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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-07-27 Daily Xml
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DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (15:46): Two weeks ago it was my pleasure to represent the Premier in Mount Gambier at the launch of the report, 'The Way It Should be,' by the Commissioner for Victims' Rights, Michael O'Connell. The report was prepared for the Limestone Coast Family Violence Action Group which has been operating in Mount Gambier for over 20 years with the aim of raising awareness and educating the community of the harm caused by violence within families.

The agencies represented within this group include: the South Australian police, Family Violence Investigation Section; Centacare Limestone Coast Domestic Violence Service; the Department for Families and Communities; the South-East Community Legal Service; the Victim Support Service; the South-East Regional Community Health Service; the Mount Gambier and Districts Health Service; the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service; the Department for Correctional Services; Tenison Woods College; and the Department for Education and Children's Services.

This report was the result of a three-month intensive consultation with local services and the community which started in August 2010. The report identifies the gaps and inequity of service delivery and response to victims of sexual assault in regional South Australia and the South-East and will go to government for consideration. I was pleased to congratulate the author of the report, Paula McCubbin, and other members of the Limestone Coast Family Violence Action Group on their efforts.

I understand that the report took 500 hours of gathering information, research, conversation, consultation and compiling. This would have been a difficult challenge given that one of the biggest issues associated with sexual assault is the lack of reporting and that undertaking the work in a tight-knit community, where it can be even harder and more confronting for people to come forward, only compounds that task.

Mount Gambier was one of the first regional cities in our state, along with Port Lincoln, to respond to domestic violence by setting up the South-East Women's Emergency Shelter in 1978, supported by commonwealth and state government grants. Since that time, many things have changed, including the name of the organisation, but its commitment to women escaping violence, including sexual assault, is today as strong as ever.

Since coming to office, the Rann government has openly admitted that we are not always best placed to connect with those most in need. We recognise that locals know their communities best. The Rann government has focused on empowering local organisations like the Limestone Coast Domestic Violence Service to continue their work not just in Mount Gambier about across the South-East, from Naracoorte to Lucindale, Robe and the local government areas of Wattle Range and Grant.

Over three financial years, starting in 2010-11, this government has committed to providing more than $1.19 million to the Limestone Coast Domestic Violence Service, including $430,000 in this financial year. We also recognise that for many victims of violence, including sexual violence, the only way to escape the assault and abuse is to move out of their home. Through the Nation Building Economic Stimulus package the government has invested $850,000 to provide housing for people escaping domestic violence on the Limestone Coast.

We also support the Southern Country Generic Homelessness Service, which helps individuals, both men and women, and families who have been impacted by homelessness. Through changes to rape and sexual assault legislation the government has also moved to better support victims, while the state government's Don't Cross the Line campaign, together with a similar national campaign, has been integral to increasing community awareness. These changes have also been complemented by a major reform of domestic and Aboriginal family violence services across South Australia to improve support for victims.

At the centre of the government's commitment to stopping sexual assault and supporting victims is Yarrow Place. The work this agency does in responding to adult rape and sexual assault in South Australia, both on the ground and at a policy level, is well renowned. Yarrow Place and many of these initiatives that I have mentioned do not just work to protect victims from harm but work to stop the abuse from ever happening again. By helping people understand that what they are enduring is unacceptable, and in many cases illegal, and supporting them to address their situation, we are not just keeping them safe for one night but for good.

We are also giving them the knowledge, the power and the strength to move forward and turn their lives around, and this philosophy has been at the heart of the Limestone Coast Family Violence Action Group. I am pleased that the state government, via representation by a number of agencies, including SAPOL, has been integral to this group. By joining forces with the non-government organisations I mentioned, much good work has been done to raise awareness of the harm caused by domestic violence.

While the veil over sexual assault and violence is lifting, there is still much more work to do. We have learnt over the past 30 years that sexual assault is not just an issue for the victim or the perpetrator but for the whole community, and we have also learnt that by standing up together against sexual assault and abuse of all kinds we can make a difference. I again congratulate the Limestone Coast Family Action Group and all those supporting their efforts in the South-East and trust that the gaps in the support services in the region will be progressively addressed.

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