Choking, assault, AVOs: A day in Wollongong's domestic violence court

Despite the order being put in place to protect the woman, the man went on to commit "continuous and sustained" assaults against her in the ensuing months. The pair had been in an on-off relationship for five years.

He turned up to the woman's home unannounced in July 2023. She felt the need to let him stay due to him having nowhere else to go.

The man subjected her to verbal and physical abuse for the next two days, throwing glass jars at her, dragging her by the hair across the living room floor, and punching her in the face several times.

The next month, the man accused the victim of sleeping with someone else before he repeatedly punched her in the rib cage.

The fact this assault happened in front of the woman's four-year-old child was an aggravating factor Magistrate Mark Douglass considered when he sentenced the man to 17 months' jail on Thursday, May 2.

Also taken into account was the man's disadvantaged upbringing, which involved him being the victim of horrific abuse at the hands of his own family members when he was a young boy.

He was one of the 37 men who had matters on Wollongong Local Court's designated domestic and personal violence list.

A crowd congregated outside the courtroom before it opened its doors, made up of defendants, complainants, supporters, and domestic violence liaison officers.

There were 42 people in total with matters in that court on Thursday - and that was considered a quiet, uneventful list.

This is the reality of Wollongong's court system. A reality that many in the Illawarra never have to consider.

Among those were men from all walks of life - young and old, ranging in ethnicities. Some pleaded guilty, others not guilty. Some were sentenced on the spot, many matters were adjourned. They'll be back in court on a different date.

The Illawarra Mercury will usually write about a cross-section of cases heard in court in any one week, but we took the step of covering the entire day in one court with an aim to show the impact of domestic violence in our community in light of the national conversation around violence against women.

This year, one woman in Australia has been murdered every four days, a horrifying 30 per cent increase since this time last year.

In NSW alone, according to the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics, and Research, which reflects direct reports to police, sexual assault has increased by 47 per cent in the last five years in rural and regional NSW. Domestic family violence has increased 27 per cent.

Back in Wollongong court one defendant was a school teacher, dressed in a crisp suit, who previously repeatedly stalked a woman after a relationship breakdown. He faces two fresh counts of contravening an apprehended violence order and did not enter formal pleas.

Another on the list was a man who previously killed his girlfriend's pet rabbit and subjected her to repeated assaults. An apprehended violence order was put in place to protect the woman.

One man wearing hi-vis had come in straight from the worksite for his sentence for contravening an earlier-imposed apprehended violence order. The court heard he is serving a number of community-based jail sentences for crimes against the same woman.

He swiftly left the room after the case was adjourned to allow his lawyer to gather further subjective material.

The back and forth between lawyers and Magistrate Douglass is efficient and professional as they whip through the list, with some orders fixed within minutes.

The magistrate explained the conditions with care, reminding each defendant who had an order finalised that breaching it is a serious offence carrying a maximum penalty of two years' in custody, a fine of up to $5500, or both.

"You must not approach or be in the company of them within 12 hours of drinking alcohol," he told one man who consented to an order to protect a woman and three children.

The magistrate reiterated: "Not to approach means not to approach. The main protected person who is an adult cannot tell you that you can have a drink because it's Christmas."

It's his responsibility to abide by the order, the magistrate added. "You must realise police are very vigilant in maintaining orders."

Some women appeared to either vary or revoke the orders against men in their lives, including an elderly woman who wished to add a condition that she could speak to her son, but only via phone.

"I don't want physical contact, just by phone," she told the magistrate.

A pregnant woman, who is due to give birth in August, applied to vary an order against the father to allow contact in relation to the child when it is born.

The room that was packed in the morning had been almost cleared out by 3pm. Practitioners got through their work day, but Thursday's list is part of an extraordinary reality that many aren't exposed to.

Many only hear or see stories about domestic violence when someone is killed - this year alone, 28 women have been killed by their current or former partners and members of their family, according to campaigners Destroy the Joint.