Better family violence law

Overview

The Ministry of Justice is reviewing New Zealand’s family violence laws. As part of the review, we wanted to know your views about the ideas presented in this discussion document (PDF, 924KB), along with any other ideas you have for strengthening New Zealand’s family violence laws.

Safer Sooner: Strengthening family violence laws

The Government has announced changes to the law resulting from the review of family violence laws.

The changes will improve how we respond to family violence to keep victims safe and stop perpetrators using violence. The reforms span the civil and criminal law and are designed to ensure the law is forward looking.

The review is part of the wider Ministerial Group work programme on family violence and sexual violence which is co-chaired by the Minister of Justice and Minister for Social Development. Public consultation on the review attracted nearly 500 submissions which have helped inform these changes.

For more information about the changes, please see:

Safer Sooner page

Safer Sooner publication (PDF, 7.9MB)

Next steps

Hon Amy Adams, Minister of Justice, will introduce a Family Violence Bill to Parliament in the coming months. People will have the opportunity to comment on details of the proposed law when the Bill is considered at Select Committee.

Related links

Discussion document: Strengthening New Zealand's legislative response to family violence (PDF, 924KB)

Summary of submissions: Strengthening New Zealand's legislative response to family violence (PDF, 585KB)