Page 2328 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 12 August 2014
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including the women and children program policy, were already well advanced at the point when the report was provided to government. The government has also provided additional funding for the through-care extension program in the 2014-15 budget, consistent with recommendation 60. Support for a needle and syringe exchange program is ongoing government policy and a parliamentary agreement item. Implementation of these recommendations will further enhance what is already very strong service delivery to women in the AMC. It should also be noted that many recommendations are consistent with existing practice.
As I said earlier, 10 recommendations have been noted and there are seven recommendations which the government does not accept. The reason these recommendations have not been accepted is that the government is concerned that some are unnecessary or impractical, or may undermine the operations, including security operations, of the AMC. It is also the government view that some non-essential recommendations are not cost-effective or financially feasible at this time. A number of these recommendations, while not supported at this time, will be considered as part of the current expenditure review being conducted into ACT Corrective Services. The government also has concerns that aspects of the report were shaped by negative perceptions which are not borne out by the facts at the AMC.
In response to concerns raised by some submissions from community groups to the commissioner, as well as those raised directly with my office, I convened a service provider roundtable in August 2013. It became apparent to roundtable participants that some perceptions they had about service provision at the AMC were incorrect. The government is concerned that input used by the commissioner might have been shaped by these early views which do not take account of the roundtable outcomes, which clarified or answered some of the more serious concerns.
Notwithstanding this, the audit makes a valuable contribution to ongoing work undertaken by ACT Corrective Services, and I thank the commissioner and her team for their work. In closing, as the Minister for Corrective Services and on behalf of the government, I want to acknowledge the work of staff of ACT Corrective Services, ACT Health and the Community Services Directorate for their input to this process and management of women in the AMC.
Appropriation Bill 2014-2015
[Cognate bill:
Appropriation (Office of the Legislative Assembly) Bill 2014-2015
Cognate paper:
Estimates 2014-2015—Select Committee report—government response]
Detail stage
Schedule 1—Appropriations
Consideration resumed on amendment No 13 [see schedule 1 at page 2408] moved by Mr Barr.
Chief Minister, Treasury and Economic Development Directorate—
Schedule 1A, Part 1.7—$194,559,000 (net cost of outputs), $256,524,510 (capital injection), $63,182,201 (payments on behalf of territory), totalling $514,265,711.
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