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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 4 Hansard (7 May) . . Page.. 1066 ..

MR HUMPHRIES (continuing):

Even so - and this is important - the research on the fear of crime experienced by older people suggests that, on most measures, the majority express feelings of safety. This is reassuring. Relative to other metropolitan centres, we do live in a safe city. We need to keep this balance in mind when we report on crime. This is not to minimise the trauma that individual victims of crime experience. When you are the victim of a crime, it is small consolation to learn that you still live in a relatively safe city. Support for victims of crime needs to be constant, and the Government is committed to facilitating that support.

The committee's recommendations are aimed at ensuring that accurate messages about the real levels of crime be conveyed to the community; that professional home safety advice be available to older people; that older people be encouraged to participate in crime prevention programs and other community initiatives; and that elements of urban design that are particularly relevant to the safety of older people be given high priority.

A detailed account of our responses to the recommendations of the report can be found in the document that I have just tabled. Briefly, I am happy to report that the Government is able to support all of the recommendations of the report. With respect to a number of the recommendations, substantial progress has already been made in developing policy and programs to meet identified needs. In March 1997 the Council on the Ageing, working with the Australian Federal Police, the ACT Fire Brigade and the ACT Ambulance Service, launched the home safety advisory service for older people. Those older members of the community who wish to have their homes assessed for safety risks can do so through this program, receiving impartial expert advice.

Both as a means of addressing misconceptions about crime levels and as a means of meeting a need for accurate data for planning, my department has commenced the compilation of a justice data series. Over the next 12 months we shall include selected crime data in the series and accompany its release with media statements which will accurately reflect crime rates in the ACT. The report recommended that older people be encouraged to participate in crime prevention programs. We have ensured that older people's views are represented on the ACT Community Safety Committee and encourage the participation of older people in voluntary safety committees.

Late last year I reported to the Assembly on the Government's positive response to the recommendations of the report "The Role of Urban Design in Crime Prevention and Community Safety". Those recommendations relevant to the safety of older people are fully supported and have been reflected in the planning and design of public place refurbishment commencing shortly in Civic in Garema Place, City Walk and Civic Square. Similar public place refurbishment has already taken place in the shopping centres of Narrabundah, Hughes and O'Connor, where issues such as lighting, paving and access have been critical considerations. The planning process for further public place refurbishment for other parts of Civic - East Row and Alinga Street - and the shopping centres of Manuka, Kingston, Yarralumla and Weston Creek will again use the principle of consulting widely with the public, and the issue of safety will be one of the major planning and design criteria.

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