The Allan Labor Government is protecting women and children through new reforms to keep family violence victim-survivors safe for as long as they need.
Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny today introduced the Justice Legislation Amendment (Family Violence, Stalking and Other Matters) Bill 2025 into the Victorian Parliament to better protect all Victorians and make it clear that there's no place for violence in this state.
The reforms introduce a two-year minimum term for all Family Violence Intervention Orders (FVIOs) - reducing the number of times victim-survivors need to go to court and giving them the freedom to move on with their lives.
Alongside this reform, if a perpetrator is serving a jail sentence the Court will extend the length of the FVIO to match the length of the sentence, with an additional 12 months added upon release - recognising the heightened family violence risk when perpetrators are released from custody.
These reforms will also make it easier to serve FVIOs to perpetrators in prison - ensuring faster protection for victim-survivors and avoiding gaps in protections.
When a child of a victim-survivor turns 18, the danger of family violence doesn't stop. Under the Bill, kids listed on a parent's FVIO will continue to be protected when they turn 18 - stopping the 'aging out' of the protections they had under their parent's FVIO.
Holding the right people to account for their actions is critical and the Bill will reduce the risk of victim-survivors being misidentified as the family violence perpetrator. The change will require police and courts to consider age, race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability before making a FVIO or a Family Violence Safety Notice.
Family violence involves a wide range of behaviours intended to control, dominate or cause fear. In recognition of this, definition of family violence will be broadened to recognise more forms of abuse such as stalking, systems abuse and the mistreatment of animals.
People fleeing to Victoria from their abusers will also be protected with changes to allows courts to create protective orders when some or all offending has occurred interstate.
Improvements will be made to the stalking offence so it is better understood by the Courts who apply it in practice, as informed by the Victorian Law Reform Commission's 2022 Stalking Final Report.
Procedural protections that already apply in sexual offence and family violence cases will now also apply to victims and witnesses in stalking cases, which include allowing child victims and those with cognitive impairment to pre-record their evidence.
This Bill builds on previous reforms targeting gender-based violence, including the Labor Government's implementation of 227 recommendations of the Royal Commission into Family Violence, which delivered state-wide improvements to police, justice and support service response.
As stated by Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny
"Nobody deserves to feel unsafe at the hands of a family member or loved one. These reforms will ensure perpetrators of gender-based violence are held to account."
"We've worked closely with victim-survivors to build on our family violence reforms and provide even greater protection for women and children across Victoria."
As stated by Minister for Prevention of Family Violence Natalie Hutchins
"These reforms will protect women and children fleeing family violence and give them a chance to rebuild their lives in peace."
