Rachel asked about family violence aggressor misidentification. With reforms underway to address misidentification of the predominant aggressor in family violence intervention order applications, Rachel inquired about data collection to track the prevalence of occurrences and success of proposed reforms.
Wednesday 12th November 2025
Victorian Legislative Council
Rachel Payne (South-Eastern Metropolitan):
Substantive Question
My question is for the Attorney-General, represented in this place by the Minister for Casino, Gaming and Liquor Regulation. We understand that reforms are underway to address the misidentification of the predominant aggressor in family violence intervention order applications. Although we know misidentification is a widespread issue, there is currently no systematic collection of data to track its prevalence. So my question is: what is the Attorney-General doing to support the Magistrates’ Court and Victoria Police to track and publicly report data on misidentification so we can understand the extent of the issue and properly evaluate the impact of reforms?
Enver Erdogan (Northern Metropolitan – Minister for Casino, Gaming and Liquor Regulation):
Substantive Response
I thank Ms Payne for her question. It is an issue of great public interest, as I know from my time on the backbench and on the house committees. What I will do is ensure that that goes to the Attorney-General in the other place for an appropriate response in line with the standing orders.
Rachel Payne:
Supplementary Question
I thank the minister for referring that on. By way of supplementary, will the Attorney-General advise if they have engaged with Court Services Victoria, the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria and the chief commissioner in relation to their planned data system upgrades to ensure that tracking and the public reporting of misidentification are embedded in those systems from the outset?
Enver Erdogan:
Supplementary Response
I thank Ms Payne for that supplementary question. In line with the standing orders, I will take that on notice and refer it to the Attorney-General in the other place for response.
Written response received, 24th of November 2025:
I thank the Member for her question relating to the misidentification of victim survivors as the predominant aggressor in incidents of family violence. When a victim survivor is misidentified as the predominant aggressor, it can have far-reaching and devastating consequences including criminalisation, homelessness, the of children, disconnections from culture and reluctance to seek help in the future.
The Allan Labor Government is continuing to strengthen responses to family violence. The Third rolling action plan to end family and sexual violence (2025-2027) captures actions being taken to reduce family violence over the next three years, including to reduce the risk of the misidentification of victim survivors as the predominant aggressor.
The Justice Legislation Amendment (Family Violence, Stalking and Other Matters) Bill (Bill) 2025 was introduced to Parliament on 13 November 2025. The Bill aims to protect women and children through new reforms to keep family violence victims-survivors safe. Holding the right people to account for their actions is critical. The Bill will reduce the risk of victim-survivors being misidentified as the perpetrator by requiring police and courts to examine legislated risk factors before issuing a Family Violence Safety Notice or making a Family Violence Intervention Order. The factors include consideration of characteristics that increase the risk that a person is misidentified, including age, race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability.
Further to these legislative reforms, work is being progressed to address misidentification through the cross-departmental Predominant Aggressor Woking Group (the Working Group), comprising representation from the Department of Justice and Community Safety, the Department of Families Fairness and Housing, the Magistrates’ Court and Victoria Police. The Working Group is taking a whole-of-government approach to consider system improvements and practice responses to support the effective identification of the predominant aggressor, and appropriate rectification where misidentification is found to have occurred. Improving the collection and monitoring of data relating to the misidentification of the predominant aggressor and rectification once correctly identified, including the identification of any associated system enhancements to better quantify prevalence, outcomes and impact, will form a critical part of this work.
I can also confirm that Victoria Police is undertaking a program of work to address misidentification of the predominant aggressor in police responses, which includes reviewing its systems to record misidentification. Victoria Police is currently scoping options to label instances of misidentification in its Law Enforcement Assistance Program (LEAP). This work supports tracking the extent of misidentification better into the future.
