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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 5 Hansard (15 May) . . Page.. 1555 ..

[COGNATE BILLS:

Debate resumed from 10 April 1997, on motion by Mr Humphries:

That this Bill be agreed to in principle.

MR SPEAKER: Is it the wish of the Assembly to debate this order of the day concurrently with the Crimes (Amendment) Bill (No. 2) 1997, the Domestic Violence (Amendment) Bill 1997 and the Magistrates Court (Amendment) Bill 1997? There being no objection, that course will be followed. I remind members that in debating order of the day No. 5 they may also address their remarks to orders of the day Nos 6, 7 and 8.

MR WOOD (6.30): Mr Speaker, these amendments flow from the review that was commenced by Mr Terry Connolly when he made a reference to the Community Law Reform Committee to look at domestic violence laws. That was a most comprehensive undertaking. It involved wide consultation and a close scrutiny of a wide range of Acts of this Territory. In the end, some five years after the reference, a well-considered report of two volumes came to this Assembly. We are now considering just part of that as we look at these amendments to the legislation today.

I trust that the Government's reaction to this report will be in keeping with the effort that went into its presentation. I have to say that there is still a very long way to go. Some good work has flowed already. You may recall Ms Follett's anti-stalking legislation that went through late last year and a couple of other amendments that went through. The Minister spoke of improvements to processes flowing from the construction of the new Magistrates Court and he also claimed that there have been some changes to police procedures. But I must emphasise that there is much more to come. We have hardly touched the surface of this comprehensive report. In particular, we have yet to deal with the Domestic Violence Advisory Council. That Bill has been tabled and it will be debated during the next session. That council is a key component of the changes that have been recommended.

I should comment that the report contained two strong, vital threads. First of all, there was the strengthening of the criminal justice response to domestic violence. Secondly, there was the strong demand for a coordinated interagency response to domestic violence. Today we have some, just some, of the significant recommendations arising from the report and from those two strands. The Opposition will certainly be supporting these amendments tonight.

I have two requests of the Minister, Mr Humphries. First of all, on behalf of many in the community, I seek a statement from the Government about its intentions as to the rest of the recommendations in this report. We have done only a little at this stage, and the community at large would be very keen to know what the Government intends to do

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