Push for terror watch list type system for family violence perpetrators

A former police officer is pushing for a new domestic violence unit to be set up with the same powers as the counter-terrorism unit.

As reported in The Age, a new idea is being pitched which would see dangerous family violence perpetrators put on a high risk “watch list” so they can be monitored to reduce the risk to victims in the same way police monitor terrorism suspects to avert potential attacks.

Former police officer Stephen Wilson, co-founder of Protective Group, told Ross and John after years of experience in the area, he is still seeing family violence on the rise across the country.

“We’ve been in this space for about seven or eight years, in the last two years we’ve looked after roughly 1800 family violence victim survivors and their 3000 or so children with them,” Stephen said.

“We’ve been travelling across the country, attending to referrals, looking at strategies to keep women and children safe, implementing safety measures, de-bugging their phones and cars.

“We found a tracking device on a car in Brisbane only two days ago.

“When I see these articles every day I think, something different must be done.”

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