Page 2208 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 28 August 2007
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
MR CORBELL: In making this statement, I wish to respond to the statement made by the Chair of the Standing Committee on Legal Affairs earlier this year regarding the inquiry into legislation amending the Victims of Crime Act 1994, undertaken by the committee in June 2004.
I advise the Assembly the government considers that the standing committee’s report is out of date and the recommendations largely redundant. The government has significantly moved forward since the report was completed, and it makes no sense to respond to the committee’s report on a recommendation-by-recommendation basis.
Services for victims of crime are one of the highest priorities of the government. Currently, the government is acting on a number of levels to continue to improve the quality and efficiency of service delivery to victims. One of our most significant responses has been to improve victim service delivery in light of the recent review of the victims services scheme, or VSS. The VSS was established in 2002 and is primarily responsible for the provision of recovery and counselling services for victims of crime. It provides a broad range of rehabilitative services, including appropriate services to victims by referral. It responds to approximately 600 to 700 new clients every year. The VSS sees clients who may have recently been victimised or whose cases are currently before the courts, as well as those who may have been victims many years ago.
In 2005, the government requested a review of the VSS, guided by an expert reference group. The report, completed in 2006, recommended moving the VSS to the justice sector to enable better integration of the benefits available in the VSS with services for victims available in that sector—in particular, financial assistance. The government accepted the report’s recommendation to relocate the VSS. Its transfer from ACT Health to the Department of Justice and Community Safety was completed on 1 January this year. The relocation of the VSS is also designed to further reduce risks of service gaps to victims of crime.
To further minimise the risks of service gaps and to ensure improved, more integrated responses to victims, the Victims of Crime Coordinator is now responsible for the overall management of the VSS, including an enhanced policy development role. This is a logical extension of the Victim of Crime Coordinator’s current advocacy and educational role, and it enables her to bring together in the justice sector as many victim-focused resources as possible. The Victims of Crime Coordinator will also oversee and manage the coming together of the VSS with the new resources announced in the 2007-08 budget. Over half a million new dollars in funding has been provided to enhance the services available to victims of crime in the ACT. The government wants to make it easier for victims of crime to access services, information and support. The new funding will allow greater collaboration between government and other victim assistance providers in the community to ensure that victims’ needs come first.
In addition to these changes to services for victims of crime, a reference group has been established to examine and implement the recommendations of the Responding to sexual assault: the challenge of change report. This is a joint report prepared by the
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .