Page 2202 - Week 06 - Thursday, 6 June 2019

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While our visit showed that there is much for us to learn from the experience of others, we should also be proud of our own achievements. Our city may not be as big as London, Glasgow or Birmingham but our first responders are leaders and the work that they perform day to day is world class. They are excellent at their job and amongst the world’s best. Thanks to their work, our city is one of the safest cities in the world in which to live, work and visit.

The government will continue investing in our police and emergency services as our city grows to ensure that we remain a very safe city and continue to provide care for all Canberrans. I present the following paper:

Ministerial delegation to the United Kingdom—April 2019—Ministerial statement, 6 June 2019.

I move:

That the Assembly take note of the paper.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

Government—safer families policy

Ministerial statement

MS BERRY (Ginninderra—Deputy Chief Minister, Minister for Education and Early Childhood Development, Minister for Housing and Suburban Development, Minister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence, Minister for Sport and Recreation and Minister for Women) (11.21): Today I am delivering the third annual safer families statement. This statement will highlight some of the significant achievements the ACT government and the community have made over the past 12 months and describe future directions for continuing that work to support women, children and others impacted by family violence and to enable them to be safe and to get on with their lives.

In 2016 the ACT government made a historic funding commitment of $21.42 million over four years, under the ACT government’s response to family violence, to address domestic and family violence and to provide additional supports to families, women and children dealing with psychological, physical, emotional and financial costs. The safer families levy, at $30 per household, was introduced to create an ongoing revenue base to fund long-term system reform and service improvements, and it provided offset funding for this first phase of safer families package initiatives.

Since 2016 safer families funding has provided additional resourcing for Legal Aid, ACT Policing and the courts to improve their capacity to help those affected by domestic and family violence to navigate the justice system and to enforce justice responses that keep victims safe. Families and individuals affected by domestic and family violence already experience trauma without the additional stress of navigating a complex and lengthy justice process. In 2019-20 these initiatives will be in their


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