Overview

• Parliament approved reforms allowing police to issue 12-month police protection directions without initial court oversight or victim consent, with the new powers to commence in January.
• A GPS electronic-monitoring pilot for high-risk respondents will roll out from October, with 150 devices slated to be available for courts by the end of the year.
• Labor raised concerns over safeguards during debate but ultimately supported the bill, and proposed opposition amendments aimed at addressing misidentification were defeated.
• Advocacy groups including Qcoss caution the measures could worsen misidentification of victims as perpetrators, citing reviews that found a significant share of women later killed had previously been misidentified.
• Implementation will be staged to allow police training, the package includes a trial of video-recorded evidence to reduce court trauma, and the government has committed to a statutory review in two years.