Hello, I am Judge Lisa Hannan and I am the Chief Magistrate of the
Magistrates' Court of Victoria. To all of you, welcome, and thank you for taking the time to
watch this video which explains the courts response during this coronavirus pandemic.
As you know the Magistrates' Court is responsible for the court led
response into family violence and for the implementation of the
recommendations of the Royal Commission. Our focus throughout this pandemic has
remained prioritizing the safety of those who are experiencing family violence
and making sure that perpetrators remain accountable during
this pandemic.
Throughout the coronavirus pandemic 51 Magistrates' Courts
across the state have remained open. We understood from the beginning that we
are an essential service and it was essential to the people of Victoria that
they were able to attend our courthouses and to make applications in
circumstances where they were experiencing family violence.
Of course, like everybody else, we needed to look to the number of people attending our court buildings.
We had to change some of our processes and procedures.
We increased the use of our online forms, we expanded that across the state and you'll find
that on the Magistrates' Court of Victoria website.
Family violence practitioners have been providing their services via phone and completing risk assessments.
Duty lawyers have been providing legal advice via phone but the
message is this - justice hasn't changed just the mode of delivery has.
We have at all times maintained the standard of our services and we have maintained our
commitment to making sure that the members of our community remains safe.
We have redesigned the MARAM training for online learning to ensure that it is
consistent and collaborative and that risk assessment is conducted on a
best-practice basis. The courts have continued to work very closely with the
broader family violence community particularly key agencies in justice and
in health to ensure that perpetrators are accountable during this time.
In conjunction with Family Safety Victoria, we have developed interim guidelines for
our men's behavioural change program providers to ensure that counseling
orders are enforceable while face to face group work is temporarily suspended.
The court continues our usual practice in terms of the Information Sharing Scheme.
This is work that supports the free flow of information across key
departments and sharing entities to keep victims, their children, and families safe.
We look forward to working with service providers and agencies across the family
violence sector as we continue to respond to family violence in a
coordinated and integrated way.
I would like to thank everybody for their hard work
and for their commitment during what are certainly unprecedented times.
Finally I reiterate this court's commitment to its role in ensuring a safer community.