How are culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities affected by changes to the

commonwealth laws concerning family violence?

Part A: Background

This inquiry into the treatment of family violence in Commonwealth laws follows the Australian Law
Reform Commission’s (ALRC) previous inquiry, Family Violence, in 2010. In 2011, the first three-year
action plan, the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children, was released.
One of the outcomes of this plan fell into the strategy that justice systems work better together and
with other systems. An immediate national initiative to this strategy was the establishment of this
inquiry (Background to the Inquiry, 2011).

The central issue on which this inquiry is based is the extent of the problem of family violence.
Approximately one in three Australian women experience physical violence and almost one in five
women experience sexual violence over their lifetime (Background to the Inquiry, 2011). Although
violence knows no discriminatory boundaries, it was found that certain groups of women faced more
physical and sexual violence in their families than others. The report states that women with a
disability, indigenous women, and immigrant women are examples of such groups.

The Good Shepherd Youth & Family Service stated that women from immigrant and refugee
backgrounds ‘face particular obstacles in their struggle to break the cycle of violence’ (Background to
the Inquiry, 2011). There was agreement at kitchen table conversations hosted by CALD (Culturally and
Linguistically Diverse) women leaders, supported by the Department of Social Services, that CALD
women are less likely to report violence, can experience more barriers in accessing support services, and
are less likely to leave a family violence situation than other Australian women (Hearing her voice, 2015,
p. 6).

CALD women face barriers at two levels which include accessing the justice system and when they come
into contact with the system (inTouch, 2014, p. 8).

In terms of migration law, the family violence exception (Regulation 1.23, Migration Regulations 1994)
was not available to prospective marriage visa holders until 2018 and is still not available to all
Australian visa subclasses. Concerns were also raised about evidentiary requirements of family violence
put forward by courts being “very strict” which discourage CALD women to report and seek help.
Additionally, proof of identity and residence requirements of Social Security Law does not provide
special benefits to secondary temporary visa holders affected by family violence.

This report recommends the availability of the family violence exception to all Australian visa subclasses,
improving support services targeted towards family violence, and an amendment to Social Security Law.
Part B: Stakeholder Perspectives

While victims of family violence are the main stakeholder in this inquiry, the Australian government,
police, the media, NGOs and etc. have key roles to play along with different opinions and ideas about
combatting this issue.

Victims/survivors of family violence are disadvantaged in terms of accessing support services and
reporting. It was noted in the kitchen table conversation with CALD women that “mainstream options
of reporting may not always be appropriate for CALD women” (Hearing her voice, 2015). This issue is
associated with the low English proficiency of women who are linguistically diverse. It serves as a
strong barrier to communicating effectively with support services such as the police or hospitals.

The Australian Government has obligations under international human rights agreements to ensure the
health, safety and equality of women, and specifically to take positive steps to eliminate all forms of
violence against women (Our Watch, 2022). However, there is an imbalance in distribution of efforts due
to the government’s prioritization over other legal issues considered to be more significant for the
country. It is usually observed and understandable to a certain extent that the government will want to
use more resources towards Australian citizens than immigrants.

Support services specific to CALD communities are the police and NGOs who provide assistance to family
violence victims. A concern raised by an African woman during the kitchen table conversations was
experiencing racism while reporting to the police. Circumstances like this make women feel more
vulnerable and indirectly discourage them to report issues. However, it was also seen that police forces
lack cultural diversity and female officers to address sensitive and culture-specific problems.
Furthermore, the need for translators in frontline services is also crucial to ensure effective
communication with victims. NGOs, in addition, are seen as being the most supportive to prevent
domestic violence against CALD communities. Organizations like Our Watch and Anrows have
implemented various projects to protect victims and expressed interests in providing national
leadership.

The media should also spread messages about family violence through culturally appropriate content.
Women from CALD communities acknowledged the multilingual media approaches of SBS TV and Radio
and have expressed the need for more multicultural media. It is to be taken into consideration that
media services also lack cultural diversity in the presentation and delivery of news.

Part C: Recommendations

The most needed recommendation in this context is enhancing support services for CALD women.
There is a need to build on positive initiatives such as partnerships between police and community
workers (Hearing her voice, 2015). The Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Women’s Legal Services NQ
Inc singled out the need for ‘culturally appropriate language and procedure, for them to be able to be
screened by a person whose cultural understanding places women at ease, to be able to access
services which are culturally appropriate’. This includes translators and interpreters from various
cultural backgrounds and cultural competency training for workers and staff. A limitation in
addressing this recommendation is the lack of culturally diverse people in the justice sector. This
could be overcome by providing cultural diversity training and workshops to all workers emphasizing
on communication with CALD victims. Moreover, Australian embassies in different countries should
include protection from domestic violence session in their pre-migration/pre-departure orientations
for migrants. The session should address the treatment of family violence in Australian Law and
precautions to take if someone is a victim.

The second recommendation is to make the family violence exception applicable to all Australian visa
subclasses. Currently, only some specific visa types have access to this exception but it is to be
addressed that victims of family violence can be found in any category of visa and hence, assistance
should be available to all victims and survivors regardless of their visa status (Budavari, 2011). One of
the recommendations put forward by the ALRC was to create a new temporary visa to allow victims of
family violence who are secondary holders of a temporary visa to make arrangements to leave
Australia or to apply for another visa (Recommendations, 2011). This temporary visa should include
access to free counseling and job seeking and financial advice to help victims overcome trauma and
explore pathways to either stay in Australia or go back to their country of origin.

Lastly, while most income support payments have up to a four-year waiting period under social
security benefits, Age Pension and DSP (Disability Support Pension) have a 10-year qualifying residence
requirement (Department of Social Services, 2021). This is highly disadvantageous to family violence
victims who have developed a disability as a result of physical violence by their partners. There should
be an exception made for such victims to exempt them from the 10-year qualifying residence
requirement.