The Directors-General of all relevant ACT Public Service Directorates and the Chief of Police have committed themselves and their organisations to taking action to prevent and respond to sexual assault in Canberra.
Minister for Women and for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence, Yvette Berry said the Directors-General and the Chief of Police were joined by responsible Ministers, all political parties, and representatives from the non-Government sector.
“This is an issue that affects everyone in our community and that’s why it’s so important to be working closely across party lines and across Government to address sexual assault and sexual violence in Canberra—the only jurisdiction in Australia to have made this shared commitment,” Ms Berry said.
“To make sure this work progresses with the right representation and the right governance in place, three working groups will be established to focus on prevention, response, and law reform,” she said.
Ms Berry said a Prevention working group would focus on driving systemic, cultural change across the community, particularly targeted at schools, universities, CIT and workplaces; a Response working group would be established to focus on service provision and police response; and a Law Reform working group would progress the Parliamentary agreement commitment to reform consent laws and related sexual assault law reform.
“These groups will report into an overarching Sexual Assault Response Steering Committee, made up of representatives from non-Government organisations, unions, research bodies, the university sector and Government representatives, who will set key priorities for future work and action by Government,” Ms Berry said.
“The objective is to coordinate efforts across the community, the service sector, unions, and stakeholders to develop an effective, systemic, evidence-based responses to sexual assault in the ACT,” she said.
Victims of Crimes Commissioner at the ACT Human Rights Commission, Heidi Yates said she looked forward to contributing to the work which aimed to ensure best practice responses to Canberrans affected by sexual violence.
