DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO (14:34): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for the Status of Women a question about women with disabilities.

Leave granted.

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO: I understand that overseas studies have found that women with disabilities, regardless of age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or class, are assaulted, raped and abused at a rate of between two and 12 times greater than that for women without disabilities. Will the minister provide information about what the South Australian government is doing to support women with disabilities who have experienced 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, Minister for Gambling) (14:35): I thank the honourable member for her important question. It is a very sad fact that women with disabilities are particularly vulnerable to intimate partner violence. With that in mind, I am pleased to advise that I have recently provided $13,000 in funding to Women with Disabilities South Australia (WWDSA) to conduct awareness-raising activities in 2011-12.

This funding was provided to WWDSA through the Don't Cross the Line Anti-Violence Community Awareness Campaign Grants, which were established to inform and educate groups in the community who would not necessarily receive messages from the mainstream campaign or benefit from tailor-made messages to meet their own particular needs. WWDSA is convened by Margie Charlesworth, and the organisation is affiliated with the national body Women with Disabilities Australia, a peak organisation for women with all types of disabilities.

WWDSA will conduct awareness-raising training sessions in metropolitan and regional areas, specifically focusing on education around the Intervention Orders (Prevention of Abuse) Act 2009, which is due to be enacted in December this year. The funds have also been provided to assist WWDSA to work with young women with disabilities and women's domestic violence services to enhance their support services for women with disabilities.

This funding is in addition to the $50,000 in grants I announced in April this year as part of the anti-violence campaign and is part of the third round of grants that will particularly target communities and organisations that will educate young people with disability about respectful relationships and violence against women. The successful grant recipients are:

the Tutti Ensemble, for their Respect Me, Respect You program;

Yarredi Services at Port Lincoln, who will be working with 18 to 25-year-olds with a disability to produce information about respectful relationships, including I believe a DVD;

Christies Beach High School, which will develop a project with its senior students with disabilities; and

the Legal Services Commission, to conduct sessions of their highly successful Expect Respect program.

This work in preventing violence against women through the promotion of respectful relationships reflects the directions of the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children. Our own Women's Safety Strategy, which is being updated to reflect the national plan, aims to ensure that all women are treated with respect and that their voices are heard. I am advised that the Department for Families and Communities is undertaking a number of reforms that will improve access to support for women with disabilities, including;

the violence against women strategic plan;

the domestic violence reform process; and also

the improved statewide domestic violence gateway service.

The Department for Families and Communities also recently held a workshop that brought together women's domestic violence services, disability services and disability advocacy groups as a first step to assist in building capacity of these services to respond to women with disabilities who may be victims of violence.

WWDSA was represented at the workshop and will play an integral role in ensuring that services will be able to respond to the diverse and very specific needs of women with disabilities. WWDSA will also look at opportunities to work with the South Australia Police in addressing issues highlighted recently by the Health and Community Services Complaints Commissioner. I am very pleased that we have been able to provide this funding to WWDSA, which is such a strong advocate for women with disabilities.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Kelly Vincent has a supplementary.