Submissions

Overview 

In October 2026, The Salvation Army provided a submission to the Education, Arts and Communities Committee regarding the Domestic and Family Violence Protection and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2026. Our submission welcomes the objectives of the Bill, including strengthening justice responses, increasing protections for victim-survivors, and improving police responses to domestic and family violence. We caution however, that legislative reforms alone will not achieve sustainable outcomes for victim-survivors, persons using violence, or police. We press that this Bill must be accompanied by significant systemic investment and reform to achieve its desired goals.  

Key Points 

• We raise concerns about the misidentification of victim-survivors as people using violence and recommends the need for investment in regular and mandated police training regarding the nature of and identifying family and domestic violence.  
• We recommend the need for greater investment in co-responder and embedded practitioner models to strengthen support, risk assessment and accountability for persons using violence.  
• The submission acknowledges the expansion of the Electronic Monitoring Pilot and highlights the need to provide clear information, training and resources to victim-survivors and service providers.