Page 1202 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 24 June 1992
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supported by legislation must be faced in the very near future by governments all around Australia to deal with the frightening increases in criminal activity occurring in the home. That is why I consider this an urgent enough matter to deal with these Bills today rather than leaving them on the table longer. These Bills assist in protecting women and children, but particularly women, in their homes.
Dr Jocelyn Scutt in 1986 stated that, according to the statistics, the most dangerous place for a woman to be in Australia was in her own home. It is a sad indictment against our society. Not only is this situation a major indictment; surely it is an indicator of where our attentions should be focused for reform. It is for that reason that I congratulate the Government on introducing these Bills.
If domestic violence and child sexual abuse decrease, so too does the need to supply extra housing, refuges, counselling facilities, welfare payments and legal aid, not to mention the long-term problems, particularly psychological and emotional problems, created for children and women in these cases. If we are not motivated by the sheer enormity of the long-term social and emotional problems caused by this situation, then we should be very concerned about the extraordinarily large and growing bill that this country is paying and will have to pay for ignoring it. So often there is an economic as well as a psychological and emotional cost attached to such things.
Fifteen years ago it was considered cool or perhaps, at worst, mildly irresponsible for drivers to speed through a town under the influence of alcohol. A policeman in that era was likely to reprimand you, particularly in a small country town, if no accident had occurred, and possibly even escort you home. Now, with the help of a huge national campaign of education backed up by legislation and police support, the situation has changed dramatically. Now peers assist in policing drink-driving and encourage their friends to take a taxi home instead of running the risk of driving home over the limit.
It is my fervent hope that in the next century, in a decade's time, I will be able to look back at this time and identify it as a turning point - a time when national strategies were initiated to educate the populace on violence in the home, a time to educate the police force and those in our courts and a time when legislators recognised that criminal activity not only was increasing under our noses but also was tacitly condoned. To do nothing to address this situation is to support it in some form. With that, Madam Speaker, I congratulate the Government on introducing these Bills and feel proud to lend my support to them.
MS FOLLETT (Chief Minister and Treasurer) (4.16): I very much appreciate the support that I hear from both sides of the house for these Bills. Like Mr Moore, I feel proud that the Assembly is dealing with these matters. In my case it is a personal pride as well, because I brought this matter to the attention of heads of government myself and was able to get swift agreement amongst the States and Territories to the reciprocal arrangement on domestic violence protection orders. I had a personal hand in this reform. I think it is an advantage to have responsibility for women's affairs with the head of government. It enables you to raise matters at that level, and in this case it has borne fruit swiftly.
Essentially, as I am sure members know, the initiatives that we are debating concern the establishment of procedures by which the status of protection orders granted in another jurisdiction is maintained in the ACT. Mr Connolly has already pointed out in his presentation speech that there is bipartisan
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