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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-05-02 Daily Xml
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Scott, Ms G.

Mr TEAGUE (Heysen) (15:27): I want to pay tribute today to Glyn Scott. Glyn Scott, as many in the chamber will know, was a nominee this year for South Australian Senior Australian of the Year. She is the founder of a foundation named the Love, Hope and Gratitude Foundation and I say this because it has informed her extraordinary work in the community.

Glyn Scott survived years of violence and sexual abuse, first as a child and later in her first marriage. Not quite 20 years ago, Glyn gave evidence to the Children in State Care Commission of Inquiry about her childhood experience of sexual abuse. Her personal experience led to the High Court decision in 2012 that ruled that there was no marital exemption to rape and that in turn changed commonwealth law nationally and set that important precedent which has paved a pathway and that has been a significant response that has been led by Glyn Scott.

Glyn founded the foundation in 2015 and through it has been providing counselling, advocacy and educational programs to domestic violence survivors and shelter for adults, children and pets. There have been other contributions in the house this week about events, including last weekend. I draw particular attention to the vigil that was convened by Embolden at the Pioneer Women's Memorial Garden adjacent to the parade grounds just last evening. I was grateful to have the opportunity to attend that occasion, happening as it did on the evening of the first Wednesday in May.

I want to reflect on some words that Glyn Scott shared back in 2019 and which informed the previous Marshall Liberal government's policy in relation to funds to assist where it is necessary to escape from violence. At that time, my colleague the Hon. Michelle Lensink, as the responsible minister, made the observation that it is very important for survivors to know where an accused perpetrator is. It is important that they are safe from harm and from risk. To that end, it is important that there are places of refuge for victims.

One thing that the previous government also responded to was something that Glyn Scott I think put particularly well, and that was Glyn's belief that:

…taking the perpetrator out of the equation makes a huge difference to the end result, so that's very important to me ongoing, and even today the same situation is with the women and children I talk to on a daily basis.

I want to emphasise in this contribution that it is so important that safety at the key intervention is at the heart of the response, and in particular, in circumstances where we are hearing about the federal government's new commitment of money, that police have power to intervene immediately and that perpetrators are the ones bearing the onus of being removed, so that victims are both safe and not disturbed. That work continues. It is important work, and it is well that governments, state and federal, continue to place great priority on it.

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