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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-05-22 Daily Xml
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Motions

Domestic Violence

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN (Stuart) (12:05): I move:

That this house—

(a) recognises Domestic Violence Prevention Month;

(b) condemns all forms of domestic and family violence; and

(c) calls on the government to more proactively address the prevention of domestic violence throughout South Australia.

This is a very important topic and I am sure it is one that all members of the house have concerns about, and quite rightly so. May is Domestic Violence Prevention Month which is an annual event aimed to raise community awareness of the social and personal impacts of family violence and the support available to those affected. The key aims of the month are to:

1. raise community awareness of domestic and family violence and its impacts;

2. promote a clear message of no tolerance of domestic and family violence in communities;

3. ensure that those who are experiencing domestic and family violence know how to access help and support; and

4. encourage people who use abuse and/or violence to take responsibility for their abusive behaviour and seek support to change.

All demographics are affected by domestic violence. Unfortunately, there is really no demographic that you can think of that is not affected in one way or the other: all income levels, city and country people, young and old people, all races and both men and women are affected by domestic violence. What is most striking and concerning about this is that overwhelmingly women are the victims of domestic violence—not exclusively, but overwhelmingly that is the case—and that strikes me as especially unfair. It is not fair on anybody, but when you are talking about something that is not only (but very often) physical abuse perpetrated on a person who is not always (but typically) physically disadvantaged that is just a dreadful and disgraceful thing, and I cannot understand how people would think that way.

The federal parliamentary library defines domestic violence as being acts of violence that occur between people who have or who have had an intimate relationship in domestic settings. These acts include physical, sexual, emotional and psychological abuse. It is generally well known that a definition for violence is quite a difficult thing to come up with and a definition for domestic violence is even harder. From the research that I have done, that seems to be the most generally useful and applicable one.

I would like to share some statistics with the house which come from the Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse which is easily accessible on the website. I am not going to read through all of them but I will share some of the very pertinent ones: 15 per cent of Australian women have experienced physical or sexual violence from a previous partner and 2.1 per cent from a current partner since the age of 15. Surveys estimate that 35 per cent of men and women had experienced physical assault since the age of 15, with 10 per cent of men and 4.7 per cent of women experiencing physical violence in the previous 12 months.

However, where men were typically assaulted by a stranger, women most often experienced physical assault in the context of domestic violence. Overall, 31 per cent of women who experienced physical violence in the previous 12 months were assaulted by a current and/or a previous partner.

Over a third of women—34 per cent—who had a current or former intimate partner reported experiencing physical and/or sexual violence since the age of 16. With regard to children, 61 per cent of women who had experienced violence by a previous partner reported that they had children in their care at some time during the relationship. Over a third of women—36 per cent—who had experienced violence by a previous partner said that their children had witnessed the violence.

Fifty-nine per cent of women who had experienced violence by a previous partner since the age of 15 were pregnant at some time during the relationship. Of these women, 36 per cent reported that violence had occurred during pregnancy. They are very disturbing statistics to read and to know about but they are important and they cannot be ignored.

With regard to reporting, 63.2 per cent of women who experienced physical violence at the hand of a male partner—current or previous—a boyfriend or a date in the previous 12 months had not reported the most recent incident to police. Surveys found that 82 per cent of women who had experienced violence at the hand of a current partner in the previous 12 months did not report that to the police.

There are many more statistics and I am sure that many members in this house are familiar with those types of statistics but they are the ones that I chose to use today to just illustrate what a serious issue this is and how unfair it is for anybody to be the victim of domestic violence, but particularly how unfairly it is usually perpetrated by men upon women. That issue of reporting that I touched on is obviously right at the heart of this issue, because if there is no reporting, there is typically no consequence for the actions. If there is no consequence for the actions of the perpetrator, there is no incentive for the perpetrator to change their actions.

