Senate passes bill to amend Domestic Violence Act

By Halshane Burke   

 

The Senate has passed a bill to amend the Domestic Violence Act.

 

Leader of Government Business in the Senate Kamina Johnson Smith says the government is taking the issue of domestic violence seriously.

 

Under the amended legislation people accused of breaching a protection order from the court in a domestic violence case could face a fine of up to $1 million or up to one year in prison.

 

The current penalties are $10,000 and or six months imprisonment.

 

Senator Johnson Smith said the changes are necessary to take into account the current realities within the society. 

 

"There's a clear case to be made for the increase in penalties that have been provided, and having also discussed the issue of fear earlier, there's a clear case to be made for an expansion in the number and categories of persons who can make a report. So that is also provided here. The scope of protection orders and the ability of the court to grant orders which go beyond protection or occupation orders, that is the provision of a court to make such order as it sees fit, is also an important expansion to be brought before this chamber," she added. 

 

Senator Johnson Smith said the increase in the fines is testament to the seriousness of domestic violence, the cases of which continue to rise. 

 

The bill to amend the Domestic Violence Act was passed in the House of Representatives on Tuesday. 

 

A Joint Select Committee of Parliament has been named to conduct a review of the Domestic Violence Act.

 

Senator Kamina Johnson Smith named the senators who will sit with their counterparts from the House of Representatives to make comprehensive recommendations. 

 

At the same time, Opposition Senator Sophia Frazer-Binns called for a speedy convening of the Joint Select Committee. 

 

Senator Frazer-Binns bemoaned what she said was the lack of a complete overhaul of the Act which was passed in 1995, stating that the legislation is no longer current. 

 

"It does not appease us on this side that a joint select committee has been named, because that joint select committee could have been named five years ago, could have deliberated, could have reviewed, and today we would have been here to discuss a more full, detailed and modern piece of legislation," she asserted. 

 

"Whereas we appreciate the amendments that have been tabled today and debated, we believe that much more could have been done in the five years, and I am hoping that having called us back and having set up the joint select committee, that we will hear in very short order, the convening of those meetings, because we have agreed that there are critical issues to be addressed, that have not been addressed with these proposals," said the senator.