Page 3170 - Week 10 - Tuesday, 18 October 2022
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from the minister. These groups are incredibly important in the role they play in our community. I was not as happy about the response to my question on Roundabout funding during the estimates hearings; the minister’s response indicated that it would no longer be provided as a standalone provision but has to be absorbed into directorate funding to be paid for as a service. I recommend the government review this decision for future budgets. This is not necessarily the best outcome for any organisation that relies on regular income such as an ongoing government grant to manage its budgets.
I note the committee recommended the government clearly identify in future budgets all funding allocations for community service organisations and individual advocacy groups provided within the disability sector. The government’s response is that this is their policy though it has obviously not been followed in this budget. The advocacy community and I look forward to seeing its return as a separate line item in future budgets.
In summary, a disappointing budget for the disability sector—a decrease overall, no forward looking initiatives for the ACT disability strategy or disability health strategy, and a change in funding parameters for one of our key support groups, whilst at the same time no information about the ongoing support for Canberrans for Canberra’s advocacy groups. I think ACTCOSS were kind when they said this budget was treading water.
MS BERRY (Ginninderra—Deputy Chief Minister, Minister for Early Childhood Development, Minister for Education and Youth Affairs, Minister for Housing and Suburban Development, Minister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence, Minister for Sport and Recreation and Minister for Women) (10.36): I rise today to talk about the government’s commitments and funding towards domestic and family violence prevention as well as sexual assault and violence services in the ACT government’s budget. Of course, Madam Speaker, the ACT considers itself a safe place. However, far too many women and children are being impacted by domestic and family violence in the ACT as well as sexual assaults and sexual violence. That is why the ACT government continues to take these issues very seriously and we continue to provide funding to services to ensure we improve integration and coordination as well as providing support and increased access to these kinds of services as well.
To support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander victim survivors and to respond to the “We Don’t Shoot our Wounded…” community report, $1.8 million has been committed to co-design and implement culturally relevant and appropriate responses to domestic and family violence. The government is also establishing the wraparound service model and investing $660,000 to ensure that we get the implementation right.
The government has also put another $5.9 million to provide dedicated response to domestic and family violence instances with high risks of lethality. This will include intensive case management, coordination as well as information sharing. The government has used the government’s safer families levy to fund, either partially or in full, $1.8 million for education, training and capacity-building resources for the sector to support victim survivors, promote sustainability for organisations and ensure best practice support into the future. $620,000 has gone to expanding the capacity of
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