The next stage of reform

In April 2016, the ACT Government received two significant reports with recommendations for improving responses to family violence:

• The Inquiry conducted by Laurie Glanfield AM titled Report of the Inquiry: Review into the system level responses to family violence in the ACT was provided to the Chief Minister (the Glanfield Inquiry).
• The Review of Domestic and Family Violence Deaths in the ACT from the Domestic Violence Prevention Council was provided to the Attorney-General (the Death Review).

The Domestic Violence Service System Gap Analysis Project Final Report (March 2016) prepared by the Community Services Directorate also identifies areas for improvement in service system responses to family violence (the Gap Analysis).

The reports were made public in May 2016 in acknowledgement of their importance to the community.

The reports also highlight the importance and preventative value of community awareness of family violence.

The ACT Government is on the right track with a broad reform agenda that reflects best practice. However, the reports show that more needs to be done to improve service integration, collaboration and information sharing to achieve better outcomes for people experiencing family violence. There are consistent themes across the three reports that represent a service system focused on people and outcomes:

• leadership and cultural change;
• prevention and early intervention;
• information sharing;
• collaboration and integration; and
• transparency and accountability.

The reports map the way forward for the next phase of maturity in the service system response. The initiatives funded in the 2016-17 ACT Budget support these areas of work.

There is also alignment with the priority areas for action identified by the Extraordinary Meeting of the Domestic Violence Prevention Council in April 2015.

The new, full-time Coordinator-General for Family Safety will provide the leadership needed for a whole of government approach to preventing family violence. The Coordinator-General will lead the necessary change to embed an information sharing culture, promote collaboration, focus on key outcomes and report to Government on achievements. The Coordinator-General for Family Safety will be supported by a dedicated team and will be located in the Justice and Community Safety Directorate.

The ACT Government has invested more than $2.6 million in integrated case management and coordination of services for victims of family violence. This will drive the next phase of maturity in collaboration and integration in the service system response to family violence.

The ACT Government will introduce changes to legislation to clearly authorise information sharing amongst ACT entities to better protect children and victims of family violence. Necessary safeguards will also be put in place. The ACT will learn from the experiences in other jurisdictions and be guided by the recommendations of the Glanfield Inquiry and the Death Review.

The ACT Government will build stronger transparency and accountability measures so the community can maintain confidence in the decisions and actions of the system, particularly in relation to child protection. To enhance quality assurance of child protection services, the ACT Government will fund an independent case analysis team to support improved decision making and establish a Child and Youth Protection Quality Assurance and Improvement Committee chaired by the Director-General, Community Services Directorate.

Additional funding is provided in the 2016-17 ACT Budget to support vital crisis services in this environment of raised awareness and reporting. This includes $830,000 over four years for the Domestic Violence Crisis Service and $416,000 for the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre.

The ACT Government is also making sure ACT Policing have the staff to assist victims with reporting family violence and accessing domestic violence orders. We are also investing in significant legal reforms and making sure that people can access the justice system with funding to Legal Aid and the DPP.

The family violence package in the 2016-17 ACT Budget is a catalyst for establishing a cohesive service response to family violence that is focused on people and supported by the community.

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