Page 2593 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 11 August 2015
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That is why the government has commissioned an analysis of gaps in the domestic and family violence support service systems. This will be undertaken by the Community Services Directorate, with oversight by the better services task force. It is expected to be completed later this year. Using the lens of the human services blueprint and research on best practice systems in other jurisdictions, the gap analysis will explore the existing systems and resources across the continuum from early intervention, through crisis to long-term sustainable safety and security for women and children. This includes the human services system, the justice and legal system and the health and education systems.
It is clear that there are already a number of identified gaps that need to be addressed, such as access to interpreters in ACT courts, a shortage of post-crisis supports and strengthening of early intervention. It is also worth noting that some identified gaps are already being addressed by ACT government agencies. For example, ACT Policing is considering the implementation of a domestic and family violence risk assessment tool. Another example is the announcement of over $600,000 in budget funding by my colleague Minister Burch to provide social and emotional learning programs and strengthened curriculum requirements to build respectful relationships within ACT schools.
The focus on gaps affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and children who have experienced domestic and family violence will assist the government to further progress the recommendations in the We don’t shoot our wounded report. This report highlighted that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and girls are significantly more likely to experience violence and less likely to report it or seek assistance.
A key issue identified in the DVPC report is the need to address the experience of victims from the Indigenous community. The Minister for Women and I have written to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body, the United Ngunnawal Elders Council, and a number of key parties including the human rights commissioner and the Victims of Crime Commissioner, outlining the government’s work to date and asking these bodies to work with us to progress priority measures that were identified in the We don’t shoot our wounded report.
Another key issue raised by the DVPC relates to prevention and early intervention for children and young people. The government agrees with the position in the report and recognises the importance of children and young people having the opportunity to grow into young adults who develop healthy sexual relationships and behaviours.
More than two decades of international research definitively shows that infants, children and adolescents experience serious negative psychological, emotional, social and developmental impacts on their wellbeing from the traumatic experience of domestic and sexual violence. This is particularly marked for children up to the age of five.
On this basis the government has announced an amendment to the definitions of domestic and family violence used in the ACT to capture “behaviour by the person using violence that causes a child to be exposed to the effects of this behaviour”, and to reflect the impact that this type of violence has on children and young people.
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