I bring this motion to the house and say quite openly that I do not consider myself to be an expert in this. I have never been a victim of domestic violence. I am a very strong advocate of trying to stop it, though. I have been very fortunate. I am a man, to start with, so that means that statistically I am advantaged. I am relatively strong and relatively healthy, so it is far less likely to happen to me too, and in my upbringing, it was a very important part. 'Don't hit girls' was right up there with don't tell lies and don't use bad words. It was fundamentally instilled in me from a very early age.

Interestingly enough, going back now some 45 years, I did get the odd smack if I did give my sister the odd smack, so it was a different world at the time. It was made really clear to me that you just do not hit girls. That was the message to me as a small boy and, of course, that message seemed pretty straightforward and pretty clear. I did not need to get too many lessons; it just made common sense. I am very fortunate in that regard but I am also very serious about doing whatever I can do to contribute to improving the situation, not because it has affected me but because I believe that is the right thing to do.

People who are victims of domestic violence obviously deserve encouragement, education and support and I think that a degree of peer pressure against perpetrators does not go astray either. I am a very proud ambassador for the White Ribbon Foundation, as is the Leader of the Opposition, the Hon. Stephen Wade and the Hon. John Dawkins, and it may well be that members on the other side, whom I am not aware of, are as well, so I do not deliberately exclude anybody else. I am just not aware of that.

I mention that in terms of peer pressure not because peer pressure is the foundation of the White Ribbon Foundation or that I think it is the single most important tool to be using, but it cannot be ignored. Men need to put pressure on men to stop perpetration of domestic violence, and as the White Ribbon Foundation has focused, typically against women. I was very pleased to hear the member for Torrens talk about the White Ribbon Foundation in her maiden speech. I thought that was fantastic.

In my electorate of Stuart, there are many organisations that work to support people, both with regard to supporting victims and working towards trying to stamp out and reduce domestic and family violence. Specifically in Port Augusta, UnitingCare Wesley has a regional domestic and family violence program. Victim Support Service are prevalent there and they certainly have the Family Safety Framework, Family Violence Action Group and a Social Justice Interagency Group.

Family Violence Legal Service Aboriginal Corporation, which is right around the corner from my office in Port Augusta, does tremendous work, as does the Salvation Army and Centacare Catholic Family Services. That is not an exclusive list, and I apologise to people that I have not mentioned but I do have limited time. I acknowledge that there are many agencies and many people doing tremendously good and important work all across our state, but I did want to particularly mention and thank those in my electorate.

We have had some terrible and publicly known incidents in our state recently, particularly affecting children (but not only), and I do know that the police are doing everything that they possibly can do. It is one of those areas where it is never enough. When there is an incident, whatever you have been doing is clearly not enough to prevent those incidents from happening.

I know that the police take domestic and family violence extremely seriously. I know that Commissioner Burns is a White Ribbon Foundation ambassador, as is Deputy Commissioner Grant Stevens and many other very senior serving police officers in our state, and I commend them for that. I just draw attention to some of the challenges that police face with regard to their work around domestic violence. I quote from a radio interview from 19 May where Deputy Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said:

It's a very difficult situation...we still have this level of acceptance within the community that treating women in a violent or demeaning way is somehow acceptable...if a person has breached an order that has been issued, we will take action. What happens as a result of us taking action often depends on the attitude of the victim in terms of how they feel about the person at that point in time...it's a very challenging situation, it's one that needs to be dealt with with a degree of sensitivity. There's only so much the police can do if a person wants to continue a relationship with a person that they're in a violent relationship with.

That is, as I am sure we all understand, a very difficult situation, and again, not one that I can personally relate to from either side of the coin, but the police are in a dreadfully difficult situation. The police are limited, as Deputy Commissioner Stevens said, with regard to the efforts that they can do, and it really does depend on what a person wants to do with regard to reporting.

As I mentioned in those statistics before, most women who have been unfairly or inappropriately dealt with by a partner within the last 12 months do not report that, and so they need that support to report it. They need encouragement and they need perhaps education. They need perhaps a few more men to exert just a little bit of peer pressure in the community more broadly. I know those are not solutions in their own right, but the people who are victims deserve support, and the people who are perpetrators deserve pressure—there is no doubt about that.

