Domestic and Family Violence

Ms HABIB (Elder) (14:57): My question is to the Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services. What multi-agency services are available to assist with tackling domestic and family violence?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The minister will be heard in silence.

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD (Gibson—Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing) (14:57): I thank the member for her question. I know she is very passionate in this area and, as the assistant minister in this area, she has been doing some outstanding work. She is a big advocate for this in her local community as well. It has been a pleasure, in her short time in this place, to work with her in this area.

The fight against domestic violence is a cause that I would like to think we are all very passionate about in this place. As Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services, it is something I am extremely passionate about. My agencies are working very hard to protect our most vulnerable and are leading the way in the fight against domestic violence. The Multi-Agency Protection Service, or MAPS as it is known, is an interagency information-sharing model to manage domestic violence and child protection matters for the whole of South Australia.

MAPS commenced operation in July 2014 and is a great piece of operation for South Australia. On Friday 25 May, I visited MAPS with the assistant minister, the member for Elder, to see firsthand the innovative response to individual cases of domestic violence and child protection matters. Inspector Peter Worth, the officer in charge of MAPS, and Assistant Commissioner Scott Duval, accompanied us on the visit and provided a comprehensive overview of the MAPS operation.

This is based on a model in operation throughout the United Kingdom, and MAPS co-locates representatives from particular government agencies, including SAPOL, the Department for Correctional Services, the Department for Education, the Department of Human Services, and the Department for Child Protection, incorporating Families SA, and SA Health. The way these people work together is absolutely outstanding.

The ability to share this information between these agencies to red flag issues and incidents that need to be followed up was just great to see. The set-up there is a lovely office, a lovely building and a great working environment, and the way that these departments work together is exceptional. I know that the MAPS people here in South Australia went to Tasmania because they have set up something similar down there. They went to see how it was working in Tasmania and perhaps pick up a couple of tricks they could bring back to make MAPS even better here.

They were a little bit surprised because they actually ended up giving more information to the people in Tasmania and telling them what they were doing and how well they were going here in South Australia. Whilst the effort to go to try to pick up some extra tips was worthwhile, the fact that they got down there and saw how well they were doing it was very reassuring, that here in South Australia we are leading the way. One of the key benefits of MAPS is that ability, as I said, to get the complete picture of our victims, working across those agencies, and having them all in that one location.

Forty to 45 high-risk cases per week are assessed by MAPS, yet high-risk cases comprise only 10 per cent of the statewide reported domestic violence cases. As we look at this, it is a great opportunity to look forward at the opportunities through a data-sharing framework and how we can maybe take this from a manual system and roll it over to the digital world. There are some great opportunities there that I really look forward to exploring further.

On this trip, we also got to the Women's Safety Services South Australia, where we met Maria and Ginny, and again the member for Elder and I were very warmly welcomed. This is the first co-located women's service in Australia, with the presence of a sworn police officer, staff from the Department for Correctional Services, social workers, counsellors and, of course, the domestic violence crisis hotline and the 1800 RESPECT call rooms.

Maria and Ginny were thrilled that the Marshall Liberal government will be providing funding to expand the Women's Safety Services crisis hotline to enable it to operate 24 hours a day, and genuinely they were elated with the fact that the Marshall Liberal government has made a commitment. I do recommend these services to everyone. They are a great part of our state, and on this side of the house we are very excited to be supporting them.