Legislative Council Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1) 52 1 Parliament of South Australia Legislative Council published Question Time Domestic Violence DOMESTIC VIOLENCE The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK Legislative Council DOMESTIC VIOLENCE The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (14:31): My question is to the Minister for the Status of Women. Can the minister advise whether the domestic violence research and investigation officer position within the Coroner's Office has been appointed? If not, why not; if so, what actions have been taken so far? The Hon. G.E. GAGO Legislative Council Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Public Sector Management, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Government Enterprises DOMESTIC VIOLENCE The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Public Sector Management, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Government Enterprises) (14:31): I thank the honourable member for her most important question. Indeed, I am very pleased to announce that the position has been filled; in fact, it has been filled for some time. The Hon. B.V. Finnigan interjecting: The Hon. G.E. GAGO Legislative Council The Hon. G.E. GAGO: Indeed, it is a Dorothy Dixer for us. The South Australian government has worked very hard to ensure that domestic violence-related deaths are prevented, and the recently appointed position in the Coroner's Office will research and investigate domestic violence-related deaths. This is another really important step that the government has taken to protect communities and, particularly, those individuals who are at risk of domestic violence, and I am very pleased that the Coroner's Office has worked in conjunction with the Office for Women, as well as with the Attorney-General's Department, to commence the implementation of this position. The recruitment process has been completed, and I am very pleased to advise that the successful applicant began on 24 January 2011. The new position works with the Coroner and complements other initiatives of the government's Women's Safety Strategy, such as the Family Safety Framework, to ensure that very positive working relationships exist across key systems. As honourable members know, I recently announced that a Family Safety Framework was successfully rolled out to yet another three areas, which means that all the Adelaide metropolitan area is now covered with provisions for access to the Family Safety Framework. That framework is very successful in reducing the risk of domestic violence. It is a strategy that, in effect, looks at a type of intensive case management across different agencies and disciplines. It helps to coordinate services and information across agencies, and it is particularly targeted towards those women identified as being at high risk of domestic violence. The Coroner's position complements that and also complements our other strategies. Our domestic violence legislation will be wound out in the foreseeable future. Again, it is radical reform that really transforms what we do here in South Australia. It provides for interim restraining orders to be put in place on the spot. The current arrangements mean that, when police are called out to an incident, generally they are required to leave the perpetrator in the family home and remove the victim and children and place them in a safe house, dislocating them. It is often a place in hiding for security reasons, and that is obviously dislocating women and their children from the very support arrangements—friends, family and schools—that they often desperately need. The new interim provisions will allow for police to be able to put an on-the-spot restraining order on the perpetrator and to actually remove the perpetrator from the family home and allow the women and children, where applicable, to stay in the home. We know provisions are being made to support and secure women in the family home rather than necessarily to send them off to a safe house. We know, for instance, that resources are available to assist with the replacement of locks, for instance, to replace security doors on the house, to put detector lights outside the place and even, for that matter, pruning trees around the house where the perpetrator is known to be a stalker, which is sometimes the case. Simple measures such as that can very much improve the safety of women. The senior research officer domestic violence position is only one of the many strategies and initiatives this government has committed towards combatting domestic violence.