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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-05-12 Daily Xml
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Domestic and Family Violence

The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI (15:07): My question is to the—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The Hon. Dr Centofanti will be heard in silence.

The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI: My question is to the Minister for Human Services regarding women's safety. Can the minister provide an update on the reform and legislative measures the Marshall Liberal government is exploring to improve responses to domestic and family violence?

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (Minister for Human Services) (15:07): I thank the honourable member for her question and for her interest in this vitally important area. It was a privilege to be part of an announcement, together with the Deputy Premier and Attorney-General Vickie Chapman and Carolyn Power MP, the Assistant Minister for Domestic and Family Violence Prevention, recently in relation to further areas of potential reform that are being explored by the Marshall Liberal government.

As we know, tackling the insidious scourge of domestic, family and sexual violence is a priority and something that is important to all of us here. We are doing more than ever before to support and protect at-risk women and children, which includes legislative and policy reform, as well as record funding for support and prevention, and it is important to remember that every South Australian has a role to play.

When it comes to preventing domestic and family violence, nothing is off the table. We have had a number of initiatives through the election, which we have been implementing, and a range of things that we are looking to further explore. This includes the domestic violence disclosure scheme, which many people would be familiar with, which allows either a person who is experiencing domestic and family violence or a friend or loved one to make an inquiry about a potential perpetrator's history.

The current model is described as a 'right to ask' model, which we committed to via some funding of $1.9 million. We are currently exploring whether it be a right to ask model, which is a more proactive model and we are also looking at further amendments to our intervention order schemes to look at supervision of reporting requirements, exploring the development of a domestic violence offenders' register, with a requirement for perpetrators to disclose matters in certain circumstances.

The Attorney-General is the lead on these matters and is currently consulting with the relevant offices within South Australian government, including the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Commissioner of Police, as well as consulting with other jurisdictions in which there are some of these policies in place or under investigation.

At a national level, there is work underway to ensure the commonwealth's Family Law Amendment (Federal Family Violence Orders) Bill 2021 will be seamlessly implemented into South Australia when it becomes law. New orders will reduce the need for vulnerable families to navigate multiple court systems when they are already before a family court, saving time and money and allowing victims to access personal protection when they need it. That is something that we are notifying that we are in the process of investigating and would look forward to any feedback from honourable members.

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