The Palaszczuk Government’s approach to domestic and family violence is proving to be one of the most responsive in Australia, with figures showing Queensland has one of the nation’s highest rates for finalising Domestic and Family Violence Protection Orders.

Attorney-General and Minister for Justice Yvette D’Ath believes this was a sign that police and courts were acting efficiently on Domestic and Family Violence Protection Orders and that Queenslanders had confidence in the system.

“This data, which is a new element to the Report on Government Services, shows Queensland’s response to the recommendations of the Not Now, Not Ever: Putting an end to domestic and family violence in Queensland, is making a difference,” Mrs D’Ath said.

“This report shows more and more domestic and family violence victims are coming forward – a sign that they have faith in our system.”

Minister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence Shannon Fentiman said it was encouraging to see the Queensland Government’s strong approach to domestic and family violence was paying off.

“We are absolutely committed to protecting victims and their children, and holding perpetrators to account,” she said.

The recently released Productivity Commission’s Report on Government Services shows that in 2015-16, 53.6% of finalised civil cases in Queensland’s Magistrates Courts involved a finalised application for a Domestic and Family Violence-related Protection Order.

This was well above the national total of 31.3% and was the second highest in Australia, behind the Northern Territory.

“The Palaszczuk Government takes domestic and family violence very seriously and that is why we introduced the Specialist Domestic and Family Violence Court, which is being trialled at Southport,” Mrs D’Ath said.

“In 2015-16 we invested $1.75 million in the Specialist Domestic Violence Court and we have allocated $4.18 million over 2016-17 to complete the trial and its evaluation.

“We extended the trial of the Specialist Domestic Violence Court until June this year because there was a substantial increase in the number of domestic violence applications since the trial began. This was also proof that people feel more confident in coming forward.”

$42.4 million was also allocated in the 2016-17 Budget to roll out more specialist courts over four years.