Page 3566 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 18 September 2019
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preventable death of Bradyn Dillon. I am sure that that is what Mrs Kikkert is trying to avert in the future. I have no doubt that nobody wants to see such a tragic and critical outcome ever again in Canberra, or anywhere else. We owe it to him and to all children and young people involved in the care and protection system to ensure that they have a voice in critical decisions that are being made about their lives, and we must get better at it. I support the motion and the amendments.
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) (3.45): I want to make a brief contribution to this conversation today in respect of how the government is doing some important work on listening to children in the context of domestic and family violence.
In April 2018 the Domestic Violence Prevention Council recommended that children and young people should be directly consulted about domestic and family violence services and responses. The DVPC made several recommendations. On 24 October 2018 I announced a commitment to early funding addressing a consultation on children and young people and their experiences and needs. The Children and Young People Commissioner and the Office of the Coordinator-General for Family Safety have been working together to design and deliver this listening and learning project.
The listening and learning project gives effect to this commitment. The family safety hub and Children and Young People Commissioner have been working on this for a little while now. The outcomes of the project will include children and young people’s insights on family violence, contributing to system and culture change by hearing and amplifying the views of children and young people, and the insights gained through this project will feed directly into a family safety hub challenge, leading to improved service response.
The consultation activities have been carefully designed under the guidance of the expert reference group and in collaboration with the children and youth sounding boards. Mixed consultation methods will also be used to ensure that the government can listen to and learn from children and young people with a range of backgrounds and experiences, and that the methods are developmentally appropriate for children and young people across a range of ages.
Consulting on the sensitive issue of domestic and family violence requires the highest level of care and attention to participant safety and wellbeing. An expert reference group has been established to ensure that this project is ethically sound and safe for children and young people. The expert reference group includes Professor Morag McArthur, Emeritus Professor Australian Catholic University, Dr Justin Barker, Director, ACT Youth Coalition, Marcia Williams, Chief Executive Officer, Women’s Centre for Health Matters, as well as Jodie Griffiths-Cook, Public Advocate and Children and Young People Commissioner.
Children and young people’s experiences of family violence are unique. They are different to adult experiences of domestic and family violence and they also differ between each child and young person. By listening to and understanding children and
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