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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2019-11-27 Daily Xml
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Domestic and Family Violence

The Hon. J.S. LEE (14:29): Thank you for your call, Mr President. My question is to the Minister for Human Services regarding domestic and family violence. Can the minister please provide an update to the council about new steps the South Australian government is taking to address domestic and family violence?

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (Minister for Human Services) (14:30): I thank the honourable member for her question and for her ongoing interest in this area. Last Friday, the Assistant Minister for Domestic and Family Violence Prevention and the Office for Women hosted our first annual community safety round table.

The community safety document, as honourable members may be aware, is this government's key policy framework for addressing violence against women. It was formulated following a range of consultation we have undertaken both in Adelaide and in regional areas, particularly involving the specialist sector and a number of organisations such as the National Council of Women, Zonta, Soroptimists and other organisations that take a key interest in this area.

It provided an opportunity for those attendees to help to shape our policy going forward, and it leads into, of course, the anniversary, which takes place on 25 November, which kicks off 16 days of activism to tackle domestic and family violence where we have been pleased to advise that the state government program for government agencies is being undertaken through the leadership of the Equal Opportunity Commission—that is, the Workplace Equality and Respect Project.

A number of members attended the White Ribbon breakfast on Friday, and we are pleased to continue to support that organisation, which has a very important role in terms of men leading initiatives to address domestic and family violence. The White Ribbon organisation nationally has had its own issues, and we are pleased that that is being resolved through an organisation from Western Australia taking that over. But White Ribbon Australia has been a key partner in terms of accrediting South Australian government agencies. Clearly, that arrangement has had to be changed, so we are pleased that the Equal Opportunity Commission has that ongoing role.

We have also been working on improving data collection through our partner agencies. The trial of the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme also is in continuation, which has meant that we are reaching out to a range of people who have never before sought assistance in terms of services and potentially have been unaware of a partner's history. We also have the continuation of the hubs. We are also working on the rollout of the crisis accommodation. The funding for the crisis hotline continues, as does the personal protection app.

Last night, the Assistant Minister for Domestic and Family Violence Prevention, Carolyn Power, and I were also very pleased to be with the peak body which has been heretofore known as the coalition of women's domestic and family violence services. They have undergone a name change and will now be known as Embolden. The assistant minister spoke at that event. We were very pleased that as part of our range of election commitments we committed to funding that peak body, who hadn't actually been funded in the past, so that they can continue that very important work in terms of advocacy for the sector.

So a range of measures are taking place, and we speak to members of the sector every day, as we are rolling out services, to continue to shape them into the future.

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