Statistics on Western Australian Violence Restraining Orders

The following are statistics on Western Australian violence restraining orders (VROs) taken from the Marty Kavanagh, Kavanagh Lawyers WA paper to the 2013 Law on the Lounge Family Law Conference, Bali 2013.

The writer is very grateful to Mr Tom Millward, from the WA Magistrates Court for the following statistics on Western Australian VROs. [1]

Western Australian violence restraining orders: Lodgements by Year

Perhaps surprisingly the overall number of applications lodged for VROs has remained relatively static with only a 4.7% increase over the five year period 2008 to 2012. Considering the general population increase in WA over the same period it is arguably the case that net VROs have decreased.

Jurisdiction	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
Magistrates Court	12654	13036	12697	13124	12452
Children’s Court	860	884	846	784	1693
Total	13,514	13,920	13,543	13,908	14,145

The large increase in Children’s Court lodgements between 2011 and 2012 is due to recent legislative changes which are discussed below.

Outcome of Lodgements

Jurisdiction	Outcome	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
Magistrates Court	Interim Order	8244	8175	7954	8584	7706
	Final Order	329	382	374	294	182
	Granted, Status Unknown	45	56	37	24	18
	Adjourned or Remanded	81	64	106	89	61
	Dismissed	3261	3626	3493	3489	3353
	Not Granted	205	309	310	333	276
	Withdrawn	238	199	151	134	148
	Cancelled	205	196	246	148	167
	Other	46	29	26	22	31

Children’s Court	Interim Order	621	638	562	557	1009
	Final Order	38	32	22	21	25
	Granted, Status Unknown		1	1
	Adjourned or Remanded	6	8	8	6	16
	Dismissed	152	152	198	151	446
	Not Granted	13	12	22	26	22
	Withdrawn	14	19	10	7	37
	Cancelled	12	20	21	14	21
	Other	4	2	2	2	10

In may surprise some practitioners that consistently over the period 2008 to 2012 at least one in four VRO applications is dismissed or not granted. Considering most initial applications are heard on an ex parte basis it is perhaps surprising that so many applications fail.
Even more surprising is the statistic provided to the writer for 2012 that only 9% of all applications result in a final order after a defended hearing.

Jurisdiction	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
Dismissed (MC)	3261	3626	3493	3489	3353
Not Granted (MC)	205	309	310	333	276
Dismissed (CC)	152	152	198	151	446
Not Granted (CC)	13	12	22	26	22
Total dismissed or not granted	3631	4099	4023	3999	4097
Total	13,514	13,920	13,543	13,908	14,145
% VRO applications dismissed or not granted	26.8	29.4	29.7	28.7	28.9

VRO Orders made under Section 63 of the Restraining Orders Act

Whilst courts other than the Magistrates Court (including Courts hearing proceedings under the Family Law Act 1975 and the Family Court Act 1997) may make restraining orders pursuant to s 63 of the Act, these courts seem reluctant to do so.

Jurisdiction	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
Magistrates Court	4	1	47	30	19
Children’s Court	1		1	1	2

Sentence Rates for Breaches of VRO

What is not surprising is the increase in the sentencing rate for breaches of VROs and in light of the WA Government’s “three strikes” policy introduced in 2011 sentence rates are likely to increase. [2] “Sentence” does not necessarily mean a custodial sentence.

Jurisdiction	Outcome Classification	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
Magistrates Court	Sentenced	3960	4069	3607	4619	4213
	Dismissed	443	708	494	586	277
	Other	10	10	2	4	5
	*Sentence Rate*	*90%*	*85%*	*88%*	*89%*	*94%*
Children’s Court	Sentenced	53	53	47	41	102
	Dismissed	13	6	41	8	14
	Other	16	15	5	9	26
	*Sentence Rate*	*65%*	*72%*	*51%*	*71%*	*72%*