White Ribbon Day Marked in SA by Calls for Clare's Law

Thursday 26 November 2015 @ 12.28 p.m. | Crime | Legal Research | Torts, Damages & Civil Liability

Yesterday (25 November 2015) was White Ribbon Day, a day which is set aside by anti-domestic violence group White Ribbon for the purpose of reminding people that they ". . . must keep working in their daily lives to eliminate violence against women to create long-term change". To mark the day various community leaders, including the Prime Minister, took the opportunity to speak in support of changing community attitudes to domestic violence and announcing measures and plans for making such change happen. One such announcement came from the SA Premier Mr Jay Weatherill, who is reported to have supported the introduction into SA of legislation which has become known in the UK and here as Clare's Law.

What is Clare's Law?

Essentially, Clare's Law is legislation that creates a screening tool or database that allows people to investigate new or potential partners and their past and current criminal history with a view to empowering vulnerable women to ". . . make decisions about their futures".

The SA Premier is reported as saying that the tool should be considered by SA Parliament as legislation that might aid efforts to prevent domestic violence.

Background to Clare's Law

Clare’s Law gets its name from Clare Wood who was murdered in the UK in 2009 by a former boyfriend. Clare’s Law was implemented nationally in the UK in March 2014 after a 14 month trial in several UK cities (Gwent, Wiltshire, Nottinghamshire and Greater Manchester).

At a practical level, Clare's Law allows the police to disclose information about an individual’s previous history of domestic violence or violent acts, if requested by their partner, friends and family members.

Reporting on the effect of the Clare's Law in the UK The Independent indicates that in the first year, under Clare's Law, at least 1,335 disclosures had been made across England and Wales following 3,760 applications for disclosure (figures obtained using Freedom of Information).

At this stage, however, as the SMH points out in an article on Clare's Law:

"There is no information yet available on the outcomes for the successful and the unsuccessful applicants so the effectiveness of the program can't be evaluated, . . ."

How effective might Clare's Law be in Australia

One of the first and most obvious problems with such a law, is the question of privacy and the difficulties which always arise in drawing the line on such matters. The "potential for misuse" as it's described, is high -

"Obviously it should not allow just anyone to wander into a police station and ask for the full criminal history of every person who's ever spoken to them on Twitter."

The UK has used strict protocols to control who can ask for and receive information and indeed what they are allowed to do with that information.

Interestingly, anyone can apply for the information, however, they must provide proof of identity and provide police with convincing evidence that they have grounds to ask for the information.

In other words, the scope of who information can be given to is taken beyond just female partners, the criteria being they must show ". . . they are in a position to help the potential victim". Further, they are warned that anyone who misuses the information could face charges. Thus as the SMH has reported:

"The balance between privacy and safety is always a difficult one, but the UK government has gone to great lengths to reduce the likelihood that this program will be abused."

The upside of giving access to friends and family, has been said to be that, a victim is already able to go to police, prove who they are and provide evidence supporting their need for information and help; and receive whatever help the police can give. The real issue in domestic violence seems to be few victims actually get to that point.

Under Clare's Law, where convincing evidence is provided by a trusted friend or family member it might give a victim ". . . the confidence to believe they are actually in danger and that police can and will help them escape that danger".

NSW also Considering Clare's Law

The NSW government announced earlier this year (2015) that it was considering the implementation of a Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (DVDS), modeled after Clare’s Law in the UK. Submissions to this process closed on 19 June 2015. For discussion papers and fact sheets visit the Family & Community Services website.

Going Forward

In Daily reports that in SA domestic violence victims employed in the SA public sector will receive more than two weeks of special paid leave each year, starting in 2016.

"The State Government announced today that public servants will receive an extra 15 days of special paid leave in a 12-month period so they can keep their jobs while dealing with family violence."

Further, to the above measure and statements by the Premier, the SA Government has also announced it will release a discussion paper on the possibility of introducing a DVDS in SA.

Given that on White Ribbon Day the ABC News website announced:

"So far today police in Australia would have dealt with on average 338 domestic violence matters . . ."

It seems such matters can not move quickly enough - according to Rosie Batty:

"We have to work at the culture of our society, we have to work at inequality, providing services, prevention, the laws changing and the policies changing."

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