Page 2263 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 3 August 2022
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infrastructure and all of these very important things that perhaps are common in other workplaces but tend not to be as common in some of the community sector organisations, just because of the nature of their funding.
The other area where I do have some hope is that, with the change of federal government, we will see these services more highly valued by our new federal government, who are also funding partners for these community legal centres. Last year we saw some increase around funding for women’s legal centres from the previous government; I think that was very welcome. But, generally, this has not been highly valued by the previous federal government.
The combination of more secure ACT government funding and a change in federal government can give those organisations some real confidence going forward. Certainly, when the attorneys-general meet in the near future, I will be continuing to raise the importance of the community legal centres.
MR BRADDOCK: Minister, can you also please explain about the new care and protection law and advocacy services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people?
MR RATTENBURY: As I spoke about before, the government has provided $743,000 over two years to fund this care and protection advice service for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, following on from that recommendation in Our Booris, Our Way. The government is also providing $470,000 over three years to the Aboriginal Legal Service of New South Wales and ACT to continue the trial advocate position, which provides legal assistance to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Canberrans. Through these couple of particular measures, we have supported what is commonly known as ALS to ensure that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people interacting with the justice system have better support.
In this budget we saw a series of measures designed to reduce the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in our justice system. We know it is no secret, and it is something we must work on with greater vigilance, that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are over-represented in the justice system; most commonly in the criminal justice system, but also in some of the other spaces—particularly, again, in care and protection.
I am proud of the fact that in this budget the government has put our money where our mouth is. We have invested in these areas, and we are working hard to reduce that over-representation in a number of different areas in the justice system.
Budget—Women’s Budget Statement 2022-23
MS LAWDER: My question is to the Minister for Women. Minister, I refer to the Women’s Budget Statement released yesterday. Minister, exactly how many of these statements will you preside over before you release a proper Women’s Budget Statement that analyses how each budget initiative impacts Canberra women?
MS BERRY: As members will know, the ACT government is working on ensuring that there is an appropriate gender lens cast over our budgets. This is new—a gender
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