The state government last August committed $1.67 million to a 12-month pilot of the Perpetrator Accommodation Support Service, which allows for family violence offenders to be rehouse away from home for short periods while they receive professional help and supervision. I support the initiative but we need to find ways to make it work practically in rural and regional areas where there are housing and service shortages.
Australian National Research Organisation for Women's Safety seeks to identify and track family needs in marginalised populations who may be experiencing adolescent violence in the home.
Towns such as Bright and Beechworth are heavily reliant on tourism. But poor mobile reception means if there were an emergency you’d be lucky to receive the warning text, let alone open the URL for specific advice.
The Girgarre community really lives up to its motto of ‘small town, big spirit' - one fully evident in the way this community developed its vision, planning and fundraising to bring Gargarro Botanic Garden to life.
Dookie rail line restoration could deliver benefits for many people and organisations, including farmers, road users and taxpayers.
A doctor's concerns about COVID-19 vaccination quantities allocated to their Bright surgery shows we need a co-ordinated, rapid roll-out.
We should not forget that there are very few victimless crimes, no matter if minor or more serious offences. Victims also often have to wear the consequences for the rest of their lives.
I spoke on the Government's Justice Bill. It had some good parts to help make our justice system more efficient. There is another Bill coming up that will specifically deal with mental impairment as part of the court and I introduced amendments that would have prevented the indefinite shift of decision-making from juries to judges on an offender’s ‘mental fitness’ to stand trial.
I raised a recent case where an accused perpetrator of family violence not only denied all such claims against him but was immediately removed from his home and then taken to a police station at which multiple phone calls were made to the Men’s Referral Service in an attempt to try to find housing for him. However, there was simply no answer to any of these calls.
The right@home early intervention trial, in which sustained home visits build parenting capacity to improve child safety and school readiness has some positive early results.
Triple murderer, Peko Lakovski, has again recently been granted leave from Thomas Embling Hospital, even after having killed two people while also previously on a program of leave.
