Page 291 - Week 01 - Thursday, 15 December 2016
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I am honoured to refer this important issue to the Standing Committee on Justice and Community Safety and commend this motion of referral to my colleagues here today. I note that Mr Rattenbury and Mr Coe argue that referrals should not be made to committees that have not met. I ask them to note that the justice and community safety committee has met and therefore if they wish to defer this motion to protect vulnerable families they will need to find another excuse.
Domestic and family violence occurs, usually in the home behind closed doors. As a community we are realising that domestic and family violence is an issue that is far more common than many choose to admit. Thanks to the leadership of people like 2015 Australian of the Year, Rosie Batty, and strong governments like ours, domestic and family violence is no longer something we should allow to hide in the shadows. A group of strong women have shone a light on domestic violence and our community has started to face this scourge on society head-on. It is a problem that we must solve as a whole community. We know that governments cannot do it alone. In the ACT over the last few years we have seen a number of women die at the hands of a partner or the person who was supposed to love and protect them.
It is estimated that 1½ million women nationally, and almost half a million men, have experienced violence by a cohabiting partner. Those who say they do not know a victim of domestic and family violence are more likely to be turning a blind eye rather than living in a pure society. Those who turn a blind eye to domestic violence and community leaders who ignore the welfare of families subjected to this horror are the enablers. They are the ones who give the violent and the cruel permission to abuse, to torture and to kill.
I am proud to be a member of a government that has made an important commitment to prioritise a targeted response to domestic and family violence in the ACT. This government has made an unprecedented pledge to address family violence through the creation of a new funding stream which will enable us to fund the $21.42 million safer families package. We are the first government to establish a dedicated Minister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence and have appointed Minister Berry to that position. The minister has made it very clear that our government will work to ensure that we are providing quality support to women who need a crisis response while at the same time working on the prevention and post-crisis programs that will help us bring an end to violence.
This effort is being led by the Coordinator-General for Family Safety. They will be working closely across the whole ACT government as well as the Canberra community to progress key priorities in the coming year. This position has been established to drive cultural change within the public sector, establish partnerships with the community sector and promote collaboration and integration across systems. We are doing more than we have ever done to try to support victims better but there is more we can do to eliminate the violence before it happens.
One of the biggest issues we face here, and perhaps one of the hardest to resolve for not only our community but those around the world, is working to change the culture of our society to make domestic and family violence a thing of the past. At a recent
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