Port Augusta Community Support

The Hon. G.G. BROCK (Stuart) (14:45): My question is to the Minister for Child Protection. Can the minister update the people of my electorate on the recent visit by the minister to Port Augusta and any outcomes regarding support for children and families? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain further.

Leave granted.

The Hon. G.G. BROCK: Last month, along with the minister, I attended a meeting with the mayor, Linley Shine, for the Port Augusta City Council, and I understand that the minister was then able to meet with other government services on her visit, which I greatly appreciated and understood a lot more about the issues.

The Hon. K.A. HILDYARD (Reynell—Minister for Child Protection, Minister for Women and the Prevention of Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence) (14:45): Thank you so much to the member for his question, for his engagement on this really important visit, and for his outstanding work and care for his community. It has been a pleasure to undertake several regional visits of late and, following invitation from the council and the local member, a visit to Port Augusta. During this particular visit, I held really important meetings with local council, DCP staff, Aboriginal community-controlled organisation KWY and, of course, the member himself.

The Malinauskas Labor government is committed to our regions and as minister, like all other ministers, I have made it a priority to visit and hear directly from various communities. What was clear from all of my meetings was how community in Port Augusta works together to support families and children, particularly those most needing our support.

We know that regional and remote communities often have to tackle the complex situations families face differently to how these situations may be approached in metro Adelaide. I wholeheartedly thank Port Augusta mayor, Ms Linley Shine, and the CEO, who spent time discussing with the local member and with me the challenges Port Augusta families face and how the government can help ensure effective, coordinated support is available.

Government participation in local initiatives, connections with the local DCP office and the importance of family group conferencing for the region were discussed, and I really appreciated our very frank and important conversations. Hearing from the mayor regarding the difference that family group conferences are making for local families reaffirmed the priority that I as minister have put on family group conferencing and the investment our government has made. With a success rate of 90 per cent at the end of last financial year, we know they work. We know they empower families and we know that they help make things better for children.

I have spoken with my CE since the visit and there will now be a focus on building more capacity to provide local level family group conferencing for Port Augusta. I look forward also to developing the collaborative work we identified we can do to strengthen awareness and action in relation to domestic, family and sexual violence prevention.

I visited the local DCP office and spoke at length with outstanding workers about how we can continue to support them in the crucial work that they do. What was very clear is their dedication to families in Port Augusta, with many workers having worked there for 10-plus years. One particular story that stuck with me was the story of a mother and daughter who both work for DCP, utterly dedicated to supporting local families and children.

ACCOs and NGOs in the region are vital to ensuring that support is offered in a timely and effective way to support families. One particular organisation that offers outstanding support to women and children experiencing violence is KWY, and it was great to sit down and chat with their team about their work with community.

It was also excellent to witness the impact of the Port Augusta safety hub in providing services local and relevant to their community. Through partnership with the federal government, utilising our allocation of the 500 frontline DV worker program, we have boosted resources in all of the regional safety hubs, including in Port Augusta. Our government is really proud to support KWY's regional Women's Safety Contact Service, which supports Aboriginal women in Port Augusta experiencing violence. I, of course, took the opportunity to meet one on one with the member and, as we all know, his work in his community is extraordinary.

The SPEAKER: Your time for the question is up, minister.