Legislative Council Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3) 51 3 Parliament of South Australia Legislative Council published Question Time Domestic Violence DOMESTIC VIOLENCE The Hon. A. BRESSINGTON Legislative Council DOMESTIC VIOLENCE The Hon. A. BRESSINGTON (15:13): Will there be a level of education with service providers, including police, about the fact that men are also perpetrated against and that domestic violence is domestic violence, regardless of who perpetrates it? So, is there going to be that education, acknowledging that men's claims of domestic violence also need to be taken seriously? The Hon. G.E. GAGO Legislative Council Minister for State/Local Government Relations, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Government Enterprises, Minister Assisting the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Energy DOMESTIC VIOLENCE The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for State/Local Government Relations, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Government Enterprises, Minister Assisting the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Energy) (15:14): When the honourable member has a chance to look at the legislation—it has only just been tabled today—she will see that domestic violence is gender neutral, so it does not refer to the perpetrators or victims being men or women. It is quite gender neutral, so it protects anyone, of any gender, who is a victim of domestic violence. The training, education and awareness around that new legislation will be available across the broad community, in government and non-government sectors. The member reminds me that it is not women alone who are victims of domestic violence. She is quite right, because some men are victims of domestic violence; however, in the large majority of cases men are the perpetrators and women and their children are the victims.