Eliminating family violence is a top priority for the Hodgman Liberal Government, and we welcome initiatives in last night’s Federal Budget to break the cycle of violence against women and their children.
The Turnbull Government will provide $100 million over three years from 2016‑17 towards Commonwealth initiatives to break the cycle of family violence, which builds on the $101 million Women’s Safety Package announced last year.
We have been working closely with the Federal Government on Tasmania’s share of funding under that package, to ensure that the additional Commonwealth support effectively builds on Tasmania’s $26 million Safe Homes, Safe Families Family Violence Action Plan also released last year.
We expect to see an announcement on the initiatives for Tasmania soon.
The additional funding will allow us to focus on actioning the recommendations of the Third Action Plan under the National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and their Children 2010-22, and the final report of the Council of Australian Government’s Advisory Panel on Reducing Violence against Women and their Children.
The Government also welcomes funding for the Specialist Domestic Violence Unit in the North-West, with $1.05 million provided to the Women’s Legal Service to enable them to employ two legal practitioners.
The establishment of a dedicated unit on the North-West will provide easier access for women to get the assistance they need at a place that understands what they're experiencing and which is working in partnership with other support groups around the state.
Last night’s Budget also confirmed that work is progressing on the introduction of model provisions underpinning a National Domestic Violence Order Scheme, reflecting the commitment made by the Government at COAG to introduce the model law framework in 2016.
The introduction of the model provisions will need to be supported by a comprehensive, purpose-built technical information sharing system, to enable the seamless recognition and enforcement of DVOs for protected persons. It will increase protection for victims of family or domestic violence across Australian borders by removing the need for individuals to manually register their DVO in a new jurisdiction.
We welcome the Federal Government’s commitment to provide $9.9 million for the development of the National Order Reference System, which will deliver the national technical solution required to facilitate information sharing and enforcement of DVOs between courts and police across Australia.