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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 2 Hansard (6 March) . . Page.. 668 ..

MS TUCKER (continuing):

The activities which women are involved in around the world include pro-active peace building initiatives through cross-community liaison; participating in peace processes at local, national, regional and international levels; involvement in reconstruction, demobilisation, disarmament and development programs; involvement in lobbying and demonstrating activities to promote peace; and coping strategies concentrating on day-to-day basic needs and bringing communities together.

The importance of International Women's Day is that it provides a focus to highlight both the role of women in peace building and also the terrible impact of war on humanity and women in particular. It gives me great pleasure to support this matter of public importance.

MS GALLAGHER (Minister for Education, Youth and Family Services, Minister for Women and Minister for Industrial Relations) (4.46): I would also like to thank Ms MacDonald for bringing International Women's Day to the attention of the Assembly. I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak today about the significance of International Women's Day-a day to reflect on the status of women.

International Women's Day is celebrated each year throughout the world. On this day people of all cultures and all generations celebrate the gains that women have made. Although cultural and social priorities are constantly changing around the world, women have always been on the front line working for peace, human rights and improved living conditions. This year women around the world, while celebrating their achievements, are still fighting for the elimination of discrimination and for gender equity. At the same time they are calling for help and support for those women who do not yet have access to the same opportunities. Importantly for all of us at this time, women across the world are calling for peace.

International Women's Day inspires commitment to meet the future challenges that women face in making further progress towards achieving equality, and we all know that there is still much more to be done. It is not just women but the whole community that need to make this commitment, and governments must take a leadership role in this process.

I would like to focus my comments today on the issues surrounding violence against women, and violence against women in the ACT. As members would know, last year I chaired the Select Committee on the Status of Women in the ACT. The committee's report found, rather disappointingly, that the single biggest issue in 2002 affecting women in the ACT was violence. I think it is a real shame that that is the case. This is not an issue just in the ACT-it is happening nationally and internationally. Every government website you go contains plans that have been put in place to address violence against women.

The Office for Women is currently preparing a whole-of-government policy framework, to be released soon and tabled in the Assembly, which will look at how we can address the issue of violence and safety for women in the ACT. This framework is incredibly important as women's experiences and understanding of violence are often different to those of men.

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