Family Violence Protection Act 2008 - A Legal Pandemic

The Laws in Victoria have created a virtual Pandemic of Intervention orders and it doesn't really matter what your problem is you can instantly go to the registrars Counter at any Magistrates Court and apply for an Intervention order in any type of Civil dispute,

One of the Myths contained in the document says, the Violence Protection Act recognizes features of family Violence, including the gendered nature of Violence. This is a ridiculous generalization that doesn't and shouldn't apply to every male. The simple reason more women are applying for intervention orders is because they know they are guaranteed an Intervention Order simply because of their Gender. It is the gendered nature of the Legislation that gives women an automatic Green Light regardless of their "complaint". In One state of Australia a man has had 11 Intervention Orders issued against him in 11 years despite the fact there has been no threat of Violence, most of these orders she revoked after a week or two. Intervention orders are issued as quickly and as easily as a Parking Ticket.

In a newspaper article these contentious and Draconian laws have seen Fathers Groups, and anti domestic violence organizations prepared to battle each other over changes in family Law. This does not mean that fathers groups are against Anti Domestic Violence Laws, they are concerned about the Gendered Nature of the legislation, which affects all Fathers and all Men, not just Violent Men.

Instead of stopping Violence and Conflict these laws and the draconian decisions that are made, only inflame what are already emotional Situations, with sometimes tragic consequences. In a recent case which ended in the death of a young Child, the Chief Justice said, the Death cannot be blamed on the Family Court's handling of the Family break up and the Tragedy could not have been predicted, nobody would have seen this Coming. The Courts are very short sighted , because these tragedies happen far too often, both in family law and Intervention Order cases. Making the laws and Penalties more Draconian will only help to make these problems even worse. You have to realize the Laws of Common Sense don't apply in a Court of Law.

The Family Court of Australia has now made it extremely easy to obtain a divorce; all you need to do is apply online with a click of a mouse. This New E-Divorce Process has created a surge in Divorce applications, 800 people applying in less than 9 weeks!!!!. The Australian Family association has called for the Australian Government to Ditch this Service. A Family Law courts Executive has defended the System, saying the aim was to improve access to "Justice"!!!.

Maybe the next step is to ask female applicants whether they also want an Automatic Intervention Order as Well, it would mean they wouldn't have to move house or worry about their ex-husband having access to the Children. This would Streamline the Family law Process considerably. Unfortunately the People who frame some of our laws and turn their unrealistic ideas into legislation, can't see the Problems and tragedies they are contributing to. Even though the intervention order legislation comes under the Family Violence Protection Act 2008, You don't have to be a Violent Person to have one unnecessarily issued against you nor does the judiciary take into account that there is no Criminal Intent by the so called "Defendant".

At the opposite end of the scale, take the case of Rodney Cameron who was Jailed for only 10 Years in New South Wales for Murdering a woman at Katoomba. After the Murder Rodney Cameron Left NSW and came to Victoria where he then Murdered a Motorist who had picked him up while Hitch Hiking. After Cameron's release from Prison in NSW he was then convicted in Victoria for the Murder of the Motorist and was sentenced to Life in Prison. After serving only 6 years in Jail in Victoria he was released because the
Victorian Authorities thought he was "Rehabilitated". Despite the fact that he had also abducted a Woman and her child in Queensland he was not tried for this crime at all. Shortly after his release from a Victorian Jail, Rodney Cameron rang a Melbourne Radio Station's Lonely Heart's Program, He received 9 replies from Female Listeners, one of these women he took on a Trip back To Katoomba, the scene of his First Murder where he murdered the Woman who had responded to his Lonely Heart's Call.

What is the Victorian Government's answer to reduce the amount of Domestic Violence and Violence on the Streets in this state. Limit the number of Booze Barns in the CBD???. Have restricted Hours For these Venues???. Their answer is to introduce compulsory feminism programs in State Schools, in what they call a Major Push to Prevent Violence against Females.This would include students acting out scenes of Sexual Coercion , where students would suggest more appropriate Behavior. It says Feminist theories were best at explaining the link between "Gender Power" which would underpin the programs, but the Authors admit there was considerable hostility to feminism among Teachers and Students. However a Feminist framework would anchor the "political Committments" of the Program. We need to do that in ways that don't make boys in particular feel blamed and Demonised.A Family association spokesmen has stated the obvious when he says, Strident feminist propaganda won't wash with Boys.


