‘Shackled’: State’s crackdown on DV thugs

About 550 family and domestic violence thugs will be forced to wear ankle bracelets every year in on Aussie state, which has introduced tough laws to track and monitor high-risk perpetrators in the community.

Western Australia is getting tough on repeat offenders who perpetrate family and domestic violence and will track them across the justice system for bail, sentencing, parole and post-sentence supervision.

New legislation will force courts and the Prisoners Review Board to impose electronic monitoring devices on repeat and high-risk family violence perpetrators who are on bail or otherwise supervised in the community.

The new laws, introduced under the Family Violence Legislation Reform Bill 2024, will capture perpetrators who are subject to a family violence restraining order, convicted of a family violence offence, subject to a serial family violence offender declaration or those released from prison early or placed under a supervision order.

The Bill also amends the Restraining Orders Act to recognise the patterned nature of coercive control behaviours and their cumulative effect in the definition of family violence.

Offenders who breach directions set out by a community corrections officer as part of GPS monitoring will be immediately arrested by police without a warrant and face up to three years in jail or a fine up to $36,000.

Premier Roger Cook said cowards who offended against their partners and families deserved severe penalties.

“The reforms we are introducing into the parliament today will see repeat and high-risk family violence offenders shackled and monitored, allowing police to swiftly respond to breaches,” he said.

WA Liberal leader Libby Mettam welcomed the news that legislation promised more than six months ago was finally being introduced but was disappointed the government had not criminalised coercive control.

“Given 10 women in WA have been murdered in domestic violence incidents since this legislation was promised, it’s about time,” she said.

“A WA Liberal government has a longstanding commitment to enshrining coercive control as a criminal offence.

“Under the Cook Labor government, WA is the most dangerous state in Australia to be a woman.”

Attorney-General John Quigley said the government had undertaken significant family violence legislation reform to keep perpetrators accountable and better protect victim-survivors.

“Earlier this year, we moved to increase the penalty for removing electric monitoring equipment and provide for a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment for six months to reflect the seriousness of the offence,” he said.

“The amendment in relation to coercive control is the first legislative reform as part of a phased response to the criminalisation of coercive control.”

Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence Minister Sabine Winton said electronic monitoring, in the context of family and domestic violence offenders, must be seen as part of a suite of responses available.

“It cannot be the single response to keeping perpetrators accountable,” she said.

“An important part of the solution to ending family violence is changing attitudes and behaviours and stopping the violence before it starts.”