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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-12-01 Daily Xml
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Grievance Debate

Family Violence

Ms LUETHEN (King) (15:42): I am extremely grateful to be in the position to fight for my community to become the safest state for children to grow up in. This is why I became involved in politics and why I am prepared to work so very hard every day to serve my local community.

At my listening post on Saturday, a kind constituent came deliberately to apologise to me because she felt that her husband was rude to me whilst I was doorknocking. She told me she tries to share her views with him and he will not listen. I told her that she does not need to apologise for her husband's behaviour. She deserves to be respected. We agreed that you do not have to agree on anything to be kind and respectful to one another.

Last week, a community member came to me also with a serious concern that her four-year-old son has been sexually abused, and I am strongly acting to make sure her concerns are investigated thoroughly. We must work together to stop this violence in our community, and I thank my community members for bringing their concerns directly to me.

Today, I rise proudly to communicate just some of the real action and real funding delivered by the Marshall Liberal government to prevent family violence in South Australia. I note that the lion's share of this real change has been led by the Attorney-General, the member for Bragg, and I thank her.

Firstly, this week we passed the Civil Liability (Institutional Child Abuse Liability) Amendment Bill, which means hundreds of sexual abuse victims can consider launching fresh legal action and relitigate their matters if they feel that previous settlements were disproportionate to the harm suffered. In October 2021, we introduced the Criminal Law Consolidation (Abusive Behaviour) Amendment Bill, which introduces new offences for abusive behaviours, also known as coercive control.

With regard to intervention orders, the Attorney-General broadened the definition of 'abuse' to enable more victims to apply for intervention orders. She also increased penalties twice for breaches of intervention orders. In 2018, the Liberal government introduced a new standalone criminal offence of non-fatal choking, suffocating and strangulation in a domestic setting. Alarmingly, there have been hundreds of charges laid.

In relation to sentencing discounts, under the former Labor government, the Sentencing Act 2017 provided that a defendant could receive a sentence reduction of up to 40 per cent if they pleaded guilty within a certain period of time from their first court appearance. In 2020, the Liberal government delivered changes to the Sentencing Act 2017 to lower the discount available for serious offences against a person.

We made changes to allow victims to avoid having to give evidence in court by allowing police-recorded interviews with victims to be admissible as evidence. In 2018, we introduced the $1.9 million Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme. The scheme enables a person who may be at risk of domestic violence to get information about their partner, or former partner, to help them make decisions about their safety.

The Women's Domestic Violence Court Assistance Service was given an additional $2 million. This vital service offers victims of domestic and family violence specialist legal assistance to apply for intervention orders, end tenancy agreements and navigate court processes. In terms of child sex offences reform, we introduced a suite of child sexual abuse reforms. These bills implement recommendations from the Royal Commission on Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and additionally clarify that an offence is committed if a perpetrator communicates with a fictitious child, i.e., a police officer.

There is so much more. I am proud to be part of a government committed to real action, real change, real funding and hard work every day to create a safer South Australia. I want to once again thank the Attorney-General, the member for Bragg, for leading much of this legislative change and funding to support the most vulnerable people in our community.

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