All these changes and programs are supposed to make Women Safer from Family Violence but how this is physically possible when Victoria Police are Closing Police Stations and figures obtained show that there are less Police Patrols on the road is a matter of good Luck rather than Good Planning. A woman at a family Violence meeting I spoke to said she Rang 000 and it took Police 90 Minutes to respond to her call. Victorian Police seem incapable of Stopping the Alcohol Fueled Violence on Melbourne's Streets. This is leading to more Parents applying for Intervention Orders with Complaints of Drugged and Drunken "Children"Banging on Doors and Windows wanting to be let in to the House. The State government only seems to be concerned when there could be a possible loss of Revenue to the State with regard to Indian Students Studying in Victoria.

The members of the Family Violence Portfolio committee along with Politicians and the Judiciary need to realize that no matter how Draconian you make the laws, or how many intervention orders you churn out, or how long the Intervention orders last for have no bearing on the outcomes at all, if somebody is determined to harm somebody or murder them. Intervention orders aren't worth the paper their written on and Don't Actually work. A man who was serving 18 years for murdering his wife, said that if he had his time over again, he still would've killed his wife.

A Woman in NSW was interviewed on Television and said how elated she felt when the Courts issued an AVO against her estranged Husband, but reality set in when she arrived home to find her 2 children and her Father had been murdered and her estranged husband had then committed suicide. What happens then is Politicians and the Judiciary sit down and write up new legislation that probably won't work any better than the last lot of Legislation. The Courts and lawmakers in Australia take a leaf out of the Feminist Manifesto by simply Demonising and blaming all men. This is a ridiculous generalization that won't fix the problems relating to violence.

What's Wrong with our Justice System

This Blog is about the ridiculous misuse of Intervention Orders in our so called Justice System, but those problems are part of the much bigger problem in the courts, the lenient handling of violence in our society. Here are some Examples.

A 75 year old woman was attacked by a 19 year old which left her with a broken nose, dislocated jaw, smashed eye and bruising to her face and body. This has left the woman a prisoner in her own body, which is riddled with debilitating pain, and she has been forced into a nursing home after being bashed senseless by the teenager who robbed her. The attacker avoided jail time because a judge thought he was too young and skinny to be in Jail. Does this mean that the Courts will now hand out sentences that are based on a persons age and Weight rather than the Criminal actions they have done????.

There were a number of youths who made a sickening Video of a girl performing a sex act, she was urinated on and her hair set alight, the video was put on the internet and the Youths did no jail time. They even brag that they are now famous, or should we say infamous for their disgusting actions.

Two youths who were part of a gang who killed a Chinese Man In Melbourne, were found guilty of Manslaughter and will serve only 2 YEARS in a youth detention facility.

A Young man who nearly died after being bashed by two other Men outside a nightclub was left with a Fractured Skull, depressed eye socket, a cracked cheekbone and a misaligned Jaw. The two perpetrators of the violence ended up with a Community based order, and the other a good behavior Bond???.


Peter Dupas was sentenced in 1985 for a vicious attack, and the Judge said "On the evidence that I have read before me this morning there seems to be a very good chance - if you were at large again - that some other girl might suffer in the same way" The Judge was fully aware of Dupas's already violent past. Dupas stabbed his first victim 17 years earlier; he had been sentenced to nine years for rape in 1974, but released in five. Within weeks he stabbed and raped other women.

The Judge then sentenced Dupas to six years on the indecent assault charge and 12 years for the rape charge, he ruled that the six-year sentence was to be served concurrent with the 12-year sentence, and then generously set a minimum of 10 years. He was released after just seven. So instead of doing 18 Years, he only did 7 even though the Judge predicted that there was a very good chance he would reoffend. The Courts needed to stop him but he was released again only to commit horrendous attacks on 3 more innocent women.

How ridiculous our laws are is again evidenced by the jailing for 2 years of Judge Marcus Einfeld over a 77 Dollar speeding Fine, he may have misled the Court in giving Evidence, but if we jailed everybody for giving Misleading evidence then the jails would fill up very quickly, Marcus Einfeld is not a threat to people in our Society when you compare him to other people who aren't sentenced to Jail.

A family has waited almost 3 years in the Victorian Court System for the Trial to begin of their Son's Alleged Killer, the reason it has taken so long for the 15 day trial to be heard is the Victorian Courts haven't had a Judge to hear the case. The alleged killer has been free since the time of the alleged attack. Maybe they could have used Judge Marcus Einfeld instead of putting him in jail over a speeding fine, or they could use a Melbourne Magistrate to hear a real Violence case, instead of wasting Court Time hearing some of the Ridiculous Intervention Order cases that are heard by Victorian courts on a regular basis.

