The safety of people who experience domestic and family violence is a high priority for the ACT Government.

We know that when different service providers and agencies have different information about a domestic and family violence matter, this information in isolation may not show that a person is at risk of harm.

However, when these pieces of information are put together through effective communication between service providers and agencies, it can be easier to identify risk and put better supports in place to keep people safe.

The current laws and practices can limit the ability of agencies to best support people impacted by domestic and family violence.

The Domestic Violence Agencies (Information Sharing) Amendment Bill (the Bill) seeks to promote the safety, protection and wellbeing of people at risk of domestic and family violence. The Bill will allow services to communicate better with each other to identify, assess, manage and reduce the risks of domestic and family violence.

As a result, services will be able to intervene earlier so that people can get the support they need sooner and hold people using violence to account.

We’ve released a listening report on what we heard during the consultation period.

Community responses helped guide the drafting of the proposed legislation to best support Canberrans affected by family and domestic violence.

Your feedback helped guide our approach to finalising the legislative changes. Once the bill is passed, further sector feedback will be used to assist in the 12-month period leading up to the commencement of the new information sharing arrangements.