Page 3072 - Week 08 - Thursday, 15 August 2019
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The insights gathered through the co-design for the family safety hub have prompted the government to think differently about the role for the hub in the ACT. The co-design highlighted that collaboration is needed to design and test solutions to systemic problems. The insights also provide an evidence base for future reforms.
The government has committed $2.8 million over four years to provide training for ACT government managers and staff to recognise and respond to the needs of adults and children, clients, colleagues and anyone experiencing domestic and family violence. This training is in addition to intensive specialist training already provided to some parts of the ACT government. The training will be made available to 21,000 ACT public servants and ACT Policing employees. It is likely that, whether they are aware of it or not, everyone knows someone who has experienced domestic and family violence. All staff will be equipped with the skills to recognise and respond to these issues.
The office of the Coordinator-General for Family Safety will lead the development and implementation of a death review model for the ACT, with $831,000 from this year’s budget. This will better inform the changes that need to be made in response to family and domestic violence. Room4Change is an important therapeutic residential men’s behaviour change program run by the Domestic Violence Crisis Service. This pilot program will now be extended with $4.243 million from the budget and provide certainty of funding for this innovative and valuable program that keeps families in their homes, while working with the perpetrators and victims of family and domestic violence.
In addition, the government is committed to provide funds to extend the health justice partnership to continue legal services for pregnant women and new parents experiencing domestic and family violence, which has already helped a number of women in our hospitals with legal and other supports.
This budget delivers on a number of key commitments from the housing strategy that will strengthen public housing and provide more supported housing for people experiencing homelessness. Over the next five years the ACT government will invest $100 million and develop 1,200 modern and efficient homes, including 200 extra homes for those in need of housing. This is per capita the biggest investment of public housing in the country. The program builds on the success of the public housing renewal program, which replaced 1,288 of the oldest and most inefficient properties with modern and accessible homes that better meet the needs of tenants. The 2019-20 budget commits $20 million to the first year program and will start work on more than 250 new homes.
The 2019-20 budget delivers 2016 election commitments to build a second common ground in Dickson, which will provide at least 40 new homes for affordable and community housing to people experiencing chronic and cyclical homelessness. The first common ground in Gungahlin has been doing fantastic work with its residents and has been supported incredibly well by the local community, helping each of the residents to maintain their housing as well as excel in their lives.
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