Asked to comment yesterday, Justice Minister Amy Adams said the ‘‘death of any person as a result of family violence is one too many''.
''For this reason, reducing family violence is one of my main priorities,'' she said.
Last year, the Government announced an ‘‘all-of-government package'' to better protect victims of family violence and stop it occurring in the first place, she said.
''The package takes a comprehensive, integrated and longterm approach, which will enhance our response to victims, children who experience family violence and perpetrators.''
Considerable work was under way in the area and reports showed it was progressing well.
The work included a review of the Domestic Violence Act to ensure the system kept victims safe and held offenders to account.
The issuing and enforcement of protection orders are being considered as part of this review.
The maximum penalty for breaching a protection order had also been increased from two years' imprisonment to three years.
The minister's comments came after deaths last year prompted discussion on the way protection orders were managed. The children's estranged father, Edward Hamilton Livingstone, was the subject of one at the time of the murders.
Court documents show the sentencing judge believed - as a result of no criminal information sharing between Australia and New Zealand and Livingstone's earlier diversion - that Livingstone had ‘‘no criminal history whatsoever''.
It was later revealed Livingstone tried to burn down a former girlfriend's house in Sydney about 30 years earlier and was convicted of arson.
A letter from Livingstone's psychologist, written four months before he killed his children, said ‘‘I do not believe he is a violent man''.
- Vaughan Elder/Timothy Brown
