Queensland, Australia on Tuesday opened a specialist court dedicated to dealing with domestic violence cases. The Southport Court on the Gold Coast is to undergo a six-month trial, after which domestic violence courts may be opened across the rest of the state. The court's motto is "timeliness, access and resolution"; it aims to see domestic violence cases lodged and heard on the same day.
Magistrate Colin Strofield, 57, highlighted the need for domestic violence cases to be heard as soon as possible: "If you are in fear of domestic violence or being subjected to domestic violence why should you need to wait one minute longer than you need to?"
Police statistics indicate domestic violence cases in Queensland have risen from 3349 in 2010, to 4683 in 2014; Magistrate Strofield is hopeful the dedicated court will help these figures decline by getting more people to act against domestic violence.
According to Strofield, Southport court gets more domestic violence applications than any other court in Queensland.
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