00:00With domestic violence-related assaults sky-high, the government is set to reinstate mandatory
00:08sentencing for some DV offences.
00:11We want to ensure that the victim's rights is put above the rights of offenders.
00:16Mandatory sentencing will apply for offenders who have breached a domestic violence order
00:20multiple times or who have harmed victims while on a DVO, but won't extend to all domestic
00:25violence offences.
00:27If you breach a domestic violence order, you'll receive a term of imprisonment.
00:31And what that exactly looks like will be at the discretion of the judges.
00:34Mandatory sentencing for DVO breaches was introduced by Labor in 2007, but repealed
00:40by the same party in 2022.
00:42We had, four years ago, an all-encompassing review of the NT Law Reform Commission with
00:48respect to mandatory sentencing, which found that mandatory sentencing wasn't serving its
00:53purpose.
00:54We're seeing increased numbers of persons incarcerated and lack of rehabilitation.
01:00What it might do is it might make victims reticent to make reports to the police.
01:07They might want police involvement for certain situations, but they might not want to report
01:14in circumstances where their partner might go away for a couple of years.
01:19Mandatory sentencing isn't the only thing that's changing.
01:22The government also wants offenders to pay more for victim-survivor services by around
01:2640 per cent.
01:27The bill will also make sure that survivors are notified of offenders' movements, such
01:31as if an electronic monitoring device is removed.
01:35So currently supports and information available to victim-survivors from our perspective is
01:40lacking and so this is one of the elements of this reform that we welcome.
01:45The government will table the legislation in parliament tomorrow.
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