A Whangarei Maori women's refuge is welcoming the law change that allows police to impose a five-day cooling-down period on the perpetrators of domestic violence.
The law change took effect on Thursday 1 July.
The manager of Te Puna o te Aroha, Sandra Laurence, says however that it needs to be backed up by counselling programmes and referrals.
She told Waatea News that men barred from their homes need to be made to face up to what they have done.
Also, she says, though the change means more work for women's refuges, no additional funding has been provided.
