Women forced to discuss DV cases in public at 'unsafe' outback court
SOURCE:ABC Australia|BY:Lillian Rangiah
Australia's domestic violence commissioner and local legal services have raised concerns about women's safety at Katherine Local Court, saying urgent upgrades are needed to protect victim-survivors.
In the regional Northern Territory town of Katherine, an alarming number of women turn to the local court seeking protection from violence at the hands of their partners.
Some fear for their lives so much that they try to ban their abuser from being near them, speaking to them or contacting them at all.
But inside the small courthouse where they seek those orders, the chance of having intimidating run-ins with their abusers is high.
The Katherine Local Court has only one private meeting room, which is often occupied by lawyers and their clients. (ABC News: Hamish Harty)
They are funnelled through the same entrance and security screening point as perpetrators.
There is no separate room — away from their abusers — where they can wait for their case to be called, a process that can take hours.
On the way out, there is a blind corner where they can again be caught off guard.
And there is only one private meeting room at the court, which is often occupied.
That means victim-survivors may have no option but to have highly personal, sensitive conversations with lawyers about abuse outside the courthouse, in front of a busy intersection and in full view of the town of less than 10,000 people.
National Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commissioner Micaela Cronin has joined two local women's legal services — the Katherine Women's Information and Legal Service (KWILS) and the North Australian Aboriginal Family Legal Service (NAAFLS) — in calling for urgent renovations to make the court safe for victim-survivors.
In a statement, she said: "The current conditions at the Katherine Local Court do not ensure the safety of women".
Micaela Cronin has joined calls for urgent renovations to court facilities in Katherine. (AAP: Lukas Koch)
KWILS advocacy leader Brianna Bell said women's legal services had been raising the alarm for years and victims could no longer wait.
"This Katherine courthouse is not a safe and dignified environment for survivors of domestic violence," she said.
"It's incredibly intimidating and scary for these women."
Court estimates suggest this financial year, 588 domestic and personal violence applications will be lodged in the Katherine Local Court, and police data suggests most assaults in the small town are domestic-violence related — with 79 recorded in October alone.
Interstate, governments are increasingly recognising the barriers victim-survivors face when they come to court.
Jurisdictions including Queensland and Victoria have constructed new, specialist courts and fitted out some existing courts with more security, private waiting rooms for victims and offices for DV legal services, as part of broader court reforms.
Brianna Bell says victim-survivors should not have to rely on being excused from coming to court. (ABC News: Lillian Rangiah)
At Darwin Local Court, there is a private "safe room" where vulnerable victim-survivors and witnesses can wait to be called, and the DV legal service has a private office for interviewing clients.
NAAFLS chief executive Cindy Torrens, a Warlmanpa/Wambaya woman, said victim-survivors in Katherine and the surrounding regions — many of whom are Indigenous — are missing out on safe court access because of their postcode.
"People attending court in Katherine should feel safe to attend court, just the same as they would in urban areas like Darwin and Alice Springs," she said.
"Whether you're a court user in Katherine or a court user in Darwin, Aboriginal women or women in general, victim-survivors are entitled to that sense of safety."
Although there are some circumstances in which victim-survivors can be excused from appearing in court altogether, Ms Bell said they should not have to be.
An NT architecture firm that designed upgrades to the Alice Springs courthouse to support a specialist domestic and family violence model has developed a similar proposal for Katherine. (ABC News: James Elton)
"The concern is that this sidelines their voice and impacts upon their full and equal participation in matters central to their safety and wellbeing," she said.
"This disadvantage can be avoided, or at least reduced, with properly designed infrastructure."
Designs drawn up
Several years ago, the NT government commissioned Alice Springs architectural firm Susan Dugdale and Associates to design a redevelopment proposal for the Katherine Local Court.
The firm previously designed similar refurbishments for the Alice Springs local courthouse, to support its rollout as a specialist domestic and family violence court.
The firm's director, Susan Dugdale, said its Katherine courthouse design sought to counteract the "huge disincentive" for victim-survivors to turn up to court at all.
"What we were trying to solve was a way for them to attend court where they felt safe and secure, they would have someone with them and they didn't have surprise interactions — with either a perpetrator or their family for that matter," she said.
Among other features, the design proposed a separate entrance and exit for victim-survivors, areas for public access double the current size and twice the space for legal service offices.
The NT government has earmarked $2.55 million to expand the specialist domestic and family violence court model to two more locations from 2027-28, after an evaluation.
According to its domestic violence reduction strategy, that would include "a registrar, legal support services, non-legal support services and training for judges".
However, the strategy does not mention any infrastructure that may be needed to support the proposal.
NT Attorney-General Marie-Clare Boothby said works on the proposal to refurbish the Katherine courthouse were ongoing.
Marie-Clare Boothby says the NT government is looking at upgrading infrastructure at "very old" courts across the territory. (ABC News: Pete Garnish)
"Our courts are very old, right across the territory. And of course, as a government, we look at infrastructure in all of those areas," she said.
"When the time is right that we can put forward something to have that reviewed, and then of course funded, then we will do that.
"There will be a program in place for all of those types of upgrades that are needed across the territory."
But Ms Bell said the refurbishments were needed now.
"It's all there, we just need to go ahead and do it," she said.