In a letter to the Commission received on 14 July 2009, the Attorney General, the Hon J Hatzistergos issued the following terms of reference:

The Commonwealth Attorney-General has referred to the Australian Law Reform Commission for inquiry and report pursuant to subsection 20(1) of the Australian Law Reform Commission Act 1996 the issues of:

1) the interaction in practice of State and Territory family/domestic violence and child protection laws with the Family Law Act and relevant Commonwealth, State and Territory criminal laws; and

2) the impact of inconsistent interpretation or application of laws in cases of sexual assault occurring in a family/domestic violence context, including rules of evidence, on victims of such violence.


In relation to both issues the Australian Law Reform is to consider what, if any, improvements could be made to relevant legal frameworks to protect the safety of women and their children. <Link to the reference to the Australian Law Reform Commission>

For the purposes of the implementation of that reference, I refer the issues to the New South Wales Law Reform Commission for inquiry and report in collaboration with the Australian Law Reform Commission pursuant to section 10 of the Law Reform Commission Act 1967 (NSW).

See also: Digest; Australian Law Reform Commission inquiry page