Safer Families Funding to Address Family Violence What we know Reforms to date The next stage of reform
Reforms to date
The ACT Government has been working proactively in recent years – including working closely with the community sector – to address family violence.
The $21.42 million funding package for Safer Families in the 2016-17 ACT Budget is fundamental to the ACT Government’s program of work to support social inclusion and equality in the ACT, and builds on the work already done.
A national and strategic response
The 2016-17 ACT Budget funding package reflects the ACT Government’s public commitments in the Second Implementation Plan for the ACT Prevention of Violence against Women and Children Strategy 2011–2017. The ACT Strategy is our response to the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children (2010–2022). The first priority of the Strategy is driving whole of community and government action to prevent violence and create an anti-violence culture. This year the ACT Government contributed $246,000 to a joint Australian, state and territory government campaign to reduce violence against women and their children. This $30 million campaign was launched in April 2016 and encourages adults to think about their attitudes to gender equality and respectful relationships.
The National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children 2009–2020 focuses the effort of governments on areas where national leadership and collaboration can make a difference to resolving issues affecting the safety and wellbeing of children and young people. The National Framework reflects a commitment from governments to move from a crisis-driven system to a public health model focused on universal support for all families with more intensive or targeted responses for families that need additional support.
The ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Agreement 2015–2018 sets out the commitment of the ACT Government, our service partners, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body and, most importantly the community, to work together to recognise and respond to the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in the ACT and surrounding region. The relationship principles set out in the Agreement, which include respectful interaction, continuously improving the level of service and information sharing to simplify the service experience for the community, are closely aligned with the integration and outcomes focus of the Safer Families package funded in the 2016-17 ACT Budget.
Building better services
The ACT Government’s investments in the service system across health, education and justice – outlined in the 2016-17 ACT Budget Social Inclusion Statement – support a safer and more inclusive community for all.
The focus on improving service responses funded by this budget will build on foundational work being undertaken as part of the Human Services Blueprint. The Blueprint is a long-term plan for community, health, education and justice systems to work together to better utilise government investment in social outcomes. Models of better service delivery are being trialled in West Belconnen and through services for families.
A Step Up for Our Kids is the ACT’s new five year strategy to reform out of home care. A Step Up for Our Kids is designed to stem the rate of entry of children and young people into care through new placement prevention and reunification services; improve outcomes for children and young people in care; and, wherever possible, exit children and young people from care into permanent alternative families in a timely way.
The Human Services Gateway is a key reform to strengthen better services by acting as a single point of contact for people who are seeking assistance with housing, disability (including transitioning to the NDIS and employment assistance), support for children, young people and families, conflict resolution and debt management. People can access the information they need from a staff member or using the self-help function, and where appropriate are linked to a range of services and supports.
Significant legal reforms
Significant legal reform in the ACT over the past two years has been aimed at better protecting family violence victims. A new Family Violence Bill will be introduced to the Legislative Assembly in this Budget week (June 2016). The preamble to the Bill makes it clear that family violence is not acceptable in the ACT, and that freedom from family violence is a human right to be respected and protected by our justice system. Importantly the Bill has a new definition of family violence that will be significant in re-setting legal and community norms about what constitutes family violence. The new Bill includes a range of behaviours including physical violence, sexual violence, economic abuse, emotional or psychological abuse, stalking and using behaviour that causes a child to be exposed to the effects of violence. The Bill also recognises coercion and control as conduct that amounts to family violence.
