Questions

3.18​The questions below are intended to help you respond to the issues in this paper. You can answer as many questions as you would like.

Experiences of the current family violence intervention order system

1.​Do you have experience of the FVIO system as a child or young person (or as someone who supported a child or young person)? Please tell us about what this was like for you or the child or young person you were supporting. Were there any barriers to a child or young person participating as they wished?

Your views about age and leave requirements for children and young people who are applicants under the current law

The Act says that a young person over the age of 14 may only apply for a FVIO (or to vary, extend or revoke a FVIO) if the court grants leave (permission) and is satisfied that the young person ‘understands the nature and consequences’ of the FVIO. A child or young person under 14 may not apply for a FVIO on their own and requires a parent, police or other adult to apply on their behalf.

2.​Should there be a minimum age at which a child or young person can apply for (or change, remove or extend) a FVIO? If so, what should that age be?

3.​Are there other factors/criteria which should be met before a child or young person can apply for a FVIO? What should these be?

4.​Are there any circumstances in which a child or young person should be able to apply for a FVIO without leave of the court? If so, what are these?

5.​If the current age and leave requirements for FVIOs are changed (or removed), should there be additional safeguards to support children and young people who are applicants? If so, what should these be?

Your views about current limitations on children’s participation in FVIO proceedings

The Act says that the court must consider ‘unnecessary exposure to the court system’ and ‘the harm that could occur to the child and family relationships’ before it permits a child (who is not an applicant or a respondent) to participate in FVIO proceedings by being present in court, being legally represented, or giving evidence.

The Act does not require the court to consider a child’s right to participate in decisions affecting them, as is the case in other jurisdictions, such as child protection, or the Family Court. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, however, insists that children and young people have participation rights in judicial proceedings. This means that they have the right to express their views (either directly or through a representative) and have these views taken into account in decision-making.

6.​Does the current FVIO law ensure that children and young people are both protected from harm and given an opportunity to be heard and have their views considered in matters which affect them? Why or why not?

7.​What factors do you think the court should consider when deciding whether children and young people may be present in court, be represented by a lawyer or give evidence in FVIO matters?

8.​Should children and young people who are affected family members ever be able to participate in FVIO proceedings without needing the court’s permission? If so, in which circumstances?

9.​If so, is there an age at which this should be allowed, or additional safeguards or supports which should be put in place to support children and young people who are affected family members in FVIO matters? What should these be?

Your views about how children and young people are heard and supported in FVIO proceedings

10.​Do children and young people currently have access to appropriate information, advice and support about FVIOs and their legal rights and options? Are there things which you think are working effectively, or that could be changed or improved?

Your ideas about options for law reform

11.​Are there other ways that children and young people could be supported to take part in FVIO proceedings or share their views on FVIO matters which affect them?

12.​Are there other mechanisms (such as at-court or out-of-court options) which could enable children and young people to have their views heard and considered without requiring them to directly participate in FVIO proceedings?

13.​Should children and young people be provided with information about FVIOs which relate to them and their legal rights, options and protections? How could this work in practice to be accessible and age-appropriate?

14.​Are there any models for children and young people’s participation (such as those outlined in this paper, or others that you are aware of) that you think would help support children and young people’s views to be heard and considered in FVIO matters?

Factors influencing reform

The terms of reference on page 5 list a range of factors that the Commission will consider when determining whether change is needed to legislation and procedure. These include data, impacts on children and young people from marginalised groups and approaches in other jurisdictions, among others.

15.​Is there anything else that you would like to draw to the Commission’s attention when it is considering reform?

What we do with submissions

3.19​We usually publish the submissions we receive on our website. We also list the names of the people or organisations who have made submissions in our reports. We do this because we want to be open about who we have heard from and what they have told us. This helps us to be transparent about the law reform recommendations we make. It also encourages people in the community to discuss this law reform issue and consider different views.

3.20​When you make a submission, you should tell us if you would like your submission to be published on our website or mentioned in our reports.

3.21​You get to decide how your submission is treated. It can be:

•​Public: You tell us who you are. We publish your submission on our website under your organisation’s name. We list you in our reports by name.

•​Name withheld: You tell us who you are but we remove your name from your submission before we publish it on our website. We list you in our reports as ‘Submission [number] (name withheld)’.

•​Confidential: You tell us who you are but we do not name you or publish your submission anywhere. If we refer to your submission in our reports, it is as ‘Confidential submission [number].’

•​Anonymous: You do not tell us who you are. We publish your submission on our website and list your submission in our report as ‘Submission [number] (anonymous submission)’.

3.22​We remove contact information from all public submissions.

3.23​This project is about young people and their experiences of the FVIO legal process. For this project, any submission we receive from an individual which we publish will be published as a ‘name withheld’ submission. We will not include the names of people who have made submissions in our reports. We will remove any information that identifies the submitter or any other person before we publish it.

3.24​This is because we cannot publish a submission which identifies or is likely to identify any party to a FVIO proceeding or other proceedings where this may breach of the confidentiality provisions of the Family Violence Protection Act 2008 (Vic), the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 (Vic), the Open Courts Act 2013 (Vic) or any other law or order of the court.

3.25​We also will not publish any submissions which are offensive or defamatory.

3.26​For more information, please also see our Submission Policy on our website.

Further information

3.27​People outside the Commission may request access to the information we hold. This happens very rarely. If this happens, we will refuse a request for access to a confidential submission, unless there has been a formal request under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Vic) (the FOI Act).

3.28​If a formal request is made, the decision about whether we release information will be made under the FOI Act. This Act is designed to protect personal information and information given in confidence. Further information is available on the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner website.

Next steps

3.29​After we have received submissions and met with people and organisations in the community, we will consider the information we have received. We will also conduct further research. We will then make findings and any recommendations.

3.30​The report for Stage 2 will be delivered to the Attorney-General in 2027. The Attorney-General may table the report in Parliament. We will make this report available to the public on our website after it has been tabled.

3.31​Once the report has been delivered, the Victorian Government will consider the Commission’s findings. The Government does not have to formally respond to our reports or recommendations. The decision about whether to change any laws recommended by the Victorian Law Reform Commission is for Government to make.