Crackdown on domestic violence – Offenders to find it hard to get bail

Alleged serious offenders will have to demonstrate why they should be out in the community.
Premier Chris Minns said it’s part of “long overdue” reforms to “help keep women and children safer”.
“Too many lives have been lost and too many families have been broken because of domestic and family violence,” he said.
“It’s a blight in our communities … domestic, family, and sexual violence is preventable; we cannot accept the status quo”.
The State Government will introduce significant legal reforms that will make it more difficult for those accused of serious domestic violence offences to get bail.
Reforms will include reversing the presumption of bail for serious domestic violence offences by expanding the category of “show cause” offences, requiring alleged offenders to demonstrate why they should be out in the community.
It will apply to serious domestic violence offences committed by intimate partners, including sexual assault, strangulation with intent to commit another offence and kidnapping, with a maximum penalty of 14 or more years’ jail; and for coercive control, which will be a criminal offence from July 1.
It follows the State Government’s commitment of $230 million over four years as part of an emergency package to improve support for domestic and family violence victim-survivors through primary prevention, early intervention and crisis response measures.