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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 4 Hansard (8 May) . . Page.. 1108 ..

MR HUMPHRIES (Attorney-General) (10.43): Mr Speaker, I present the Domestic Violence (Amendment) Bill (No. 2) 1997, together with its explanatory memorandum.

Title read by Clerk.

MR HUMPHRIES: I move:

That this Bill be agreed to in principle.

I am pleased to inform the Assembly that the Government, in presenting this Bill, has fulfilled the undertaking I gave last year in a ministerial statement on the tabling of the Government's response to the ACT Community Law Reform Committee Report No. 9 on domestic violence. In that statement I outlined the Government's intention to legislate for the establishment of a Domestic Violence Prevention Council. As I indicated at that time, the role of the Domestic Violence Prevention Council will be to advise government on domestic violence issues and promote collaboration amongst government agencies and non-government organisations in the ACT.

The Domestic Violence Prevention Council will be primarily tasked with the development and referral to me of an ACT domestic violence strategy. The development of such a strategy has been commenced by the Women's Consultative Council, who were commissioned with preparing a draft strategy for the council's consideration. The Government has been pleased to endorse the strategy, and I would like to express the Government's appreciation to the members of that council for the work that has gone into the strategy, which now awaits the Domestic Violence Prevention Council's attention.

The Domestic Violence Prevention Council will have 13 members, at least six of whom will be appointed as community representatives. The community representatives will include a person capable of representing the interests of Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders and a person capable of representing the views of people of non-English-speaking backgrounds. The council will be chaired, as I indicated last year, by the Victims of Crime Coordinator. Other members will be senior government officers from relevant policy and program areas, to establish a link between the council and the agencies of government responsible for delivering services and developing policies.

The Domestic Violence Prevention Council will draw together all policy and program initiatives and resources, to maximise the effectiveness of the criminal justice response and service responses to domestic violence issues. The council will also play a central role in improving the quality of the community consultation and education mechanisms on domestic violence. This is critical to raising community awareness and empowering victims of domestic violence offences in the Territory.

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