We know that a person at risk of domestic and family violence is best placed to determine their own safety needs. For this reason, seeking the consent of the person at risk for communication between agencies about them is central to the proposed law changes and is our preferred approach.

No agency should provide information to another agency without the consent of the person at risk, unless the very act of seeking consent puts their life at risk, or the circumstances are so serious that immediate action is necessary.

What does consent mean?

Valid consent means the person at risk is adequately informed and provides voluntary, current and specific consent.

The person at risk must have the capacity to understand and communicate their consent.

The person at risk needs to be made fully aware of how, why and what is being proposed. Any risks and/or benefits must also be made clear.

Agencies must consider identifying:

  • who or what agency will be contacted
  • what information is to be sought or provided
  • why the information is being sought or provided.

The person at risk needs to be informed of what protections are in place to prevent reckless sharing of information and what will happen next to protect their safety.

What if consent is not given?

Seeking the consent of the person at risk is our preferred approach. However, there will be limited circumstances where communication between agencies can occur without consent to protect the safety of the person at risk.

For example, when the very act of seeking consent may cause the life, health or safety of a person at risk to be compromised or where the person at risk may be unable to provide consent due to injury or incapacitation caused by domestic and family violence.

There may also be circumstances which are so serious and urgent that the immediate disclosure of information is necessary to protect the life, health or safety of the person at risk.

Information about a person using violence (for example, whether they have been released from custody) is critical in the development of a safety plan for the person at risk.

Information about a person using violence must also be able to be communicated between agencies to ensure that a person using violence is appropriately held to account for their actions.

Seeking consent from the person using violence is highly likely to increase the danger to the person at risk and other people directly impacted by the situation. For this reason, consent will not be sought from the person using violence with these proposed changes.

Find out more

You can find out more details about the issue of consent by reading the fact sheet and/or the discussion paper or contacting us at saferfamilies@act.gov.au.