Domestic Violence

The Hon. J.S. LEE (14:43): My question is to the Minister for Human Services regarding domestic violence, which is a topic that is of interest to all members today. Can the minister please update the council on how the Marshall Liberal government is improving safety for women and their children in the regions?

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (Minister for Human Services) (14:44): I thank the honourable member for her question and for her interest in this area. The safety hub concept was something which the Liberal Party was keen on extending from opposition.

We had seen the safety hubs that operated through Women's Safety Services, which has coverage of the metropolitan area, and we were keen to see whether there were opportunities to extend those safety hubs to regional areas. We opened the first one in August 2019, which is The Haven at Murray Bridge, the Berri safety hub was delivered by the Riverland Domestic Violence Service in September 2019, the hub at Gawler was opened in December 2020, and the KWY (Kornar Winmil Yunti) Port Augusta Safety Hub opened in November 2020. We have more planned and in the pipeline.

I had the great privilege of officially launching the Kornar Winmil Yunti Safety Hub this Friday just gone, in Port Augusta. I was joined by the Assistant Minister for Family and Domestic Violence, the local mayor and the federal member for Grey, Mr Rowan Ramsey. I have to say that it was the best attended opening of any of our safety hubs. It is on the site of the existing services of Kornar Winmil Yunti, which is a not-for-profit Aboriginal community controlled organisation which delivers specialist Aboriginal-centred services across South Australia.

It provides specialist knowledge and culturally appropriate services to break the cycle of domestic violence and stem the flow of Aboriginal children into the child protection system. KWY has a footprint which includes metropolitan and regional sites, and we also had attendance from a range of those other support services.

A number of them have not needed a lot of extra resources but for this site we provided some additional funding to refurbish two of their rooms, including one which provides computer access for people who need it, and a space where people can feel safe to disclose to the staff on site. There is also a van which has been provided to transport women to and from the greater Port Augusta area to the hub. It is a great new service and is very welcomed in that region. We look forward to making further announcements in relation to additional hubs as we roll them out.