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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-11-25 Daily Xml
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Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence

The Hon. D.G. PISONI (Unley) (15:12): My question is to the Premier. Will the Premier deliver on his promise to strengthen crisis responses for women and children fleeing violence? With your leave, sir, I will explain.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: Frontline reports show South Australia's crisis system is under severe strain. Dozens of families are being housed in hotels due to a shortage of crisis beds and 69 domestic violence crisis beds that previously operated are no longer funded. Sector data indicates around one third of calls to the DV crisis line go unanswered.

The Hon. K.A. HILDYARD (Reynell—Minister for Child Protection, Minister for Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence, Minister for Women) (15:13): Thank you to the member for Unley for his question and the Premier also for his remarks in relation to our response to the Royal Commission into Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence. As the Premier said, the royal commissioner has rightly urged us to act with patience, purpose and determination (again my words) as we work through and deliberate on the road map that she and her team have provided for reform in this state around domestic, family and sexual violence.

We are deeply considering those recommendations with awareness that they are recommendations that are absolutely interconnected and require a whole-of-government, whole-of-community and whole-of-sector response. Of course, as the royal commission took its course from July last year until August this year, we have not stopped in terms of our efforts to help to prevent domestic, family and sexual violence and to support those who are surviving the horrific prevalence of domestic, family and sexual violence. One of the measures in our budget last year was to provide more funding for the Domestic Violence Crisis Line, funding of an additional $880,000 to that service, and also additional funds to the personal protection app.

Since coming to government, as well as the significant legislative and policy measures and investments that we have undertaken, we have also in relation to housing reversed the terrible, terrible thoughtless and cruel cuts to Catherine House, cuts that were made by those opposite when they were in government, cuts that were devasting for that service and for the women who accessed that exemplary service. One of the things that we have done, one of the many things that we have done in relation to housing and support for those who are surviving domestic, family and sexual violence is to absolutely reverse that terrible, thoughtless, heartless cut to Catherine House.

We have continued to grow our housing offering across crisis accommodation, across transitional housing and across long-term housing for those who are surviving domestic, family and sexual violence. Just recently, I stood with the Minister for Human Services, the incredible staff from Catherine House, a number of their investment partners and representatives from the federal government as we announced the beginning of the new generation Catherine House, which will be built in addition to the reversal of that heartless funding cut, the funding that we restored to sustain those operations of Catherine House.

Since coming to government, we also reversed that terrible cut to the Women's Domestic Violence Court Assistance Service. We are growing the offering of housing again in crisis, transitional and long-term housing for those who are experiencing domestic, family and sexual violence and we have invested to grow, to build new hubs in the south and the north of Adelaide to support women close to home as they recover and heal from these terrible experiences.

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