Sometimes when police respond to family violence, they think the victim is the perpetrator and treat the real perpetrator as the victim. This is called misidentification, and it’s a serious problem across Australia.
What Does This Mean?
Imagine you call the police because your partner has been abusing you. But when police arrive, they believe the perpetrator’s story instead of yours. They might arrest you, charge you with a crime, or take out a protection order against you – even though you’re the one being hurt. In Tasmania, there’s growing evidence that this is happening.
Why Do Police Make This Mistake?
There are several reasons:
The perpetrator is good at lying.
Many perpetrators are skilled manipulators. They might:
- Call the police first to make themselves look like the victim
- Stay calm and polite while you’re upset and angry
- Hurt themselves to make it look like you attacked them
- Know exactly what to say to convince police
- Be friends or play in the same sporting team, especially if you live in a regional community
You don’t act like police expect.
When you’ve been abused, you might be:
- Angry, crying, or yelling (which can look aggressive)
- Fighting back in self-defense
- Too traumatized to explain clearly what happened
- Scared of the police
Police might see your distress and think you’re the problem, while your calm, charming perpetrator seems reasonable.
Police may not understand abuse
Sometimes general duties officers from local police stations don’t fully understand:
- How coercive control and abuse work over time – it’s not just about one incident
- The difference between defending yourself and being the perpetrator
- How trauma makes people behave
- That perpetrators use coercive control, not just violence
Police only look at what just happened
Police often focus on the one incident they’re responding to, not the whole history of abuse in your relationship. This makes it hard to see the bigger picture of who’s really in control.
Who’s Most at Risk of Being Misidentified?
Some people are more likely to be wrongly identified as the perpetrator:
- Aboriginal women
- Women from other countries or who don’t speak English well
- People with disabilities
- People with mental health issues or who use drugs or alcohol
- LGBTIQ+ people
- People with a criminal record
What Happens When Police Get It Wrong?
The consequences are devastating:
- You get arrested instead of getting help
- You might be charged with a crime you didn’t commit
- A protection order stops you from going home or seeing your kids
- You could lose your children, your job, or your house
- You’ll have a criminal record
- The real perpetrator is free to keep hurting you
- You lose trust in the system and might never call police again
- The perpetrator feels even more powerful
What Can You Do If This Happens to You?
Getting a PFVO removed when you’ve been misidentified as the perpetrator is very difficult under current Tasmanian law, but there’s important news about upcoming reforms that may help.
Current Options (Very Limited)
Under existing law, your options are extremely restricted:
1. Request Police to Remove It You can fill in a form from Tasmania Police requesting removal or variation, but police are unlikely to remove a PFVO, and can only change it if everyone agrees – if the protected person (in this case the perpetrator) agrees and if Police agree it is safe to do so.
2. Apply to Court If police won’t remove the order, you can apply to the Magistrates Court to vary or revoke it. However, this is extremely challenging because the Court must be satisfied that there has been substantial change in the relevant circumstances since the FVO was made or last varied, and only in very rare circumstances will a Court be satisfied that circumstances have changed sufficiently to revoke a FVO entirely.
The problem is that the “substantial change” test doesn’t really address misidentification – the circumstances haven’t changed, the initial assessment was simply wrong.
Important Update: Proposed Law Reform
The Tasmanian Government has proposed the Family Violence (Miscellaneous Reforms) Bill 2025, which would provide the Commissioner of Police, or an authorised police officer of the rank of inspector or above, with the power to vary or revoke a Police Family Violence Order in certain circumstances, such as when a victim has been misidentified as the perpetrator.
This reform directly addresses misidentification and would create a specific mechanism for removing orders where women have been wrongly identified. Public consultation on this Bill closed on June 1, 2025.
After public consultation closes, bills typically go through a review process where submissions are considered before being introduced to Parliament.
At the time of writing it has not yet been formally introduced to the Tasmanian Parliament.
This is a recognized problem in Tasmania’s system, and advocacy continues for better protections for misidentified victims.
Immediate Steps to Take
If you’re currently facing this situation
- get legal advice immediately – Contact Tasmania Legal Aid on 1300 366 611 (9am-5pm weekdays) or the Tasmanian Women’s Legal Service.
- gather evidence of the actual violence against you to document the pattern
- contact support services, such as
- the Family Violence Counselling Support Service (link to contact details in Support services)
- Family Violence Response and Referral Line (link to contact details in Support services)
Learn more: Engender Equality Discussion paper: Misidentification of the Predominant Aggressor in Tasmania