Domestic and Family Violence

The Hon. J.S. LEE (16:03): My question is directed to the Minister for Human Services about her regional meetings in the Riverland. Can the minister update the chamber about the domestic and family violence forums in the Riverland?

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (Minister for Human Services) (16:03): I thank the honourable member for her question. Yes, last Friday, the assistant minister, Carolyn Habib, and myself, along with the Office for Women, travelled to the Riverland to host the first of the regional round tables into domestic and family violence issues. This follows on from our initial round table, which was held in Adelaide with a range of service providers. This particular round table was expanded from service providers to include a number of state government agencies, including South Australia Police and Housing SA.

We had probably in the order of 20 or 25 local people attend. It was facilitated by SAPOL and it highlighted the differences in implementation of a range of issues that were part of the government's policy that we took to the election. I think it is fair to say that in regional areas obviously each region is different—the services are different and the gaps in services are different—but the way that a lot of people operate in this space is quite cohesive. They have very good informal and formal networks between them.

There were a couple of issues that were of particular interest, such as the disclosure scheme, which is often referred to as Clare's Law, which is to commence on a trial basis from 1 October this year. There were a number of logistical issues that were raised by participants on what particular information would be disclosed, etc.

We received advice from the police officers who attended that often in a regional community there is a lot of awareness of somebody who has a violent history, and it is a matter of trying to explain to a potential new partner sometimes that they need to be careful and that there are certain behaviours that they need to be aware of. But in many senses, because of the privacy issues at the moment, without this particular scheme being implemented, police are quite limited in the sorts of warnings and information that they can provide, so they are very keen on seeing this matter being implemented.

There was also discussion about the safety hubs and what that might look like for the Riverland region and, again, in relation to crisis accommodation, what sort of facilities might be needed in the Riverland. We are very grateful to everybody who participated. As I have said continuously in relation to this process, we are very keen to shape the rollout of the policy in collaboration with all the partners, the non-government organisations, SA Police and other state government and federal government agencies so that we get the complexion of these things right. We will continue to go out to the rest of the regions to undergo a similar process, and I thank everybody for their participation.