Page 4170 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 24 October 2018

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We also provided the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre with $120,000 in funding to assist people who are seeking redress. In addition, the Community Service Directorate and the Victims of Crime Commission are being provided with additional staff to support local implementation of the scheme. These resources are part of the almost $14 million that the ACT government has committed over the next four years to fund redress.

Over the 10-year lifetime of the scheme, the government estimates that up to $30 million will be provided to help survivors rebuild their lives and to ensure that the institutions take responsibility for their failings. Survivors will have access to legal advice, to counselling and to administrative help working through the redress process.

The ACT will keep working hard to ensure that our response to the royal commission puts children first and that our services are always oriented towards supporting survivors.

Schools—WorkSafe investigation

MS LEE: My question is to the minister for education. Minister, you have recently announced funding for the ACT council of P&C associations to run workshops for parents to establish a shared understanding of the problem of increased violence against ACT teaching staff. The WorkSafe report highlighted the preschools in which teachers have been subjected to violence and suffered injuries as a result. What communication did the school and/or the directorate have with the families of the other children in those classes where the incidents occurred?

MS BERRY: If it is appropriate for me to share that information in this place, I will. However, it is not normally the practice to provide personal information with regard to incidents such as the ones that Ms Lee has referred to.

MS LEE: Is this the first time that those parents have been made aware of the WorkSafe investigation and what is happening in their schools, and what support do schools and/or the directorate provide those families?

MS BERRY: As I said, if it appropriate for me to share information in this place then I will.

Mr Hanson: It’s not personal information.

MS BERRY: It is not up to you to decide whether it is personal or not. I will seek advice on whether it is appropriate to provide, but I would expect that appropriate support was provided to everybody involved in all of those incidents, particularly the teachers who were injured. I will—

Mr Hanson: Well, has it is the question.

MS BERRY: I have said I will seek advice on that, so you do not need to keep interrupting, and I have answered the question.


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