Terri Butler (Griffith, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I ask the minister again to respond to my questions about the progress in relation to the $12 million allocation made in September 2015 for innovative technologies to help keep women safe, a matter I asked him about in October 2016. I now ask him again to update the chamber in respect of the progress of that funding allocation for those innovative technologies, given that in October 2016 he told the chamber that only 1½ per cent of the money had been spent in the more than one year that had elapsed since the announcement had been made.

I also ask the minister to address some questions in respect of the 1800RESPECT trauma-counselling service. When will the tender process be finalised? How long will the term of the new service agreement be? Will the minister commit to ensuring that 1800RESPECT is funded for the remainder of the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and Their Children, which runs from 2010 to 2022? Is the minister able to confirm that the government will ensure that victims and survivors who contact 1800RESPECT are able to speak to someone who is in a professional setting, not working from home, who is a counsellor with a four-year-minimum degree and who has specific trauma-counselling experience and expertise?

Will the minister finally take action to prevent Medibank Health Solutions from gagging the subcontractor, Rape and Domestic Violence Services Australia, from making public comments critical of the system? I appreciate that the minister has previously said that is a matter between the subcontractor and Medibank Health Solutions, but of course this government is not a bystander; this government is responsible for ensuring that trauma counselling is provided to victims and survivors of family violence, and the minister ought to take action to ensure that the subcontractor is able to raise concerns about the quality and extent of the service being provided to victims and survivors of family violence who are contacting 1800RESPECT.

I ask that the minister also address some comments made by the department in estimates in March 2017 in which they indicated that $3.6 million had been allocated in 2015 by the department to Medibank Health Solutions for the engagement of 50 extra staff. Would the minister explain how many extra staff were engaged directly by Rape and Domestic Violence Services Australia using that $3.6 million allocation that his department spoke about at estimates in March 2017? And does the minister stand by the department's answer in respect of the four-day expression-of-interest process for Rape and Domestic Violence Services Australia to express interest in continuing to be the service provider for the 1800RESPECT service, whereby the department said that they thought that that was an appropriate length of time? If so, will the minister explain how giving someone notice on a Tuesday that they need to express interest by Friday of the same week, when that service provider is a respected trauma-counselling service and has been providing the service since earlier than 2010, is appropriate and why the minister stands by the comments of the department in that regard?

Finally, will the minister advise the chamber as to the progress of the expenditure of $14 million that was allocated in the 2015 women's safety package for DV-alert training? Will the minister advise how much of that $14 million has been spent since September 2015? Will the minister advise whether that training is to be made available to people beyond health and community services frontline workers who are likely to receive disclosures of family violence?

For example, will the training be made available to people in the retail and services trades and occupations who might be likely to receive disclosures of family violence, such as the hairdressing service community?

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