Leading up to the last election, the state Liberals took a very clear plan with regard to dealing with domestic violence. We pledged a plan which involved ongoing support for domestic violence advocacy and education services, an additional $200,000 of funding for Yarrow Place to provide additional counselling services and to cut waiting times, and legislative reforms, including reforming provocation as a ground to have murder charges downgraded to manslaughter, and greater court involvement in domestic violence orders.

In a very proactive, collaborative and generally bipartisan way, I call on the government to do everything it possibly can to stamp out domestic violence. I call on the government to do more, because, as I said about police, as much as they are trying to do, there is still more that needs to be done. I call on the government to give very serious consideration to implementing the pledges that the state Liberals made in the lead up to the last election.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier) (12:20): I move to amend the motion as follows:

Insert:

(d) acknowledge the need to work collaboratively across political persuasions to combat violence against women in our community.

The government supports the motion in its amended form for this house to recognise Domestic Violence Prevention Month and to condemn all forms of domestic violence. However, we would amend the motion to recognise that this government is serious about the prevention of domestic violence. It has been continually proactive in preventing and responding to domestic violence, rape and sexual assault. As part of its commitment to a safer community, the South Australian government believes that we need a strategic and comprehensive approach to violence against women, including domestic violence, rape and sexual assault. Our current approach is proactive in consistently setting the prevention of violence against women as a key priority.

While men may be the victim of domestic and family violence, it is clear that women are most often the victims and men are by far and away most likely to be the perpetrators. The recent Australian Bureau of Statistics Personal Safety, Australia, report, released in 2003, clearly supports this. The ABS found that approximately one in three Australian women have experienced violence since the age of 15. According to the ABS data, many (approximately one in five) Australian women have experienced violence from a current or previous male partner.

In recent years, we have made changes to legislation that have given additional rights and protections to victims of rape and sexual assault and domestic violence. We have also introduced a target in South Australia's Strategic Plan to have a sustained reduction in violence against women, and we have introduced A Right to Safety, the Next Phase in South Australia's Women's Safety Strategy.

From early intervention work focusing on preventing domestic and family violence and rape and sexual assault through to community education and awareness and a continuing focus on improving service responses to women experiencing violence, A Right to Safety proactively reaffirms our commitment to reducing violence against women that we made in 2005 with the release of the first Women's Safety Strategy.

A fundamental part of this is the Family Safety Framework, an initiative that seeks to ensure that services to families most at risk of violence are dealt with in a structured and systematic way through agencies sharing information about high-risk families and taking responsibility for supporting these families to navigate the service system.

The model has been so successful that it has gone beyond the state borders, with family safety meetings being established in Alice Springs and a similar model proposed for New South Wales. In November 2013, we completed the rollout of the Family Safety Framework and, with a continued focus of A Right to Safety, we are continuing to work to achieve a state free from violence against women, including domestic violence, rape and sexual assault.

We are continuing to take a strong stance on primary prevention. Establishing violence against women collaborations is one of our key strategies. The primary purpose of these collaborations is to build community capacity to prevent and reduce the incidence of violence against women in local regions by creating cultural and attitudinal change within the community, thus addressing one of the key underlying causes of domestic and family violence.

Each collaboration identifies the key issues and priorities in their own regions. For example, Fleurieu Domestic Violence Reference Group negotiated with council for 1800RESPECT stickers to be permitted in public toilets, and Zonta volunteered to physically place stickers across toilets in the Fleurieu. The stickers were also provided to members of the schoolies committee, including representatives from caravan parks and hotels, in time for schoolies week. The stickers list the ways in which victims of domestic violence and sexual assault can contact 1800RESPECT for counselling and support.

Two collaborations which successfully applied for homelessness innovation funding in 2013 are using the funds to develop television advertisements to be played on their local networks. The Limestone Coast collaboration has developed advertisements which focus on local men promoting safe and respectful relationships with women. The Port Augusta collaboration advertisements focus on the diversity of women experiencing homelessness, including women escaping a violent relationship. Both advertisements contain contact numbers for people seeking assistance.

