Page 3352 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 12 October 1993
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or you could get some reports that were not in the best interests of anyone. In this place we have had many debates - often discussions, I suppose - about domestic violence. I think there is no point in my restating what we all believe. Domestic violence is a tragedy. It is something that we must address. This report is a step in the right direction. It certainly does not solve any of the problems, but it does give us a direction.
MS SZUTY (9.07): Madam Speaker, I am pleased to speak on this issue, as comprehensive research into issues as important as domestic violence is well overdue. I am pleased that this document has been brought before the Assembly so that I can encourage the Government, through its Community Law Reform Committee, to adopt the report's recommendations and to adequately fund those which require such assistance to come to fruition.
What I would most like to support is the recommendations which speak of the need for more data collection and research. There are recommendations which call for the collection of data and necessary research to ensure that the community and policy makers have adequate statistical and qualitative information to help provide increasingly better domestic violence responses. I also agree wholeheartedly with the final recommendation, that a domestic violence policy unit be established. I suggest that it perhaps best belongs in the Attorney-General's Department and could liaise with other advisory groups that regularly consult with government.
The research paper makes much of the need for increased and appropriate education and training for all involved in domestic violence support and legal intervention, as well as making a specific recommendation, No. 13, for regular round table conferences between agencies involved in domestic violence matters. What a lot of sense this recommendation makes. I am sure that such action can only help people who are affected by domestic violence. Madam Speaker, I feel that all of the recommendations make good sense, and I urge the Community Law Reform Committee to absorb them into their current reference on domestic violence.
I would also like to ask the Attorney-General to look carefully at those recommendations which incur costs and see where funds can be found to accommodate the recommendations. For example, recommendations 17 and 18 call for the physical separation of victims and alleged offenders at court. This could be adopted in other cases, such as child sexual assault, even common assault, or any case where there is a real fear of intimidation of the victims by their alleged attackers. I also feel that court conferencing space is necessary. Already our courts suffer from a lack of adequate and private space for barristers to discuss matters with their clients. A more generous provision of small briefing rooms and private conferencing rooms could serve many functions of the court system. Of course, we know that there is very much a need for a new courts complex in the ACT - a matter which the Government is currently progressing.
There is also much merit in the Government looking more closely at an offender program, as outlined at recommendation 34. The Government has already made the decision to allocate funds for a men's shelter, which I applaud. The next step is to ensure that the cycle of domestic violence is broken, and I agree that this is best done with an offender program which is integrated into a criminal justice intervention policy. I note Mrs Carnell's comments this evening about the underreporting of incidents of domestic violence.
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