Page 2074 - Week 06 - Thursday, 8 June 2017
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December 2016 the Domestic Violence Crisis Service, DVCS, made crisis intervention visits to 773 families and received 12,800 calls for telephone support and crisis counselling; and that for the first three quarters of 2016-17, ACT Policing attended over 2,200 family violence related incidents. We know that the demand for services will probably increase in the short and medium terms as infrastructure improves and awareness increases. Increased reporting means that more people are able to seek help.
The $21.42 million safer families package funded in last year’s budget represents the single largest spending and policy commitment to address family violence in the ACT’s history. This is also the first time in the ACT’s history that there has been such a dedicated, interconnected, whole-of-government and across-community commitment to address domestic and family violence. Importantly, the commitment and reform program commits to a new model for integration across government, with the community sector led by a dedicated Coordinator-General for Family Safety.
Funding was allocated to priorities across directorates, providing $9.6 million for Justice and Community Safety, including Legal Aid; $8.4 million for the Community Services Directorate, including money for front-line services; $2 million for ACT Health; and $1.3 million for the Chief Minister, Treasury and Economic Development Directorate.
As we reported in the budget papers, our financial investment to the safer families agenda in 2016 was substantial, with $4.595 million in investment in our first year, against a budget of $5.629 million. All funding that was not fully spent this year will be re-profiled to the 2017-18 year either to continue or offset other safer family initiatives. The government’s commitment to family safety will continue in the years ahead, with an investment of $23.5 million over the four years from 2017-18.
But as I have said a number of times, funding alone is not the answer. Real change requires strong leadership. Through a whole-of-government approach, the coordinator-general is supported by a dedicated safer families team and is uniquely positioned to drive cultural change and lead reform in partnership with government agencies, non-government services and the Canberra community.
Our commitment is to build a system that is person and family centred, that builds confidence so that more people will seek help, and that is able to identify and support families at risk much earlier before the violence escalates. That kind of change requires a long-term effort and an approach to implementation that is focused on learning from what works and what does not, refining, adapting and trying again.
This year has seen great progress. We have achieved major legislative reforms that offer much better protection, with new laws enacted from 1 May 2017. They provide a broader definition of family violence to protect victims from the full range of coercive, controlling and abusive behaviours. More family violence victims and survivors are getting help through government support for Legal Aid ACT, the Domestic Violence Crisis Service and the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre. There have been specific investments to improve access to justice processes and family violence
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