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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-06-02 Daily Xml
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National Domestic Violence Remembrance Day

Mrs POWER (Elder) (15:31): National Domestic Violence Remembrance Day was held last month and enabled the wider community to stand with those impacted by domestic and family violence. Usually, candlelight vigils are held to mark the day and to honour and remember those who lost their life due to domestic and family violence—to demonstrate continued support to those impacted and to raise community awareness with the aim of ending domestic and family violence.

Due to COVID-19, vigils across the country had to take a different format this year. The South Australian Domestic and Aboriginal Family Violence Virtual Vigil was organised by peak body Embolden and enabled us to come together online in solidarity. I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge the team at Embolden for their incredible work in bringing us all together for our vigil. At the arranged time, people began sharing pictures of their own candles and messages calling for a shared future without violence. The online event was well received, and organisers reported over 400 posts across social platforms, with the Facebook event reaching almost 10,000 people.

The vigil came at a poignant time, as we also honoured the 35-year-old South Australian woman and mother of three whose life was recently taken all too soon. Her former partner was arrested and charged with her murder. Without a doubt, this weighed heavily on the hearts of many who joined the vigil, as did the murder of Hannah Clarke and her three children in Brisbane earlier this year—set alight in public by her estranged husband and the father of her children. The shocking and brutal nature of these crimes has once again heightened the community's awareness of domestic and family violence.

This issue is pervasive, prevalent and will not go away unless we face it together. Despite this unprecedented time, and perhaps even because of it, we came together in unity and strength, standing against domestic and family violence. We know that in the aftermath of disasters there is an increased risk of domestic and family violence, so we welcome the $150 million funding boost from the federal government to address domestic, family and sexual violence in Australia in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Accordingly, here in South Australia we have announced new and immediate measures, including:

a 24/7 men's referral line, enabling South Australian men to seek advice, support and help to stem the use of violence and to connect them with local services; this is a first for our state;

individual support and safety packages for people experiencing domestic and family violence to be used to pay for immediate support, including transport, safety upgrades to property, financial counselling and support for their children;

a targeted domestic and family violence communications campaign; and

initiatives to upskill the current and new workforce regarding domestic and family violence.

In addition to the federal funding boost, the Marshall Liberal government has committed a record $14 million towards a suite of measures continuing to be implemented to support South Australian women, children and others at risk of domestic and family violence. We want people to know, especially as restrictions in our state have been eased, that the state government remains committed to ensuring that people in a violent or abusive relationship can access the support they need.

Our existing measures, including our crisis accommodation beds, the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme, the life-saving personal protection app and the 24/7 DV crisis hotline, all continue and are available to anyone needing support. Importantly, it takes all of us together to keep this issue in the spotlight and to let women and men who are living in fear know that there is support out there. Together, we need to continue to work to support early intervention and ultimately prevent domestic and family violence.

In our communities, we must continue to challenge stereotypes and push equality and respect across every aspect of society. We must also encourage our fellow South Australians to never ignore screams for help, to remain vigilant and to phone that friend they might be worried about. We all have a role to play in addressing and ending domestic and family violence as a government, as a community and as individuals.

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