12. Question No. 12—JusticeVANUSHI WALTERS (Labour—Upper Harbour) to the Minister of JusticeQuestion No. 12—Justice12. VANUSHI WALTERS (Labour—Upper Harbour) to the Minister of Justice: What progress has the Government made on preventing litigation abuse for victims of family violence?Hon GINNY ANDERSEN (Minister of Justice): Today the Government introduced a bill to strengthen the courts' powers to protect victims of litigation abuse in family proceedings. Litigation abuse is where someone uses the court system itself to harass contact or control their victim rather than resolving legitimate disputes within the court system itself. The Victims of Family Violence (Strengthening Legal Protections) Legislation Bill provides better protections for victims of family violence by providing judges with the power to make orders in response to litigation abuse. I remain proud of our strong track record of supporting victims compared to the previous Government which cut funding to Victim Support.Vanushi Walters: Why is litigation abuse an important issue for the Government to work to prevent?Hon GINNY ANDERSEN: Litigation abuse includes the type of cases where an abuser may present fabricated allegations or file multiple court documents that take the victim's energy time and money to respond to. We have seen the court system used to cause even further harm to victims of crime. This is simply unacceptable and it is not in line with our expectations of how the court system should work. This bill provides better protections while ensuring that there is appropriate access to courts.Vanushi Walters: How does the bill help address litigation abuse?Hon GINNY ANDERSEN: Under the new provision courts will have to take a broad view of conduct in the family proceedings to determine whether someone is abusing the court's processes—for example by using the process to harass someone. Once a determination has been made the court can then decide to make an order requiring the court to review and approve further steps in proceedings to ensure that they are in fact appropriate. Currently victims of litigation abuse must meet a high threshold before they can access the protections they should be entitled to. The protections focus on the types of documents and proceedings rather than the patterns of abuse. That is unacceptable and this bill will improve victims' rights and experiences in our courts.Vanushi Walters: How does the bill fit into the Government's wider reforms supporting better outcomes for victims?Hon GINNY ANDERSEN: This bill is part of a first phase of reform and sits together with the Victims of Sexual Violence (Strengthening Legal Protections) Legislation Bill which addresses known issues in the justice system by reducing the risk of children being questioned about consent in court and giving greater choice in complaints in sexual violence proceedings around name suppression. Also there are three pilot programmes in place to improve safety and help navigate the court system for victims of serious crime to strengthen support for child victims of sexual violence and to ensure victims' views are provided in bail decisions; and finally additional funding to help Victim Support and the Victim Assistance Scheme.