00:00Turning away up to five women each day from the Women's Legal Service never gets easier
00:06for Jenny Gray and her staff.
00:09And we know that they are women who could be the women who are tragically murdered by
00:14partners and ex-partners.
00:15It's a risk highlighted by the deaths of Jennifer and Gretel Patelchis at the hands
00:20of a gunman looking for his estranged partner, Ariel Bombara.
00:24His daughter says she tried to warn police three times.
00:28Women's lawyers at Women's Legal Service will recommend that women go directly to a magistrate's
00:33court to apply for a family violence restraining order, where there's specialist services available,
00:39rather than report to police.
00:41While police carry out an internal investigation, the government's main response has been adjusting
00:46a rewrite of firearms laws already before parliament.
00:49Obviously we took that opportunity by bringing in significant tightening around those laws.
00:54While welcoming the changes, those on the front line want the government to provide
00:57something more tangible in the short term.
01:00We need investment in early intervention and prevention services, as well as the crisis
01:06responses like legal service and women's refuges to keep women safe.
01:11Next week, the government's expected to introduce legislation to parliament to make GPS tracking
01:15mandatory for family and domestic violence offenders, which had been planned before Floriet.
01:21Whether any parts of a five-year system reform plan can be accelerated is also being considered,
01:27but it's the funding issue which the sector believes is most urgent, and received far
01:31less attention than it would have liked in last month's state budget.
01:35How long is a piece of string really?
01:37We know that the investment isn't commensurate with need right now.
01:42We'll continue to make sure that we work to do what we can as a government to reduce or
01:48eliminate family and domestic violence in our community.
01:51A promise frontline services hope translates to action soon.
01:56For more information, visit www.fema.gov
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