Thursday, 31 October 2019

 Ms THOMAS (Macedon) (17:28): (1392) My adjournment matter is for the attention of the Minister for Prevention of Family Violence, and the action I seek is that the minister join me in my electorate during the 16 days of activism to end gender-based violence. Minister, I would like you to visit some of the local organisations that provide services to women and children escaping family violence, as well as community groups that are working to eliminate family violence in Macedon.

The Andrews government is providing unprecedented funding to WRISC in Ballarat and to the Centre for Non-Violence in Bendigo to deliver specialist family violence support services in my electorate, while the government has also invested in programs that prevent family violence, including gender equality policies in schools, health services, councils and workplaces. The Respectful Relationships program is widely supported. We have more family violence specialist police servicing my community, and of course the Kyneton courthouse has been recently upgraded to ensure that it is a safe environment for victims of family violence.

The communities I represent have been deeply affected by the deaths of two much-loved local women, Katie Haley and Alicia Little. We can do more and we must do more to keep women safe and to honour those women who have lost their lives to family violence. Minister, I know that you are committed to ending family violence and I look forward to welcoming you to Macedon.