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 welcome feedback on both the draft Bill and the issues raised in the discussion paper.

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

The community’s feedback and ideas will help us to draft proposed legislation that best meets the needs of Canberrans affected by family and domestic violence and those that support them. The proposed legislation is expected to progress in late 2023.

This proposal is a work in progress and the draft Bill is a starting point.

What we hear from you will guide our approach to finalising the legislative changes and implementing the new information sharing arrangements.

We expect that a revised Bill will be considered by the ACT Government in early 2023, with the amendments to come into effect in 2023.