Domestic Violence

The Hon. S.G. WADE (14:33): My question is to the Minister for Correctional Services. Can the minister update the council on the Department for Correctional Services' trials of domestic violence perpetrator rehabilitation programs, both in prisons and in community corrections, including the number of participants and the rate of successful completion?

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (14:34): I thank the honourable member for his important question. The Department for Correctional Services is always looking to be innovative when it comes to the type of rehabilitation programs that they put in place amongst the people they find within their custody, and of course there are ongoing efforts, works and programs in place that specifically look at the question of domestic violence. In respect to specific numbers, I am more than happy to get that information and share that with the honourable member.

I am advised that there are programs in place that do specifically deal with domestic violence. This is something that, of course, is necessary and there is a growing need for, because there is a growing representation within our prison system of those people who do find themselves either having been charged, or found guilty of, an offence relating to domestic violence. I have also been advised that of South Australia's remand prison population, which is substantial, somewhere in the order of 40 per cent of the South Australian prison population is indeed on remand, but of that, one of the contributing factors to that large percentage on remand is those people who find themselves in custody as a result of being charged with a domestic violence-related offence.

So this is an area that Corrections is regularly turning their mind to. It is important that, when people find themselves in the custody of the state through incarceration, they are not just sitting in cells, watching time go by, but, rather, are trying to rehabilitate themselves, particularly where we know that putting appropriate programs in place can deliver outcomes. I understand that domestic violence is a good example of this.

In that context, I just want to put on the record my support and admiration for the fact that the Department for Correctional Services has gone out of its way to be extremely proactive in respect of campaigning against domestic violence. I am advised that the department works closely with the White Ribbon ambassador program to get accreditation, including many of their male staff becoming White Ribbon ambassadors themselves.

I think that is a program that is incredibly important when it comes to getting the message out within the community that domestic violence, in all forms, is not acceptable. It is a scourge within our community. It has taken too long and too many victims before we started to realise the depth of this scourge, but now that it is coming to light it deserves every effort that is possible, and the Department for Correctional Services certainly don't see themselves as being immune from that effort. I applaud them on being as proactive as they are in this particular endeavour.