Page 1912 - Week 06 - Thursday, 5 May 2005
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A specific budget commitment for women and girls that I sincerely welcome from the minister and the government is the one concerning the sustained effort to work towards bringing the problematic issue of domestic violence into the open in the ACT community. The increase in funding of $482,000 over four years will mean that the program will be able to continue to work to address the effects of domestic violence on not only the family members living within the troubled relationship but also the community around them. I applaud the government for that.
This funding continues to provide assistance to the Domestic Violence Crisis Service and the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre, which support women and children experiencing family violence. It is important that the domestic violence support group attached to the Women’s Information and Referral Centre continue to be maintained to respond to women who have suffered abuse from their partners and that they work in conjunction with the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre, which also convenes a weekly support group for survivors of sexual abuse.
I am extremely pleased to note that a community education program will be established to address the causes of violence. I am sure the minister will agree that it is simply futile to continue to fund initiatives that only deal with the effect. We must also begin to work with men’s groups and men within the broader community to better understand why there is such a high level of domestic violence and violence in general in our community. I will continue to work with the government wherever I can and whenever I can to ensure that the level of domestic violence in our community is reduced and to provide assistance to both men and women who are in crisis.
With regard to indigenous issues, the ACT government has allocated more than $5 million in new funding to support Canberra’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. I welcome the funding for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander unit to service child protection and youth justice clients. The $2.9 million over the next four years will provide the necessary culturally appropriate support and services to young indigenous people in the ACT. I acknowledge that the Chief Minister is committed to ensuring that every Canberra citizen has a decent standard of living and is given every chance to reach their full potential. I trust that these services will go a long way towards making inroads into assisting indigenous people to ensure that they live fulfilling lives.
The trial of an innovative sentencing option for indigenous offenders will continue. The allocation of an extra $100,000 in this year’s budget is a further recognised assistance package in enhancing circle sentencing. I am sure that my colleague Mr Stefaniak will talk more about that. I concur with the Chief Minister that the approach adopted by the Ngambra circle sentencing court is a positive way forward in ensuring that offenders accepted into the program can expect a personally confronting sentencing hearing and ongoing intensive community supervision of their behaviour. I feel that the goodwill of the court, the elders and all the justice system participants will augur well for ensuring continued success of the program and seeing that our young people particularly are kept out of the justice system.
The Chief Minister is to be applauded also for enhancing the efforts of the Office for Children, Youth and Family Support to assist young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. I agree wholeheartedly that there is an identified need to improve the
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