A Right to Safety continues our focus on improving systems through reviewing domestic and family violence related deaths. We established a position in the Coroner's Office in 2011 that works as part of the coronial team and, as at 1 May 2014, has conducted file reviews and investigations on over 100 deaths reported to the Coroner. These reviews have contributed directly to four finalised coronial inquests with a domestic violence context. As a direct result of these coronial inquests, 20 recommendations specific to improving domestic violence responses have been made by the State Coroner and Deputy State Coroner.

New initiatives announced during the election provided an opportunity for South Australia to continue to lead innovations in the areas of women's safety. Currently, women's Domestic Violence and Aboriginal Family Violence services cannot easily identify if an offender is a serial offender. Therefore, the government has committed to funding a database to identify domestic violence serial offenders. The database will enable the identification of domestic violence serial offenders across Domestic Violence and Aboriginal Family Violence services and improve risk management of key services involved in the family safety framework information sharing and risk management process.

This government is also committed to developing new data-keeping systems, which will support evidence-based decision making in policies and programs to reduce violence against women and their children. Capturing this data will assist in identifying the factors which are the most prevalent in domestic violence-related deaths, which in turn assists in the development of appropriate response models and prevention programs.

This particular initiative arose directly out of a speech that I heard given by Ms Anne Summers at one of the UNIFEM breakfasts, I think, in 2013. Dr Anne Summers AO gave an address on 8 March 2013, and I think the Leader of the Opposition was also present for that address. It was a very powerful address about domestic violence and I want to quote briefly from it, because I think it made some very pertinent observations. In her address she talked about the question of economic self-sufficiency and women being able to control their fertility, and went on to say these things:

For most of my life I have believed that these are the two basic underpinnings of women's equality. If we have these I thought, then we have the preconditions for everything else. Lately I have realised that tragically we need to add another and that is freedom from violence.

She also went on to recommend the very measure that we have implemented or promised to implement in the election campaign—that is, better data keeping in relation to these matters. I am proud to say that we have put that in place.

Generally speaking we do enjoy a bipartisan approach to these issues. I acknowledge, in general terms, the support of all members in this house for this proposition, although we were a little dismayed when the opposition committed to essentially repeal or at least change the government's Intervention Orders (Prevention of Abuse) Act which commenced on 9 December 2011 and which allows police to issue on-the-spot intervention orders under some circumstances, such as where there is a domestic violence context and a victim needs immediate protection, removing the perpetrator.

During the election campaign, the Liberal Party said that they would remove that power to issue on-the-spot orders from police and we would ask them to reconsider their position in that matter. The current system already allows for victims to apply directly to the courts, but the new powers provide to police a key way of keeping women safe. By leave, I move to amend the motion, as follows:

After (c) delete 'calls on' and replace with 'acknowledge'

After 'Government' delete 'to more proactively' and replace with 'for its proactive initiatives to'

Insert '(d) acknowledge the need to work cooperatively across political persuasions to combat violence against women in our community'

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (12:32): I rise to commend the original motion to the house moved by the member for Stuart. The Premier has just told the house that he seeks to amend it, and we will certainly consider that. There is no doubt that the government has made some considerable movement in this important area, but we believe there is much more to be done and we think that that needs to be contained within this motion.

Domestic violence is a scourge in Australian society and it is a scourge that disproportionately impacts upon women and their children. The prevalence of domestic violence in our society is shocking especially when you consider that we are living in modern-day Australia. We live in a time where we have the entire breadth of human knowledge available on our smart phones, where we can speak in real-time to people on the other side of the globe, where our children are immunised against diseases that previously killed millions, and yet one in three women in Australia has experienced physical violence. It seems that there is no immunisation against violence. We still have so far to go.

I know that everyone in parliament is united in their condemnation of all forms of domestic violence. In fact, I was honoured to be approached to become an ambassador for White Ribbon Day, as have many others in this chamber and in the other place. I acknowledge the following South Australian ambassadors for the White Ribbon Foundation who serve in the state and federal parliaments.

