Page 2797 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 14 August 1991
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
MS FOLLETT: Mr Speaker, Mr Collaery interjects, "It does not include those agencies". Indeed, it does not, and nor should it. It is a body that has a brief that does not include working within those agencies such as the body that Ms Maher described and had indeed set up. I think that the work of the Women's Consultative Council and their efficacy in taking a holistic view of the domestic violence problem was demonstrated by the forum that they hosted last week on looking at domestic violence issues, particularly in the application of the Domestic Violence Act. The Women's Consultative Council also has representation on the National Committee on Violence against Women, so they have access through that sort of a mechanism to a national statistical database which we have not previously had access to and which, I believe, would not have been the case while Mr Kaine was in government. So, there are some improved mechanisms there.
I believe that the Women's Consultative Council is the right mechanism at the local level through which to consult the community and through which also to work on the agencies that need to be consulted and to be coordinated on domestic violence issues. After all, it is that committee's role to advise government on the views of women and on the issues which concern women. So, domestic violence is obviously one which they must take up.
Mr Collaery: It is not solely restricted to women.
MS FOLLETT: I appreciate Ms Maher's concern. I might add that I consider Ms Maher to be immeasurably better informed on these matters than Mr Collaery, who keeps interjecting. I can assure Ms Maher that, if I believe that there is a need to make separate arrangements or to make additional arrangements, I will certainly do so. At the moment I do not see that need.
MS MAHER: I ask a supplementary question. Considering that those who are on the Women's Consultative Council are non-paid and act on a voluntary basis, and that a lot of them are extremely busy, do you think that they have the time to put into this extremely important issue which came up at the meeting I held in February this year - a major issue, and one that needs to be dealt with very quickly? This is information sharing across agencies, where you have agencies talking to other agencies. Do you really think that the Women's Consultative Council - and in no way do I put the work that they do down - will be able to do that?
MS FOLLETT: I think Ms Maher does put the members of that consultative council down. There is no doubt in my mind that they will take a very serious attitude towards this issue, and they have done in the past. There is no doubt about that; no doubt whatsoever. The work that they have done has been extremely effective.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .