn’t be better spent elsewhere.”
Under the 2016 scheme people were required to attend one of three police stations across the state to access the information.
The premier said there had been a “very low take-up” and hoped the new scheme could be less onerous for users.
Fitz-Gibbon said women could be lulled into a “false sense of security” if a check came back clean due to the limited reporting and conviction rates for domestic violence and related offending.
“[If] they have done a check that comes up with having no history, all that really means is that they have no police documented history,” she said.
“They’re not necessarily receiving an accurate picture of the risks that they face.”
She said there was also the potential for interstate convictions to be missed.
Her reservations were echoed by the state Greens, who accused the government of failing to listen to the sector.
“Only a tiny minority of domestic violence perpetrators actually have a conviction recorded,” the party spokesperson, Abigail Boyd, said.
“This risks giving women a false sense of security that the red flags they have detected in their partner are unfounded.”
It is expected people seeking information will be required to sign a statutory declaration and could then be given details of prior convictions including domestic violence offences, stalking and intimidation.
Advocates, including the chief executive of Domestic Violence NSW, Delia Donovan, want to see apprehended violence orders considered as part of the scheme as well.
Donovan also called for greater funding for frontline domestic violence services to support the people referred to them through the scheme.
“We want to see information about services and support services so this person isn’t isolated when they’re going online,” she said.
“Who will be on the ground when clients call up and ask for advice?”
Educating people more about domestic violence would also be key.
“What I want to see is much more education and awareness on the issue of domestic and family violence,” Donovan said.
“It’s about looking at the societal and attitudinal changes that we need across the community to really understand what it looks like and that victim-survivors know where to get help, because so many don’t.”
The federal government plans to convene a roundtable on Wednesday to discuss the prevalence of assaults in cases where people have met through an online dating app.
• In Australia, the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. In the UK, call the national domestic abuse helpline on 0808 2000 247, or visit Women’s Aid. In the US, the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines may be found via www.befrienders.org
