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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2016-07-26 Daily Xml
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Sharing Our Knowledge Project

Ms HILDYARD (Reynell) (15:50): I rise to speak today about an important launch that I recently had the honour of MCing: the launch of the Sharing our Knowledge—Mental Health and Domestic Violence Cross Sector Collaborative Project. The project is a collaboration between the Southern Domestic Violence Service (a crucial service in our southern community), Life Without Barriers and an array of dedicated domestic violence and mental health sector leaders.

The project has produced innovative resources and training materials that will make a deep difference in terms of growing understanding about the ways in which mental health issues and domestic violence, sadly, sometimes intersect. These training materials and resources are now being used by workers in both the domestic violence and mental health sectors, and through their use these workers are building their expertise in positively supporting people in our community experiencing a multiplicity of issues, particularly mental health and domestic violence.

We began the launch with a generous welcome to country by the extraordinary Auntie Georgina Williams, a proud Kaurna woman who is an incredible leader in our southern community and beyond. I thank her not only for her welcome to country but for her voice, her resilience, her enormous heart and mind and her willingness to stand up for what is important.

We were also honoured to hear from some of the dedicated community workers and advocates who worked tirelessly on this project and whose work resulted in the excellent resources produced by it. The first of these was Karrin Marshall, Life Without Barriers' Area Operations Manager for SA mental health, alcohol and other drugs and homelessness services. Karrin's words drew our attention to the stark realities we are dealing with when we talk about the intersection between domestic violence and mental health and to the difficulties faced by those experiencing domestic violence and how such experiences can exacerbate mental health issues for people already in the most difficult of situations.

Secondly, Sue Underhill spoke. Sue is a long-term worker and leader at Southern Domestic Violence Service, and indeed a leader in our southern community. Sue has been with the organisation for 17 years and is currently serving as Director of Services. Her commitment to working with women and children in difficult situations to empower them to resolve their issues is commendable. Importantly, her passion also extends to more broadly addressing gender inequity in society and to building awareness around the nexus between gender inequality and the prevalence of violence against women.

Lastly, we heard from Larissa Roberts, a counsellor, therapist and trainer of professionals in community services and students in the vocational education and training sector. Her skill in writing and developing training packages was integral to the project's success, particularly in ensuring the professional standard of the training packages developed and offered.

There are two other women I would also like to acknowledge: firstly, the incredible Megan Hughes, Executive Officer of Southern Domestic Violence Service, who I am proud to call a friend and whose wisdom and vision was instrumental in bringing this project together. She has inspired, motivated and encouraged so many of us to dedicate ourselves to preventing and ending violence against women. She is a giant amongst women and someone who I am proud to work with on collaborations such as this.

Secondly, I acknowledge Helen Oxenham, a woman who was a special guest at the launch who blew me away with her story of working together at a community level decades ago to develop our very first women's shelter on Beach Road in Christies Beach. She is an outstanding woman whose energy, tenacity and determination provide us with the blueprint for making important things happen, whether resources are available or not. Helen gave her support at the launch and I know continues to be a role model for many working in this sector.

Thirdly, I wanted to acknowledge Sarah Gun who, through her company GOGO events, gave her time to organise this launch. Sarah started GOGO events after 13 years of creating events for international and South Australian companies and conferences. In 2012, Sarah saw a new opportunity and transitioned GOGO events to a social enterprise scheme. I also thank the wonderful women of the Hutt Street Centre for their delicious catering and for what they do to strengthen pathways to employment and education for those in our community experiencing homelessness.

Thank you to all who contributed to this project and to this launch, and to those workers who work relentlessly to support and empower those experiencing domestic violence and those experiencing mental health issues and illness. These workers will now bring to life the resources created through this project in a way that benefits those whom they serve.

Work on the most difficult of issues is always best progressed when we collaborate and work together with a deep and shared understanding of the interconnectivity of the issues that we confront. The collaborative focus and the deep learning that has happened throughout the project will deeply benefit those who are experiencing these issues. Thank you and congratulations again to all involved.

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