Page 245 - Week 01 - Thursday, 15 February 2018
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In my capacity as Minister for Regulatory Services, I will continue to work with Access Canberra to make it easier for people to access government services. While we continue shifting to online delivery where possible, a focus on the person will remain central, and I have asked our agencies to ensure those citizens who are unable to transact with us digitally are not left behind. This year Access Canberra will be working with community organisations to develop new ways of reaching out to these citizens.
The government also remains committed to ensuring the safety of our citizens. In 2018 Access Canberra will be increasing the proactive focus of its regulatory activities, using data to ensure that those industries and businesses where the risk of harm is greatest or that have poor compliance histories are targeted. Regulators will be working hard to ensure that businesses and individuals understand their obligations, but those who flout the law and put workers or the community at risk will be penalised. We will continue with our red tape reduction agenda, and we will finalise a review of our nation-leading ride-share reforms to ensure we have an on-demand transport industry that is sustainable, safe and reliable.
As Minister for the Arts and Community Events, I am looking forward this year to establishing my new ministerial arts advisory body and to seeing the first official Reconciliation Day take place. We will be focusing on ensuring that Canberra has an exciting, well-coordinated calendar of major and community events to engage locals and attract interstate and overseas visitors to our great city all year round. This will include bringing more events to the town centres and into the suburbs.
We will also see construction of the Belconnen Arts Centre stage 2 commence this year. There will be further progress on the Kingston arts precinct, and facilities upgrades at numerous arts centres. It is also a priority for me that the government’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts consultation report and action plan, which have been created in close consultation with our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, are put into effect to help guide how we can further support and improve inclusion in the arts.
As the Minister for Veterans and Seniors, I will continue to advocate that these groups are considered in all decisions by government. We will develop the next iteration of the active ageing framework, which takes into account health, planning, public and active transport, amongst many other areas of government, to ensure that our senior Canberrans are able to remain active and connected members of the community. We will also undertake consultations to strengthen our protections against elder abuse.
Last year the government launched its veterans employment strategy, which we will continue to build on by creating resources to aid the transition from military service to civilian employment in the ACT. I look forward to announcing the ACT public service’s first veterans employment champions, who will work with government to build the service to be a model employer of veterans. There is plenty of other work to be done in the veterans space, including work on recognition and commemoration, health and mental health, as well as supports for families, that I look forward to rolling out throughout the year.
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