Page 3817 - Week 14 - Thursday, 10 December 1992
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I must stress that this paper is a starting point for reform. No issues will be settled until there has been full community consultation. In the course of this consultative process, the Community Law Reform Committee will hold public hearings and consider all submissions put before it. It is expected that these hearings will take place in February and March of 1993. The committee will then make its final recommendations and put them before the Government, probably towards the end of next year. They will, of course, then come before this Assembly. Madam Speaker, I now table the discussion paper on domestic violence which has been prepared for the ACT Community Law Reform Committee, and, in so doing, commend the officers involved on the high quality of the work.
MR HUMPHRIES (3.22): I have had the opportunity of looking at the advance copy of the paper that was circulated last week, I think, to members. I have a copy. Clearly, as Mr Connolly indicates, this paper is a starting point for consideration of reform issues. Anybody who suggests that any document such as this is able to furnish in one go a complete set of answers to the problem of domestic violence is unaware of the true extent and nature of domestic violence in this community. The problems are deep seated, as a survey of community attitudes indicates. They are difficult to eradicate legislatively, and they will require some years of concerted effort on the part of community leaders and others to turn around.
Madam Speaker, in a sense I was disappointed to see that there were not many suggestions about change put forward in this paper; but I think that that, in fairness, is a reflection simply of the fact that the single most important element that has to be changed in order to affect the situation of domestic violence is public education and the perception that the Minister referred to - that in some respects domestic violence is an acceptable activity in certain circumstances, behind the closed doors of people's homes. I think we all in this place accept that it is not, and that the community has every right to step in, in these circumstances, and say, "If you breach the standards of human behaviour which the community as a whole accepts as necessary, then you are answerable for that situation, not merely to the members of your immediate family but to everybody".
There are some things that can be done. I draw attention to the fact that my party, only yesterday, tabled in the Assembly what we consider to be an important piece of domestic violence legislation; namely, a provision which would treat in a much more stringent fashion people who choose to breach domestic violence protection orders. I hope that that will be considered as part of this package. This document is a useful first step, and I hope that we can go down the path of finding other solutions, and in particular furthering the process of community education which is such an important element in fixing this problem.
Debate (on motion by Ms Szuty) adjourned.
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