Page 465 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 16 February 2005
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Mrs Dunne: And that’s not a cliché?
MS GALLAGHER: That is not a cliché; it is a policy document. The framework will continue to be instrumental in guiding government agencies in their work to eliminate violence against women across their areas of responsibility. We will release later this year the third annual action plan addressing issues of violence and safety for women. That plan outlines concrete strategies in place in agencies to achieve the identified outcomes of the plan, which are protection and justice, that is, a justice system that provides protection, support and advocacy for women and options for women; and that ensures that the assistance provided to women is appropriate, accessible and responsive. The third key element is the prevention of violence. I think Mrs Burke spoke about that too. It is probably one of the areas we do not disagree on. Again, there is an understanding of the problem and acknowledgment of the right of women to live their lives free of violence.
Of course, there is a lot more work to be done. In 2003 the government prepared a response to the ACT Law Reform Commission report on sexual assaults, and legislative amendments have been made because of this. The protection orders legislation has been reviewed to strengthen the legislative response to domestic and family violence. Legislation has been passed to protect the confidential disclosures to counsellors and to prevent their use in criminal trials in circumstances of serious sexual assault.
In 2003-04, four outreach services were funded to provide immediate responses to people experiencing homelessness and who are on waiting lists for supported accommodation. Two of these services address the needs of single women and women with children escaping domestic violence. We have also established an outreach service to provide pre-and post-accommodation support to women, increasing their skills to obtain and sustain tenancies, and break the cycle of homelessness. The service is open to all women, including those who have experienced violence.
As Dr Foskey said, Betty Searle House opened in March 2004. It provides long-term, affordable, safe and secure housing for a small number—eight—and yes, it has been very busy, unfortunately. Money has been provided through the homelessness strategy to support families in individual dwellings via an outreach model. We work constantly with refuges to identify with them further ways that we can support the work they are doing. I think we can do more there. I would certainly like to do more there.
This is an important issue. It costs the community a great deal and it is something that every single government across the world is struggling to deal with: how can we manage the extent of the issue, not only to do with cost but to do with the impact on the community?
In terms of some of the federal government’s agenda—where they have, I think, launched attacks on womens organisations and reduced support: this is perhaps the one area that they have continued to see as paramount in being involved in a national process to address domestic violence. Their advertising campaign from last year was part of that. But we will continue to work to ensure that we can provide options for women who are
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