Contents
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Commencement
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Parliamentary Procedure
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Ministerial Statement
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Question Time
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Bills
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Answers to Questions
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Domestic Violence
The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Leader of the Opposition) (14:19): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Human Services a question about loans for domestic violence accommodation facilities.
Leave granted.
The Hon. K.J. MAHER: In an InDaily article, dated 7 March 2018, the Premier said that he would establish a $5 million interest free, 20-year loan scheme for the non-government sector to fund capital projects, including expansions, renovations and upgrades of existing domestic violence accommodation facilities, and that these loans would be made available on day one. My question to the minister is:
1. Has this program been established?
2. Did it commence, as the Premier promised, on day one?
3. If not, why not?
4. If it hasn't been established, when will the program commence?
The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (Minister for Human Services) (14:20): I thank the honourable member for that question. This was part of the suite of commitments that the Liberal opposition provided to the electorate in the lead-up to the election. I think it's fair to say that our domestic violence policy was incredibly well received, in contrast to the then government, whose sole contribution to the policy debate was that the then premier said he would incorporate the title of the minister for domestic and family violence into his title.
We had a suite of commitments, including a facility that we would provide to existing providers to upgrade their facilities, and we undertook that we would consult on those. We held the first domestic violence roundtable on 13 May and put that out to the sector, so that we could help to refine all of those commitments to see whether they actually meet the needs of the sector. I am still waiting for a report from my department about all of the feedback on that, but I think it's fair to say that we would like to have input from the sector to help to shape those. That has been well received by the sector, they would like to shape our policies, and that is the way that we are proceeding.