In Melbourne a five-month sentence for a man who kneed and punched his pregnant girlfriend in the stomach has outraged victim support groups. The defendant was convicted of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, intimidation and damaging property after attacking the woman, who was six months pregnant. Judge Gordon Lerve said the man was lucky his girlfriend had not been seriously injured or the sentence would have been greater.

You have to ask yourself what would have to happen to a pregnant women before the Judge would impose a longer sentence???. Would the women have to miscarry after being punched in the stomach before a more appropriate sentence was imposed on the defendant????.

Even elderly women are not safe in our society anymore, the failure of magistrates to put a granny basher behind bars before he severely bashed a 91 year old woman is a stark example of costly mistakes that can be made by the judiciary, the state's former chief magistrate Nick Pappas says, earlier sentencing looked "lenient" and "unusual" in light of his later escalation of offences. The defendant had broken into her house five times before bashing the woman with a wooden object in 2007. She died a month later. The Justice System definitely failed this old and Frail woman.

The Victorian Sentencing Act 1991 sets out five purposes for sentencing adult offenders in Victoria. They are to punish, deter and rehabilitate offenders, to denounce their behavior and to protect the community.

The Act states that sentences can only be imposed in order to:

punish the offender to an extent and in a manner that is just in all of the circumstances

deter the offender or others from committing similar offences

establish conditions that will foster the offender's rehabilitation

make it clear that the court denounces or condemns the offender's behavior

protect the community from the offender.

If you look at the five purposes set out above, the only one the court actually does is make it clear that the court denounces or condemns the offender's behavior; the other purposes are simply rhetoric. What sentence a person receives has no relevance to what crime they have committed. It all comes down to which Magistrate or Judge you appear before and nothing else.

Barristers adjourn cases in the hope that their client appears before a different Judge or Magistrate when the case comes back before the Court. An experienced Barrister knows which Magistrates and Judges to Avoid!!!.

Public perception of Victoria's Justice System seems to have had some effect on our politicians.

A Notice appropriately dated the 1st of April 2009 says.

The State Government is looking for suitably qualified people from a range of backgrounds to serve as judicial officers in the Supreme, County, Magistrates' and Coroner's Courts of Victoria.
Deputy Premier and Attorney-General Rob Hulls said candidates should possess personal qualities such as integrity, fairness and a commitment to public service.

"We are seeking legal professionals from across a range of backgrounds to broaden the pool of candidates from which future judicial appointments will be made, and are encouraging interest from women, people with disabilities, and people of indigenous and culturally-diverse backgrounds," Mr. Hulls said."We are particularly interested in candidates, who have demonstrated an interest in appropriate dispute resolution, which we believe is essential to the future of Victoria's justice system. Rob Hulls Announcement seems to have come after criticism of our current Justice System.

A newspaper article titled, Judges on Trial said this, The Director of Public Prosecutions, Jeremy Rapke, QC, told a meeting of senior judges, lawyers, police and politicians late last year that record numbers of appeals indicated "clearly something very serious is amiss with the manner in which criminal trials are being conducted''.

The same problems also exist in the way Magistrates handle Intervention Order cases. There are no distinctions or priorities made between civil disputes or violent family Violence cases.

In a recent case an ex-wife served almost 6 months of a 12 month's jail sentence for hindering her former husband's attempts to sell their matrimonial home. The Woman in her late fifties was released from Prison after a buyer was found for the property. She was jailed because she didn't move out of the House to let her ex husband sell it. It seems totally wrong that a woman in her late 50's was sentenced to a Jail term of 12 Months for not moving out of a house, but Violent Thugs can walk free from Court with a slap on the wrist or a community based order. The courts do not have their priorities right!!!.

If people are frustrated in how our Magistrates and Judges handle sentencing in cases of Violence then they won't be impressed with how Magistrates handle Intervention Order applications.

Intervention orders were designed to protect people from serious assault in Violent Domestic Relationships. What has happened now is everybody and anybody are turning up at courts applying for Intervention Orders in trivial Civil disputes for any reason imaginable. This has led to retaliatory Intervention orders, if you get one on me, then I'll go to the Court and get one on You. They are being used as weapons in some pretty childish disputes and not in cases of family violence.

Police are telling people who come to complain about anything from an argument about the pruning of trees, to a woman who is complaining that her Cat Bowls are disappearing to apply for an Intervention Order. The Problem is made even worse because Registrars at our Courts are allowing this free for all to take place on a regular basis. Police workload is being unnecessarily increased because it doesn't cost the applicant anything to apply for an Intervention Order. If they decide not to turn up to court, the matter is simply struck out.

