As a member organisation of the Coalition for the Safety of Women and Children, and independently, Shine has advocated for a law to criminalise stalking for many years. Gaps in current legislation mean that stalkers are often able to terrorise their victims for months or years without recourse. Intimate partner stalkers tends to persist longer than other stalking, causing fear and intimidation and limiting victims’ freedom.
The current Government is following through on its commitment last year to passing a law to criminalise stalking. This bill is now in its final stages and, while we are heartened to see that the Select Committee has taken on board a number of changes recommended in submissions from Shine, the Coalition and other family violence specialists and victim-survivors, it has failed to implement other recommendations that would have strengthened the bill as a tool to support victim safety and autonomy.
We are greatly pleased that the bill now defines stalking as two or more acts within 24 months, which is a significant improvement over the original definition of three or more acts within one year. The bill will supercede the current definition of criminal harassment under the Harassment Act, and the previous definition would have been a step backward.
However, one of our remaining concerns is that the bill does not require police to consult with victims before notifying issuing warnings to stalkers, as this has potential to increase risk to victims. We hope that Police will take it upon themselves to create a process so that victims are routinely consulted and that there will be sufficient training for frontline police to ensure they understand how to implement the bill so that stalkers are held accountable and victims are safer.
The new law will provide another tool for supporting employees impacted by domestic violence to be safe at work; employers will be able to report stalking to police which should then be seen as criminal behaviour, regardless of whether the stalker is named in a Protection Order or has been served a Trespass Notice.