Page 1912 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 23 June 2021
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
At a national level, the ACT government continues to contribute to a shared commitment with other governments across Australia to implement the National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and their Children. The ACT is progressing well on the commitments made under the fourth action plan of the national plan. As the current national plan comes to an end in 2022, my colleagues and I in the national cabinet Women’s Safety Task Force are working towards developing the next national plan.
In August 2020 the ACT government made a submission to the commonwealth government House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violence. This submission was an opportunity to influence the direction of the next national plan and to share some of the insights gained as we progress our ambitious reform agenda.
Finally, I would like to report on the ACT government’s commitment to taking action to prevent and respond to sexual assault. Women make up 86.6 per cent of victims of sexual assault in the ACT and similar statistics are repeated across Australia. The time has come for an evidence-based approach that is based on lived experience, to inform work.
The nature of sexual assault has changed over time, and there will be work to determine what supports are currently in place across the system and where the gaps are to support victim-survivors. The objective of this reform is to coordinate efforts across the community, the service sector, unions and stakeholders to develop an effective, systemic, evidence-based response to sexual assault in the ACT.
To make sure that this work progresses with the right representation and the right governance in place, three working groups will be established to focus on prevention, response and law reform. These groups comprise representatives of non-government organisations, unions, research bodies, the university sector and government representatives, who will set key priorities for future work and action by government. These working groups will report to an overarching sexual assault response steering committee to provide integrated, comprehensive advice to the government. The ACT government is committed to listening carefully to local experts to understand what the evidence shows us of what is already working, where the gaps are and where we need to build new programs of work.
As I have detailed today, the last year has seen us continue to deliver Safer Families initiatives and work with the community sector to reduce and prevent domestic and family violence. I look forward to continuing this work to make Canberra a safer place for everyone as we move into the next phase of Safer Families that is inclusive of sexual assault reform. I present the following papers:
Safer Families Annual Statement 2021.
Safer Families Annual Statement 2021—Ministerial statement, 23 June 2021.
I move:
That the Assembly take note of the papers.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video