00:01Should Australia adopt a register of convicted family violence offenders?
00:06By not informing women of the violent past of a partner, when we have that information
00:13available, is knowingly putting women in harm's way.
00:16It is a proposal that continues to resurface as politicians grapple with the ongoing toll
00:22of violence against women.
00:25We stay home with our partners, because surely we're safe, but when nobody is looking, one
00:29of us dies every five days.
00:33Advocates argue a public or controlled access register could improve transparency, protect
00:39potential victims and strengthen accountability for repeat offenders.
00:45Victoria Police first submitted the register idea to the Royal Commission into Family Violence
00:50in 2015.
00:52While hundreds of recommendations from that inquiry have since been implemented across
00:57the country, a National Family Violence Offender Register was not among them.
01:03Our offices are responding to 140,000 jobs every year.
01:09That equates to about one job every four minutes.
01:12And it actually takes about 60% of the police workload responding to domestic violence incidences.
01:18All Australian states and territories have a sex offender register, which holds details of
01:24convicted child sexual offenders, but is not made public.
01:28Other measures, including perpetrator tracking, electronic monitoring and disclosure schemes, have
01:34also been raised as potential tools to reduce risk and prevent repeat harm.
01:40We really have to make sure that men respect women and that men do not respect other men who
01:48disrespect women.
01:49So there's a huge role in this for men.
01:51They're not just the perpetrators, they're also the friends and relatives, employers, employees,
01:56colleagues of men who commit these crimes and they have to be held to account.
02:00We have to be held to account.
02:01We have to be held to account.
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