Page 3842 - Week 13 - Tuesday, 8 November 1994
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I would now like to turn to a couple of the matters which Mrs Carnell raised in her remarks and which the conference in South Australia considered. The first of those was the role that women have as carers. It is certainly acknowledged that more work needs to be done in this area. We have just had Carers Week in the ACT, and it is timely to talk about this. Certainly, statistics indicate that millions of dollars are saved by the work that carers rather than governments do. I believe that carers' needs should be recognised and, to the maximum extent possible, their roles should be supported and resourced. Of course, most carers in our community are women. I also note that the identification of respite care services is an area of need. Mrs Carnell has also mentioned that that is an area that we need to pay ever-increasing attention to.
The ACT Work and Family Advisory Service is an important initiative. It seems amazing to me that we have not considered effectively to date the needs of workers in the context of their family responsibilities. We need to continue to address these issues in the future, enabling both men and women to assist with family responsibilities while they work. I also note the Chief Minister's references to domestic violence against women and the work that she is doing at the national level to see that the issue is substantially addressed. It is pleasing to see progress being made in all jurisdictions to eliminate domestic violence against women; nonetheless, it is disappointing that progress is not being made in relation to data collection at the national level. Perhaps the Chief Minister can give the Assembly an explanation why States and Territories seem to be dragging the chain in terms of data collection in this very important area. I have become aware recently, as I am sure other members have, of a recent study which indicates that levels of domestic violence in homosexual relationships are of a similar frequency to those in heterosexual relationships. I would be interested if any information is available about domestic violence in lesbian relationships, in particular; and, if not, whether the Chief Minister believes that this area is worthy of further study. I am pleased that the ministerial conference agreed to consider further the portrayal of women in the media. I certainly hope to receive feedback on that issue in the future.
Madam Speaker, the Chief Minister's statements on the Commonwealth-State Ministers conference and the recent developments concerning the status of women have been broad in their scope, as my remarks have been. I am confident that the needs of women will continue to be addressed by governments for some time to come. I trust that more and more women will take their places in all parliaments and governments in Australia, to ensure the achievement of those objectives.
MR CORNWELL (9.12): I would like to take advantage of this debate to join with the Lone Fathers Association in registering my protest at the media campaign in relation to commercial television. I quote from the Minister's statement:
... violence against women and children is not acceptable and is a criminal offence.
The inference there is unmistakable: Presumably, it is condoned against men. I would suggest to you, Chief Minister, that you join with the lone fathers in directing your media campaign against violence, full stop. The campaign should not be directed against a specific group in the community. Domestic violence of any sort should be opposed.
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