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Women will now be able to check if their partner has been convicted of domestic violence in a new trial
- People in NSW can request information about their partner’s past
- The Right To Ask scheme is the first of its kind in Australia since 2016
- Its goal is to save lives and prevent them from becoming victims of abuse.
Women can now check if their new partner has a history of domestic violence through a government retrial aimed at saving lives.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet will launch the Right To Ask initiative on Monday with the aim of keeping women safe and empowering them to make an informed decision when entering new relationships.
People will be able to request information about their partner’s past through a hotline or website, including prior domestic violence convictions.
The 12-month trial follows the tragic recent death in western Sydney of 31-year-old Dannielle Finlay-Jones, allegedly murdered by her new boyfriend Ashley Gaddie, whom she had met on a dating app weeks earlier.
The Right To Ask scheme will be unveiled in NSW on Monday in the wake of the recent death of Dannielle Finlay-Jones (pictured)
Gaddie, 33, had been the subject of five separate AVOs from former partners in the past six years.
said the prime minister the daily telegraph the new scheme will be worth it if it saves someone’s life.
“There are simply too many heartbreaking stories of women and men seriously injured or killed in circumstances where the perpetrators had a history of domestic and violent crime they were unaware of,” Perrottet said.
Those requesting information about their partners will be subject to identification checks and a legal declaration confirming that they have a relationship with the person they are requesting information about.
The scheme is the first of its kind in Australia since 2016 when NSW tried a similar program which had limited success and was not widely accessed.
Police Minister Paul Toole is confident the new scheme will be much more effective.
“The dating landscape has changed since then, with more and more people accessing dating apps and going outside of known friendship circles,” he said.
The scheme aims to save lives by allowing people to check their partner’s past for a history of domestic violence (file image)
NSW Police have also backed the trial.
“We look forward to working … to get this going,” Commissioner Karen Webb said.
The test comes as officials from dating apps Bumble, Match and Grindr prepare to attend a national summit addressing online dating safety this week.
Federal Communications Minister Michelle Rowland will convene Wednesday’s panel discussion that will discuss how to prevent exploitation of online dating services, support users who are harmed, and efforts to improve online dating safety.
Reporting processes, support for victims of abuse, and policies to hold perpetrators accountable are also on the agenda.
“We need to make sure that the platforms have the right protections for those who use them and effective mechanisms to report an incident if something goes wrong,” said Ms Rowland.
If you or someone you know needs support, please contact 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732).
NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb hopes the new scheme will give people the power to make informed decisions when entering a new relationship.