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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 2 Hansard (27 February) . . Page.. 313 ..

Debate resumed from 20 June 1995, on motion by Mrs Carnell:

That the Assembly takes note of the paper.

MS TUCKER (12.15): This matter has been on the notice paper for a long time and it has really been overtaken by more recent events, so I will not speak on this issue today.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

Debate resumed from 14 December 1995, on motion by Mr Humphries:

That this Bill be agreed to in principle.

MS FOLLETT (Leader of the Opposition) (12.15): Mr Speaker, the Opposition will be supporting this legislation that has been put forward by the Attorney-General. In supporting the Bill, we are aware that its provisions have been agreed to by the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General and that the provisions of the Bill arise from amendments to the Family Law Act, amendments contained in the Family Law Reform Bill which was passed by the Federal Parliament last year, as I understand it. One question that I hope the Attorney-General will address in the debate on his Bill is whether or not the provisions of the Family Law Reform Bill 1994 have actually come into operation at this point. I understand that at the time Mr Humphries introduced the Bill which the Assembly is considering the Commonwealth Bill had not actually received royal assent. I think it is quite important for the Assembly to know whether that has been achieved, because the provisions of the Bill we are considering are put forward in order to maintain that reform package which the Commonwealth has initiated.

Mr Speaker, I am very pleased indeed to see the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General addressing the issue of domestic violence. In my view, it is not before time. Domestic violence is a very serious crime in our community. It is a crime that is overwhelmingly committed by men against women and children, and it is a crime which has led to fatal consequences on many an occasion. In the ACT alone there have been roughly 13 homicides attributable to domestic violence. Of those 13 fatalities, all but one of them were women. I think it is a very serious crime in our community, as it is throughout Australia. It has been estimated that up to 31 per cent of all homicides committed are in fact domestic violence crimes. It is an issue which I believe deserves attention at the very highest level.

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