They are: our Premier; our Speaker (the member for Croydon); the Minister for Regional Development; the Minister for Tourism, Recreation and Sport; the Minister for Police; the member for Stuart, who moved this motion; the member for Morphett; the Hon. Stephen Wade; the Hon. John Dawkins; the Hon. Russell Wortley, the President of the Legislative Council; the Hon. John Gazzola, the former president of the Legislative Council; the Hon. Jamie Briggs; the Hon. Christopher Pyne; the Hon. Robert Brokenshire; the Hon. Mark Butler; Tony Pasin MP; Nick Champion MP; the Hon. John Darley; the Hon. Gerry Kandelaars; and the Hon. Mark Parnell.

Clearly, the commitment from parliamentarians to stop incidents of violence against women crosses party lines. We are united in our condemnation of all forms of domestic violence and we are united in our search for solutions. According to the Chair for the Foundation to Prevent Violence Against Women and their Children, Her Excellency Natasha Stott Despoja:

The biggest risk factor for becoming a victim of sexual assault, domestic or family violence is being a woman.

This is simply unacceptable. This means that, from the moment they are born, over 50 per cent of South Australians are at a significantly higher risk of violence. This violence is insidious. While a coward's punch thrown in a nightclub is widely reported, domestic violence usually occurs behind closed doors. It is often ongoing, over many nights, many years, and even over multiple generations. Often, it takes a woman or a child to die at the hands of a partner or a former partner before we hear about the campaign of terror being carried out in our neighbourhoods every day of the week.

Only last week, we lost another brave South Australian woman to a violent partner in Encounter Bay. It is happening too often. The statistics are particularly disturbing: 89 Australian women were killed by their partners between 2008 and 2010; that is nearly one woman every week in that two-year period. As I said earlier, one in three women have experienced physical violence, and almost one in five women have experienced sexual violence since the age of 15. More than a third of women who experience violence by a previous partner said that their children had witnessed that violence. Domestic violence is so damaging and prevalent internationally that the World Health Organisation has labelled it an epidemic.

It is very appropriate that the member for Stuart move this motion in May, which as he so rightly points out is Domestic Violence Prevention Month; however, we need to address the issue of domestic violence in our community year-round. This is why I am joining with the member for Stuart in calling on the government to be proactive in their policies to reduce domestic violence here in South Australia. All South Australians have a right to be safe in their own homes. As parliamentarians, we need to work with communities, experts, advocacy groups, the police and health workers to find ways to reduce domestic violence in South Australia.

Ms HILDYARD (Reynell) (12:37): I am also very pleased to support this motion in its amended form and I would like to commend the Premier on his enduring leadership in this arena, and his deep commitment to resolving issues around domestic violence. I would also like to commend the member for Stuart on the moving of this motion, on his words today, and obviously also on his deep concern and commitment around the issue. I would also like to acknowledge the Leader of the Opposition in that regard.

I have a lifelong commitment to preventing violence against women and children, and I am very proud to be part of a Labor state government that has, amongst its top priorities, the safety of women, and that has been relentless in developing and implementing measures to prevent and respond to domestic violence, as I am sure many of us in this place are.

As has been mentioned, I am deeply saddened and very sorry that just last weekend we lost another South Australian woman to domestic violence here in South Australia. Through the media, we heard about what she had endured for many years, and saw the deep impact that this had on her, her children, her neighbours and our broader community.

I too am deeply saddened that over 12 months, on average, one woman per week is killed in Australia as a result of intimate partner violence; that domestic violence is now one of the leading causes of death in Australia for women under 45; that one in three Australian women has experienced violence since the age of 15; that approximately one in five Australian women have experienced violence from a current or previous male partner; and that in 2012, around 41,600 women (5.5 per cent of South Australian women) experienced physical or sexual violence in the previous 12 months.

I am very saddened by the generational impact that domestic violence has on our community, and angered by the power inequality which exists in our community, which fundamentally is at the core of violence against women, and which indeed is our collective responsibility to address.

