On Monday, July 14, the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria announced that the 10 courts, which are situated in regional Victoria, would be closed to the public on non-sitting days.
This is the third phase in a shift to remote servicing, which began early last year.
Meagan Boschetti, who serves as a solicitor and partnerships manager for local practice Medson Legal, found the recent announcement to be concerning for the community.
“From our point of view, it’s going to impact the family violence victims the most,” Ms Boschetti said.
“What we find is that a lot of the clients, when they’re applying for a family violence intervention order, they will often show up to the court in person as an avenue to seek help, and then apply for an intervention order.
“There is availability to do it online, but I think what people don’t realise is that, if you submit a family violence application online, people still need to go in to sign off and complete it in person, which means either there’ll be a delay if the court is closed, or they’re going to have to travel extensively.”
Aside from the one in town, the closest courthouses to Seymour are located in Shepparton and Broadmeadows.
State Member for Euroa Annabelle Cleeland said the updates to the court’s opening hours posed “dangerous” risks and accessibility concerns.
“These local courts deal with some of the most serious issues our communities face, including family violence and community safety,” Ms Cleeland said.
“Reducing access to justice means more victims left in limbo, more perpetrators walking free and more regional communities left without support.”
Across regional Victoria, courthouses in Bairnsdale, Bacchus Marsh, Benalla, Echuca, Korumburra, Kyneton, Sale, Swan Hill and Wangaratta will also face closures on non-sitting days.
A spokesperson from the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria said the changes would be beneficial to staff, and that support would still be available for community members.
“There is no reduction to staff hours, no job losses and no changes to existing sitting days,” the spokesperson said.
“This model provides the staff with time to prepare listing for future sitting days and do other registry work.
“On non-sitting days, judicial officers are allocated to other locations within the region to hear court matters within those local communities.”
While court users can still gain support by emailing or phoning their court, concerns about ease of access for victims of domestic violence remain rife within the community.
The most recent Crime Statistics Agency data revealed that, compared to the year previous, there has been an increase of 13.5 per cent in family violence incidents reported across the Mitchell Shire over a 12-month period ending in March this year.
Local solicitor and family dispute resolution practitioner Anna Doupe, from Pear and Pair Law, said the closures were primarily due to safety concerns from registry staff; however, the impacts of the updated opening times on vulnerable people in the community would be significant.
“While I completely understand the need for the registry staff to be safe while they are at work, the reality is that this removes a necessary service from the surrounding community,” Ms Doupe said.
“The registry staff assist with applicants and respondents alike with intervention order applications and can assist to determine if the matters need to be heard urgently.
“This is an invaluable community resource and assists to keep vulnerable members of the community safe, particularly women and children who are statistically more likely to be victims of family violence.
“These essential resources should not be a victim of funding cuts and further lack of accessibility to basic resources for our community, purely because these vulnerable people are not capital city-based.”
For more information on the Seymour Magistrates’ Court’s opening hours, visit tinyurl.com/4w47kk5d or contact the courthouse on 9087 5722 or at seymourcoordinator@courts.vic.gov.au
