The Magistrates Court and Children's Court of Victoria released a joint submission to the royal commission on Thursday ahead of public hearings beginning on Monday.

The submission's wide-ranging recommendations to deal with the "overwhelming demand" include the rolling out of dedicated family violence courts, allowing victims to appear in court via videolink from remote locations and adopting a fast-tracked listing model that compels police and courts to deal with matters within a set time.

The courts have also called for the expansion of men's behaviour change programs, the strengthening of community corrections orders to better monitor perpetrators and legislative reform to allow warrants to be signed and transmitted electronically.

The 87-page submission also gives an insight into a system at the front end of a staggering increase in the reporting of family violence offences.

"Overwhelming demand in relation to family violence matters has, more than any other single factor, shaped Magistrates Court of Victoria's caseload and workload over the past decade," it states.

According to the report: 

• Magistrates are hearing 55 cases of family violence intervention orders a day. On occasions, there are in excess of 80 matters a day. 
• Family violence intervention orders accounted for 80 per cent of all intervention orders heard in the Magistrates Court in 2013-14.
• Breaches of intervention orders have tripled since 2005 and applications for orders have nearly doubled since 2001.
• There are "lengthy delays" for men to access court-ordered behaviour change programs.
• A chronic lack of space in courts means victims of family violence cannot be accommodated safely and women and children regularly come face-to-face with their attackers in court waiting rooms.

One of the submission's major recommendations is the rolling out of dedicated family violence courts across the state, echoing the call made by Victoria Police in its submission released last week. The "one-stop shop", which has been operating in Ballarat and Heidelberg since 2005, encompasses specialist magistrates, staff and legal services, separate waiting areas, remote witness facilities to allow victims to give evidence via videolink and outreach workers in areas such as housing, Centrelink and healthcare.

However, the sheer volume of cases has hampered the effectiveness of the Family Violence Court Division (FVCD) of the Magistrates Court, most especially at Heidelberg.

The submission states Heidelberg finalised the highest number of intervention orders of any court in the state and has not received a level of resourcing to support it.

"The sheer volume of the family violence caseload at the Heidelberg FVCD has compromised the effectiveness of the model at this court," the report states.

"Additionally, the effective operation of the FVCD has been impacted by the lack of availability of legal and family services which are inundated by the volume of cases, have been unable to provide the comprehensive services envisaged by the FVCD model."

The report also says outdated court buildings – 41 per cent of courts are more than 50 years old – were not providing adequate safety for victims. Despite an injection of funding last year to improve safe waiting areas, there was a "chronic lack" of interview rooms and secure spaces for victims.

"Victims can be at real risk during when they attend court, the trauma and anxiety that accompanies the court process is heightened where victims know they will be in close proximity to the perpetrator and his supporters," the submission states.

Lengthy delays coupled with a lack of access to counselling for perpetrators was another "key challenge", the report says.

Currently, counselling orders can be made for men living in only Heidelberg, Ballarat, Moorabbin and Frankston. The report states that funding allows for only 340 places in programs across these four locations despite 8500 intervention orders being finalised in these regions last year.

"The number of funded places available to the court is inadequate to service the need for places in these programs required by the courts," the report states.

The courts also recommended family violence victims be allowed to give pre-recorded video statements, which is already the case for victims of sexual assault.