Applicants can make any exaggerated claims they like, the defendant can lose a day's pay to attend court and then find out it's all been a waste of time, because the applicant decides not to attend the Court. This has snowballed into a free for all in Our Courts, it has gotten to the point it is beyond the control of our legal system. To make it worse the people who run our court system don't seem to care, it all becomes part of the Churn.

Intervention Orders are also seen as an easily obtained solution to end your relationship, women don't want to tell their boyfriends or husbands that they no longer want to be with them so they go to court and get an Intervention Order. This solves the problems of having to move or buy new furniture and the court will stop their ex partner from coming to their residence, because they are women the Court will automatically believe their complaints, which guarantees them an Intervention Order. Anybody who has been to a Magistrates Court will realize how predictable both the decision and the court procedures are, it is all geared to simplicity and speed. The court's bias against men getting a fair hearing is disgraceful, and the way the Courts short circuit the legal process to push Intervention Orders through as quickly as possible is amazing.

When a Final intervention order application is to be heard, you need to attend Court to appear before a Magistrate and there is no Onus on the applicant seeking the order to prove that the defendant is Guilty of the allegations, and in most cases there has been no Police investigation into the allegations. The Magistrate asks the Aggrieved Family Member to step in to the Witness Box and take the oath, and then asks the applicant to read their statement of complaint and to confirm that it is true and correct. They respond by saying yes or they just Nod their head.

The Magistrate then tries to persuade the defendant to consent to the order being made without making any admissions to the Court. Usually the defendant, who has had no experience in Court before, agrees to Consent without admission order being made, without knowing the full ramifications of what they are actually agreeing to. Magistrates are short Circuiting the Legal Process, because as one Magistrate commented, he didn't want to become bogged down with a contested hearing!!!!. Decisions regarding the granting of Intervention Orders are supposed to be made on the Balance of Probabilities, but many are granted to simplify the court process for the Magistrate. If more Defendants actually contested Intervention orders, our courts could not cope with the workload, it would be absolute chaos.

Defendants may attend Court with a barrister to defend the Intervention order, but in many cases it may take a couple of months before the contested hearing can be heard by the Court. The interim intervention order will remain in place until the contested hearing date, so the barrister simply recommends that the defendant consents to the Intervention Order without admission to save time and legal fees, even when there may be no basis for an intervention order to be granted.

I have been in court and seen a woman Crying and Pleading with the Magistrate to at least allow her to ring her Son, because he had taken out an Intervention Order against his Mother. If your son or daughter leaves home and doesn't want you coming to see them, then they are able to go to a court and have an Intervention order issued against you. you could then be charged with a "Criminal offence" of harassing or intimidating the "AFM" for contacting your own son or daughter.

Legislation has recently been introduced to make the laws even more Draconian, defendants who now want to vary or revoke an order, will now have to seek leave of the Court to even have a hearing to vary or revoke the order heard. There is a misconception that defendants seek Variations or apply to revoke the order to harass the applicant.

In an interview a magistrate said this. Now, we can't stick a policeman in everybody's living room to make sure the orders are complied with, so there will always be some people who are so determined that they will go ahead and breach them anyhow and I don't know how you stop those people.

The magistrate obviously believes as other people do, that intervention orders can be easily breeched with sometimes tragic consequences for the Victim and their families. The best suggestion I would give to the Magistrate is for the Courts to use Intervention Orders as they were designed to be used, and to focus on defendants who are known to be violent, and have a history of escalating Violence towards their Wives and Families. At the Moment our Court Systems don't do this. Magistrates tell the AFM'S to ring the Police if there is a breech of the order but in far too many cases the Police become involved after it's too late to be of any use to the Aggrieved Family Member.

Magistrates don't realize that by putting defendants in Jail for breeching an Intervention Order, they are not only inflaming the situation, they are sometimes putting people with a Violent history into a Prison system where other inmates and criminals, can put them in touch with people in the criminal world who have access to a wide variety of illegal firearms. It is a recipe for disaster and counter productive in stopping family Violence. How the system handles Sentencing and the issues surounding Violence and Intervention Orders has become completely unrealistic and a farce.

We have an Intervention Order Process in our Courts, that doesn't adequately protect people from Real family Violence and it allows people to take, what can only be described as ridiculous and Trivial Court action against Non Violent Defendants in Civil Disputes. One Politician has called this Sausage Machine Justice. That is exactly what the court process is, simply to save time and get through as many cases as possible. As a Barrister said to me, Welcome to the Crazy World of Intervention Orders.