On the evening that I delivered my inaugural speech in this house the week before last, women, men and children along with parliamentarians from every part of our political landscape gathered at a candlelight vigil just a few hundred metres from here to remember those we had lost and to reaffirm a growing sentiment across our community to say enough is enough, to say that we must work together to ensure that not one more woman is lost to domestic violence—not one more—and to say that we want no women harmed or fearful for themselves and their children, nor feeling isolated and powerless as a result of domestic violence.

I wholeheartedly support the Premier's amendment to this motion and wholeheartedly commend our state Labor government's strategic, comprehensive and proactive approach and commitment to preventing violence against women. As our Premier mentioned, our A Right to Safety initiative is a demonstration of that commitment, particularly through our Women's Safety Strategy, which has at its core the Family Safety Framework which seeks to ensure that families at risk of violence are interacted with in a structured and systematic way with a very strong emphasis on the sharing of information, responsibilities and collaboration by service providers.

Our ongoing priority commitment to women's safety continues through a range of services already in place, including emergency and ongoing support services, crisis response, ongoing counselling and accommodation services for women who experience violence, specialist domestic and Aboriginal Family Violence Services, domestic violence safety packages which provide safety upgrades to houses to support women and children to stay in their own home, programs targeting men who use violence to break their cycle, and a range of non-government family support programs focused on families where women and children have experienced violence.

Our South Australian Labor government has also provided additional funding for specific initiatives such as $868,000 over four years for the Don't Cross the Line campaign; $411,000 over four years for the coroner's position, which is now an ongoing commitment to review domestic violence related deaths; $120,000 per year for the Victim Support Service for the Family Safety Framework from 2012-13 from the Victims of Crime Fund and SAPOL; and $244,000 per year for Yarrow Place Rape and Sexual Assault Service from 2012-13 from the Victims of Crime Fund. In the recent election we further committed to the development of a database to identify domestic violence serial offenders and the factors most prevalent in domestic violence related deaths.

In 2009 this government introduced the Intervention Orders (Prevention of Abuse) Act which commenced in 2011. Importantly, this legislation gave police the power to immediately issue intervention orders in circumstances where there was an immediate risk to a woman from a perpetrator. It is beyond comprehension that during our recent election campaign those opposite championed the removal of this power to issue on-the-spot intervention orders, a dangerous position which would have threatened the safety of women in imminent danger.

It is also beyond comprehension that through their recent budget their federal Liberal colleagues in their vicious attacks on our most vulnerable citizens, including those escaping domestic violence, have put at risk ongoing affordable housing options for them. The National Affordable Housing Agreement (NAHA) is included in the 2014 federal budget but at a reduced rate. This is likely to reduce funding to South Australia through this agreement by $1 million. The South Australian government already contributes about 50 per cent to NAHA Funded Homelessness Services, significantly more than in every other state and territory in Australia.

The National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness is not included in the forward estimates. In fact, $44 million has been cut from the agreement, with the commonwealth only committing to funding for the 2014-15 financial year. It is likely that the commonwealth will not continue to provide funding for this after 2015-16 which will significantly reduce funding to homelessness services, including women's domestic violence services.

Women make up almost two-thirds of those seeking the support of specialist homelessness services, with about a quarter of services' caseload attributable to domestic violence. These changes will affect women (and their children) who face homelessness through domestic violence and, as we heard from the Premier, housing security and economic independence are key factors in securing safety for women and children escaping domestic violence.

In contrast, our state government is—and will remain—strongly committed to ending domestic violence and responding appropriately whenever, wherever and however it occurs. We will continue to work with the tireless and dedicated workers in the community sector (including those in my electorate of Reynell who work tirelessly for the Southern Domestic Violence Service and Centre Care Catholic Family Services) who commit their lives to supporting women experiencing domestic violence, all service providers, and those of all political persuasions to prevent and end violence against women in our community. It is together and only together that we can ensure that not one more woman experiences domestic violence in our community.

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