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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-11-26 Daily Xml
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DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

The Hon. S.G. WADE (14:56): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for the Status of Women—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The Leader of the Opposition, I can't hear the Hon. Mr Wade.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: —a question related to the funding for services and interventions for victims of personal and domestic violence.

Leave granted.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: The opposition has received a copy of a cabinet committee submission dated 15 November 2012 in relation to a 2013-14 budget bid. The submission states that:

...limitations in funding have greatly compromised the intended operation of the [Intervention Orders (Prevention of Abuse)] Act (2009).

The leaked budget bid calls for an additional $12.2 million in funding to make available victim support services, assessment and intervention programs, and to make them more available including outside the metropolitan area; to respond to the impact on service delivery agencies due to the dramatic increase in workload due to the information sharing provisions in the act; and thirdly, to ensure there is appropriate IT infrastructure to support the transfer of sensitive information about the protected persons between departments. The submission goes on to say that:

...assessment and intervention programs can currently only be accessed in the metropolitan area by high risk male perpetrators who are offending in a heterosexual relationship and facing substantive criminal charges.

The report goes on to note that this leaves the government '...open to the criticism that the programs are discriminatory.' My questions are:

1. Has the government provided the $12.2 million in funding requested?

2. Can the minister assure the council that responsible agencies have the resources necessary to process notifications and determine what action should be taken?

3. Does the government consider that it is acceptable that services are limited to the metropolitan area and only a certain class of victims?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for State/Local Government Relations) (14:58): I thank the honourable member for his most important question. Indeed, this government is a reformist government and we are very proud of our track record. One of the areas that we have led in a considerable way is in the area of domestic violence, not just in terms of reviewing our sexual assault and rape legislation but also in terms of the introduction of intervention orders as well as significant public education and awareness campaigns.

Indeed, the intervention orders provisions were a reformist initiative. In the past we had a situation where police were typically called to the household of a domestic violence incident where their only course of action available to them was, if they believed the woman and children were at risk, to remove the woman and children from the family household and to hide them away in a safe house somewhere, leaving the perpetrator in the family home.

Well, intervention orders turned that around—and did many other things as well, but particularly addressed that issue—and turned it completely on its head in that it enabled the police to have powers to be able to address these incidents by removing the perpetrator from the family home and, if you like, ensconcing the woman and her children safely into the family home. We aligned that with assistance packages which enabled women to have, for instance, the locks on the doors changed, light sensors put in place and gardens trimmed back, if needed, and to put in place whatever was needed to ensure that the woman and her children remained safe.

They were able to do that in the family home. We know that putting families in safe houses can lead to a fracturing or dislocation of that woman and the children, not only from their families and friends when they often need support the most, but also children often have to be relocated to different schools away from their friends and teachers that they know, so it can be very traumatic.

We introduced intervention orders that commenced in December 2011, allowing police to issue on-the-spot intervention orders under particular circumstances, and where those circumstances are not met the alternative method available to a victim is for police to prepare the paperwork for a court application, act for that victim in court and request that the court issue an order. The victim can also apply directly to the court to issue an order.

As part of the legislation, one of the conditions the court can put in place is mandating defendants to attend abuse prevention programs, and such like—again, other really important reform changes. The abuse prevention program is part of the intervention response model, which includes the women's safety contact program, which aims to increase the safety of women and protected persons. This was an incredibly important initiative put in place. Initial funding for the program was December 2011 to 2013. The Attorney-General's Department has provided a homelessness strategy within the Department for Communities and Social Inclusion, with further funding at the same levels for a further three years. Women's safety contact programs were put in place, and a whole raft of other measures as well.

So, specific funds were made available at the time to assist particularly the police in implementing these changes and for the training necessary to take place. In terms of regional areas, the initial model of the program was only available to metropolitan regions due to funding limitations. However, with funding extended for a further three-year period, a new service model was developed to allow expansion into Port Augusta, Whyalla and the Port Pirie region within the same funding level, and opportunities for further expansion are being explored as well.

Data is being collected to monitor the needs in each region. The family safety framework is being expanded, and I think this week or maybe last week it was extended to the very last region, the Fleurieu Peninsula, which means the family safety framework has now been rolled out to every region right throughout South Australia, an incredible achievement. I acknowledge all those agencies, in particular SAPOL, involved in assisting with the rollout of that very successful strategy. The uptake of the intervention orders has been high; it is obvious that these are very accessible and much more simple to use than the old restraining order system. We continue to monitor the use and the resources that might be needed to continue with that good work.

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