This item is only available from the National Collective of Independent Women's Refuges Inc.

This report discusses whether or not the Domestic Violence Act (1995) is meeting its objectives, as set out in section 5 of the Act. The research involved sending questionnaires to people working in agencies in the area of domestic violence, police, and lawyers. Overall, the participants said that the Act was not completely successful and many recommendations were given for improvement. These recommendations include the granting of protection orders without notice, access to legal aid for all women, more simplified protection order application forms, ongoing training for judges and police officers, and a tightening of section 14 of the Act that currently gives judges too wide discretionary power.

nz