Page 3372 - Week 09 - Thursday, 24 August 2017
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ACT government set targets for, and report on, the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participants in the through-care program. But we would add that they also report on those successfully repatriated, report on the recidivism of Indigenous males and females, and prioritises the reduction of Indigenous recidivism in our jails.
Finally, we come to an area where the government is prepared to spend some money on specific Indigenous programs: community legal centres. Here, 37.5 per cent of the $2.5 million stated will be spent on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women’s access to justice program, the Canberra community law Aboriginal human rights program and the Munjuwa Aboriginal corporation. It is good to see that some money, just under $1 million, will be spent in this important area.
To conclude, if we add together the actual money being spent this financial year on Indigenous matters, $1 million is going to Winnunga to begin their new building works. The remaining will hopefully be made available in the coming years. There is a spending commitment of $25,000 this year for seed funding grants for new and emerging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander controlled organisations. But there is a lack of clarity and transparency about what is intended with this money or when these grants will be offered. There is $100,000 on the arts; about $50,000 on the employment of a level 5 administrative officer in through care; and about $1 million on legal fees. If we add these together, the final spend is actually closer to $2 million, which is a far cry from the $45 million spruiked in their glossy brochure. In fact, it is about five per cent of the promised money for this year.
In closing, I want to reiterate the important recommendation made by the estimates committee for this portfolio area. This is to call on the government to provide a separate and detailed annex to the budget papers that details specific Indigenous funding, progress made against targets, and outcomes reached for relevant output classes and accountability indicators.
MRS KIKKERT (Ginninderra) (3.51): I rise to speak to this line item and the area of domestic and family violence. I know from personal experience the importance of family safety and I add my voice to the growing chorus of voices around the nation and across this territory in support of the principle that all people have the right to feel safe in their personal relationships and in their homes.
In 2008 the National Council to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children was established to develop an evidence-based plan to address personal and domestic violence. After much consultation the result was the national plan to reduce violence against women and their children 2010–2022, developed in partnership with all states and territories. This plan was endorsed by COAG and released in February 2011. The plan has two focuses: first, to stop violence before it happens; second, to support those who have experienced violence and to hold perpetrators to account. It also seeks to build the evidence base so that we can learn more about what works in reducing personal and domestic violence.
Under the plan each jurisdiction funds and administers its own programs and services. The national plan was designed to cover 12 years divided into four three-year action plans. We are now more than halfway through with the third action plan having been
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