UQ Law Professor to help guide legal responses to domestic violence

A University of Queensland Law School professor will lead a team to develop a national domestic violence tool to improve the outcomes of domestic violence court cases throughout Australia.
Professor Heather Douglas from UQ’s T.C. Beirne School of Law will lead the domestic violence bench book project in partnership with the Australasian Institute of Judicial Administration.

The bench book, commissioned by Attorney-General Senator George Brandis, will be developed in line with the National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and their Children.
Professor Douglas said family violence laws varied between states, and there was no legal benchmark to respond to domestic violence.
“Family violence does not have state boundaries and there are a range of different legal responses to it,” she said.
The bench book will be a comprehensive online tool for judges across Australia, covering civil and criminal legal responses in federal, state and territory jurisdictions. It will promote best practice and consistency in judicial decision making in cases involving family violence.
“This is a significant project with great potential for assisting the judicial treatment of family violence-related matters in all Australian courts.”
The project will aim to improve consistency in judicial approaches to family violence throughout Australia.