Page 356 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 23 February 1993
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
Those initiatives include that we have had a thorough investigation of the laws and practices related to domestic violence by the Community Law Reform Committee and they have been assisted in that by my Women's Unit and the Women's Consultative Committee. We have on our notice paper the discussion paper on domestic violence and, of course, there is also circulation for community comment.
At a practical level, the provision of a domestic violence support worker at the Women's Information and Referral Centre has been made in the budget to assist women survivors to gain access to government services. The sponsoring of domestic violence support groups by the Women's Information and Referral Centre is a further initiative, again in the budget, aimed at assisting those women. The review by the Community Law Reform Committee into sexual assault - again with the assistance of the Women's Unit and the Women's Consultative Council - will further enable us to make sure that our laws are relevant, are appropriate and are the most effective that we can possibly have. On 11 March, there is a seminar on sexual harassment which is co-sponsored by my youth and women's councils in cooperation with the ACT Human Rights Office. This will raise the issue of sexual harassment and seek some practical suggestions for further handling this problem. Of course, we also - and I think other speakers will address this - are developing an integrated crime strategy which will include initiatives further to secure women's freedom from violence.
Madam Speaker, in closing, could I refer very briefly to women in the decision making process. It has always been my view that women have a great deal to offer the community and, as a government, we have sought to involve women in the decision making process. We have done that through public consultation on major pieces of legislation on issues such as the discrimination, adoption and domestic violence Acts. We have also adopted a policy of appointing women to half of the positions on all government boards and committees. In this respect I think we have taken a very proactive approach to appointments which has led overall to 37.5 per cent of such appointments being filled by women. Believe me, that is a remarkable step forward since we have been in government. I cannot speak too highly of the advice that is provided to me by my Women's Consultative Council. As I have said, they do conduct their own consultations in the community on a regular basis, on both general and specific issues, and the council's Tuggeranong consultation late last year is a very successful example of their work. In closing, Labor's policies are designed to protect the rights of women to be respected as equals in the workplace, in the home and in the community, and I believe that our record thus far bears that out.
MRS CARNELL (3.41): It is often said that politics is about perception. In other words, it is not what is done but what appears to have been done, and I think the last 10 years of politics in this country is a very apt description of this philosophy. However, women, like the rest of Canberra, are sick and tired of window-dressing and words. They would like to see some real action and something that is actually done, for a change, not words, not glossy brochures, not ads in women's magazines as we have seen recently, but real action; not committees, not positions on boards, not small - very small - programs for a very few women, but something that actually affects and improves the lifestyle of the vast percentage of women we see in this town.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .