Adams AmyFAMILY AND WHĀNAU VIOLENCE LEGISLATION BILLFirst ReadingHon AMY ADAMS (Minister of Justice): I move That the Family and Whānau Violence Legislation Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Justice and Electoral Committee to consider the bill. The rate of family violence in New Zealand is simply unacceptable. It has a devastating impact on individuals and communities that can span generations and lifetimes. In 2015 alone police investigated more than 110000 family violence incidents yet we know that up to three-quarters of violent interpersonal offences by a family member are not reported to police. Growing up with family violence is a major risk factor for our children and young people. We know that exposure to this abhorrent form of abuse has severe long-lasting effects including mental illness substance abuse offending self-harm and homelessness. It is time that this insidious intergenerational cycle ends.That is why this Government has made reducing family violence a priority. A number of cross-agency work programmes are dedicated to improving the way we respond to family violence. The Ministerial Group on Family Violence and Sexual Violence brought together Ministers from 16 portfolios in an unprecedented way with the aim of reducing the devastating impact that family and sexual violence has on people and communities across the country. The new Ministry for Vulnerable Children Oranga Tamariki in consultation with the Ministry of Justice is exploring options for changing the behaviour of young people who perpetrate family violence and are known to the Family Court.The Family and Whānau Violence Legislation Bill I present today will underpin our response to family violence. It will strengthen the family violence laws and build the legal framework necessary to deliver the wider components of our work programme. The changes in the bill have been shaped by the hundreds of submissions I received in response to my discussion document. The bill makes these changes through a package of reforms of two main parts. Firstly the bill amends the current Domestic Violence Act 1995. This core piece of legislation will be updated to ensure it is fit for purpose and aligns with modern understanding of family violence. Changes will also empower the Family Court to consider family violence matters and make temporary protection orders when considering proceedings under the Care of Children Act. Secondly the bill will make important changes to criminal law including the Bail Act the Crimes Act the Criminal Procedure Act the Evidence Act and the Sentencing Act. The changes to these Acts will seek to respond better to family violence in a criminal context.I want to begin by touching on key changes being made to the Domestic Violence Act. When the Domestic Violence Act was first enacted in 1995 it was regarded as a significant advancement in dealing with domestic violence. Since then expectations and understandings of family violence have developed and new evidence about how to stop violence occurring continues to emerge. It is obvious that more can be done to recognise and reduce the occurrences of family violence. Changes to the law are needed to ensure that it can continue to support and guide best practice across the entire system.Domestic violence is commonly understood as being violence against an intimate partner; however we know that domestic violence affects more than just intimate partners. The bill will change the name of the Domestic Violence Act to the Family and Whānau Violence Act. Changing the term domestic" to "family and whānau" more clearly acknowledges the violence that occurs in a wide range of family and whānau relationships. The amendments within the Act better reflect the many forms of violence and the harm that it causes while bringing our legislation more in line with overseas legislation and research.Responses to the discussion document indicated that people supported having principles in the law. They acknowledged that the principles can be used to guide decisions made by those in the sector and identified the objectives of the Act. The bill introduces 12 new principles at the beginning of the Act. These place emphasis on the need to maximise the safety of victims and the importance of ensuring culturally appropriate responses for Māori. In addition the principles focus on the requirement for effective responses for perpetrators of family violence.An important focus of the reforms is to enable earlier more effective interventions for both victims and perpetrators. Police safety orders (PSOs) were introduced in 2010. They enable a police officer to order a perpetrator out of the home for up to 5 days to protect the safety of the people at that address. These orders have become an effective tool for police officers attending family violence incidents. The bill I introduce today will make better use of the opportunity that police safety orders create for early intervention. Police will be able to direct a person to a risk and needs assessment when they are bound by a PSO. This assessment is the first step in linking a perpetrator to the right services to help change their behaviour. If we can address the perpetrator's violent behaviour earlier we can better help to keep victims safe in the longer term.Many who responded to the discussion document told me that applying for a protection order can sometimes be difficult. They supported the idea of having someone else able to apply for a protection order on behalf of the victim. Changes made by this bill will give the Minister of Justice the ability to approve third parties who can apply for protection orders on behalf of the victims and shifts responsibility away from solely sitting on the victims' shoulders for their own safety.The bill also clarifies that special conditions can and should be imposed on protection orders in some circumstances. Special conditions are particularly important for people with additional vulnerabilities such as older age or a disability. This change will enable orders to be better tailored to the needs of the vulnerable making them more effective. We know that harm to victims can be prevented by changing the behaviour of perpetrators. This requires earlier and more effective interventions. However perpetrators are not always connected to the right services and protection orders create another opportunity to address this.This bill makes changes that would allow perpetrators to be referred to a wider range of services when a protection order is issued against them. In the future they will be assessed according to their risks and needs which will signal which services they should be attending. The court will be able to direct that attendance at those services is mandatory as we know that targeted services can be important in addressing violent behaviours. Services will look to be culturally appropriate incorporating tikanga and restorative approaches where relevant. By more directly addressing the specific issues a perpetrator has we will be at a better place to protect victims and prevent future violence.Responses to family violence are more effective when those involved have the full picture. Better access to information is necessary to prevent harm to victims and to better assess risk and needs. However actual and perceived barriers to sharing information negatively impacts agencies' abilities to work together resulting in difficulties and delays for those affected by family violence. I am introducing a number of bespoke information-sharing provisions to enable the family violence sector to share information. The new provisions make it clear that those specified agencies and professionals are able to receive use and share information with each other for the purposes of better responding to family violence. Strong safeguards will ensure that only relevant and appropriate information is shared. The sharing of relevant information will enable quicker and more effective responses to those requiring support. These new provisions will help to provide a foundation for a more cohesive and integrated system.The second part of the bill amends the criminal law Acts I outlined earlier so that family violence is more appropriately addressed as a criminal matter. Three new offences will be introduced. Significantly this includes a new offence of strangulation and suffocation. International evidence tells us that the likelihood of a person being killed by their partner is significantly increased when they have been strangled by that partner previously. We want to send a clear message that this type of behaviour should not and will not be tolerated. The offence of strangulation and suffocation will have a maximum sentence of 7 years in prison. Offences of coercion to marry and assault on family members will also be introduced. Assault on a family member will complement the existing offence of male assaults female. It recognises that for example violence against a daughter by her mother or violence against a brother is unacceptable as is violence by a male against a female partner.Family violence is prosecuted under a range of criminal offences. Currently there is no way to accurately identify family violence offending which can lead to inconsistent decision-making and responses. A new system of flagging family violence offences through the criminal justice system will be introduced. Identifying a perpetrator's pattern of behaviour will be made easier and it will provide valuable information to decision makers including the judiciary and police. Recording a family violence offence on the permanent court record reflects the seriousness of offending against someone that you are in a family relationship with. It will also provide the opportunity for the nature of family violence to be considered for example at bail decisions.We know that New Zealand must do better to reduce family violence. Everyone should have the opportunity to lead healthy and fulfilling lives. Everyone should have a home that is free from violence. Effective laws are a cornerstone of how we can address family violence; however legislative change cannot be the whole answer. To make a positive long-lasting difference we need behaviours and attitudes to change. Creating an effective integrated system requires everyone who plays a part in preventing and reducing family violence to get involved. This bill will help to drive that change. Together we can develop an integrated family violence system that will support better practices better outcomes and better safety for the victims of family violence in New Zealand. I proudly commend the bill to the House."