A re-elected Victorian Labor government intends to create two new offences, described as Australian-firsts, aimed at addressing what it calls "loopholes" in family violence legislation. Premier Ben Carroll is set to announce these election commitments on Sunday.
One proposed offence would cover cases where a person takes their own life as a result of family violence, creating a new form of manslaughter. The other new offence would target perpetrators who abandon a victim requiring medical care.
These proposals respond to recommendations from the state coroner following the deaths of Belinda Jones and Narelle Simmons. Ms Jones died from treatable infections after her partner delayed calling an ambulance, while Ms Simmons died after an assault by her partner, who was later sentenced for common assault and failing to report a death.
Additionally, the government has committed to increasing the maximum penalty for rape from 25 years to life imprisonment. Maximum penalties for other serious sexual offences would increase by five years, and persistent breaches of family violence intervention orders would see their maximum penalty double from five to ten years' imprisonment. The standard sentence for the murder of a current or former partner would also increase from 25 to 30 years.
Labor also plans to amend the Evidence Act to prevent humiliating questioning techniques on victim-survivors in court and allow courts to consider patterns of sexual abuse as evidence.