Thank you.
I'm going to segue now into reverse onus.
I am referring to the brief by the Aboriginal Legal Services. One of their concerns is the reverse onus provision on bail applications for those charged with a domestic violence offence who have been convicted of such an offence in the past. They note that one of the circumstances that arise in cases of domestic violence is that one person will claim that the other person started it, and both end up being arrested. Sometimes both end up being convicted. According to the brief, one of the impacts of dual charging is that women end up with convictions for assault they should never have had. If these provisions go through and their partner alleges abuse once again, they may have trouble meeting the reverse onus. This means they will be detained, they will likely plead guilty, and the cycle will continue.
I'd like some comment on why we need a reverse onus provision. What is the benefit of that? If you could comment specifically on this concern it would be helpful. Thank you.