00:00A day nearly 12 months in the making.
00:06I feel a great sense of honour to sit here today on day one of our Royal Commission public
00:12hearings.
00:13Nine witnesses were called to give evidence to South Australia's Royal Commission into
00:17domestic, family and sexual violence.
00:21The sittings beginning with a reminder of its mammoth task.
00:24I want to identify ways to make the systems better so that we can eliminate, reduce at
00:30least the scourge that is domestic, family and sexual violence in South Australia and
00:36beyond.
00:37Calls for the state to hold its own Royal Commission intensified last year after four
00:42South Australian women were killed in separate incidents in just one week, allegedly at the
00:48hands of men.
00:49The head of the state's largest domestic violence and family service provider told the commission
00:54demand has increased to the point they were forced to scrap some regional outreach services.
01:00Frustrations too within the state's 24-hour DV crisis line.
01:05It's expected to receive around 35,000 calls this year but only 70 per cent of requests
01:11on average are able to be answered.
01:14Barriers for Aboriginal victim survivors to access culturally appropriate care and secure
01:19long-term housing exposed.
01:22The public hearings continue tomorrow when the focus shifts to the state's response to
01:26sexual violence.
01:28Police, SA Health and the Victims of Crime Commissioner will be called upon to give evidence.
01:34The findings from the Royal Commission are due to be completed by the middle of next year.
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