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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2018-11-07 Daily Xml
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Ask for Angela Scheme

The Hon. J.S. LEE (14:44): My question is to the Minister for Human Services about the safety campaign to help those feeling vulnerable on a night out. Can the minister please provide an update to the council about the launch of Ask for Angela and the program's role in increasing community safety and wellbeing across South Australia?

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (Minister for Human Services) (14:45): I thank the honourable member for her question. On 1 November, the Attorney-General and I had the pleasure of launching the Ask for Angela campaign in South Australia, which is a campaign allowing patrons at any participating licensed venue to 'ask for Angela' at the bar if they require assistance to leave an unsafe or difficult situation. Venue management are asked to participate by preparing their staff to assist patrons who 'ask for Angela', including organising safe transport from the venue or calling police if required.

The Ask for Angela campaign originated in Lincolnshire in the UK and has been also used in New South Wales. It aims to help combat violence, abuse and harassment, including sexual violence. It is just one measure available to encourage respectful treatment of all people within South Australian licensed venues. In developing the campaign, the Office for Women has worked closely with Consumer and Business Services, SAPOL, Music SA, YWCA, Yarrow Place and the Australian Hotels Association (AHA). We particularly thank the Australian Hotels Association for their support and participation.

I should say for the record, too, that at the launch Wendy Bevan from the AHA reiterated the fact that all patrons and staff in licensed venues have a right to feel safe and can always ask for assistance at any time. The Ask for Angela campaign adds a marketing mechanism, if you like, to increase the awareness for people who may be in a particular situation and may not have thought to actually seek assistance from the staff. The AHA is supportive of this as a voluntary program about which they have written to all of their licensed venues to ask them if they would be interested in participating. Materials are being produced by Consumer and Business Services and being distributed through the Women's Information Service in a range of areas.

This initiative is also available to men as well as to women. A number of people can find themselves in situations where they may have set up a date with someone or ended up receiving unwanted attention from someone in a licensed premise or they may fear that someone has spiked their drink. The Ask for Angela campaign adds another tool in the toolkit to keeping people safe and we encourage people to 'ask for Angela' if they think they need assistance.

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