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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 13 Hansard (25 November) . . Page.. 4588 ..

MS GALLAGHER (continuing):

connections between women, violence and human rights. It also raises awareness of gender-based violence and works to ensure better protection for survivors of violence.

Violence against women is a major issue. United Nations figures show that, globally, one woman in three will be raped, beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in her lifetime. In Australia, figures from the national annual report for 2000-01 for the supported accommodation assistance program show that more women than men relied on services for homeless people in that year, and domestic violence was cited as the most common reason for seeking assistance.

In evidence provided last year to the Select Committee on the Status of Women in the ACT the AFP noted that in 2001 in the ACT women and girls accounted for 43 per cent of the victims of assault and 86 per cent of the victims of sexual assault. In 63 per cent of the 119 sexual assaults against women in the ACT in 2001 the victim knew the offender and in 21.8 per cent of these reported cases the offender was a member of the family. Approximately 42 per cent of the reported rapes were perpetrated on girls under the age of 14.

The ABS conducted a national women's safety survey in 1996 and the results showed many women in the ACT to be uneasy about harassment and safety in various situations, particularly using public transport after dark, walking in their local neighbourhoods and in their own homes.

This government is committed to addressing this issue for our community and, in doing so, recognises the importance and value of developing an approach that is holistic, collaborative and across agencies. That is the basis of the new whole-of-government policy framework I released earlier this year. The framework identifies three key outcome areas: protection and justice; options for women; and prevention of violence. A policy document such as this framework which focuses specifically on issues of violence and safety for women is incredibly important, as women's experiences and understandings of violence are often different from those of men. Women are more likely to experience violence from a current or previous partner than from a stranger or acquaintance and the violence is often part of a repeated pattern of abuse over many years, rather than an isolated incident.

The framework provides a structure for directing specific actions to achieve outcomes. The actions occurring across government agencies include: reviewing the criminal law in relation to sexual assault and domestic violence; reviewing the protection orders legislation; introducing legislation to protect confidential disclosures to counsellors in circumstances of serious sexual assault from use in criminal trials; conducting a pilot study to research and analyse sexual assault data to inform criminal justice agencies and the community on women's experience of reporting sexual assault; and providing funds to pilot and evaluate a refuge for indigenous women aged between 12 and 17.

Working to eliminate violence against women is a major challenge for all of us. This government will continue to provide leadership in focusing efforts on addressing this issue. We recognise that it is an issue requiring a concerted effort from all sectors of the community working in close collaboration and partnership. I would encourage all members to speak out against acts of violence against women and to work to raise public awareness of this endemic problem.

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