Grimley urges Geelong’s family violence court to be built faster

DERRYN Hinch’s Justice Party state leader and Member for Western Victoria Stuart Grimley is urging the state Labor Government to provide a timeline on when a specialist family court will start construction at Geelong Magistrates’ Court.

One of the recommendations from the Royal Commission into family violence is to ensure that all Magistrates’ Court of Victoria headquarter courts and specialist family violence courts have the functions of Family Violence Court Division courts.

Labor says its Specialist Family Violence Court (SVFC) reform will “deliver a specialist court response to family violence matters by offering enhanced resourcing, staff specialisation and support, user centred and innovative practices, inclusivity and improved safety for families attending court”.

SFVCs have begun operation in Shepparton in September 2019), Ballarat in November 2019 and Moorabbin in March 2020.

In December 2019, Mr Grimley visited Ballarat’s then-new SFVC within the Ballarat Magistrates’ Court, and described it has having a separate entrance for victim survivors to their perpetrators, separate waiting rooms for perpetrators and victim survivors, a reception for children and families, specifically trained staff to deal with family violence cases,
and other court support services available.

The forecast implementation date for the recommendation is July 31 of this year, but in his question to the Attorney General earlier this month, Mr Grimley noted there was no temporary fencing up at the Geelong Magistrates’ Court so it would be impossible for works to be completed in two months’ time.

He said the Barwon Area Integrated Family Violence Committee (BAIFVC), a collective of organisations working to help end family violence across four municipalities in the Barwon region, was also pushing for Geelong’s SVFC to be built.

“Geelong had more than 4,000 incidents of family violence last year, more than some other regions that have had specialist family violence courts built,” Mr Grimley said.

“The State Government need to build this specialist family violence court in Geelong.

“Given the specialist family violence courts aren’t built yet and have no finish date, what initiatives will the government undertake in Geelong to make our justice system more family-friendly or appropriate for our kids?

“Congratulations to the BAIFVC on their amazing work in collaborating to reduce family violence in the Geelong and Barwon areas.”

A webpage about the construction of the SFVCs notes that “this recommendation cannot be acquitted without further funding from government”.