The Ministry of Justice has released a summary of feedback on draft guidance for information sharing under new family violence legislation.

The Family Violence Act 2018, which comes into effect on 1 July 2019, outlines how and when family violence agencies and social services practitioners can share information about victims or perpetrators of family violence.

The Under-Secretary to the Minister of Justice (Domestic and Sexual Violence Issues), Jan Logie, says the purpose of the new law is to encourage agencies to work together to identify, stop, prevent and otherwise respond to family violence

“We’ve consulted closely with the family violence sector to ensure our guidelines and processes are clear, and victim safety is at the centre of our decision-making.”

Ms Logie says that overall, feedback was positive, recognising the importance of agencies having a more complete picture to better understand and address family violence. But a crucial consideration was seeking the views of victims and survivors, because they know their lives better than anyone else.

The Ministry of Justice will now update the guidance, taking into account the comments and suggestions made. The updated guidance will focus on enabling safe, appropriate and consistent practice across the sector. It will be released when the Family Violence Act comes into effect on 1 July.