00:00When domestic and family violence victims reach out for help in the ACT, the response
00:08can take too long.
00:09When they need the support of a frontline service crisis response agency, they don't
00:15always get through when we have people waiting three or four days for us to be able to get
00:21back to them.
00:22And the timeframe is gone at that point.
00:26Support services also say more Canberrans are being excluded from programs because they
00:30still live in the home where the violence takes place.
00:33They want to be able to create safety around the violence, but so many of the targeted campaigns
00:40and outputs and also funding environments require someone to be leaving or to have left.
00:46The comments were made at today's inquiry into the Safer Families levy, which sees Canberrans
00:50pay $60 a year in their rates to boost support services.
00:55A report from the Auditor-General in November last year found there was a lack of transparency
00:59about how the levy's funds were spent and there was no framework to assess the programs
01:04it was funding.
01:05Without the adequate evaluation, it's hard to know which of the programs are performing
01:12well and which aren't and therefore which should continue.
01:15The report also said the majority of funding was spent on government initiatives, not those
01:20leaders led by the community and highlighted the absence of an overarching strategy to prevent
01:25domestic violence.
01:26But we need to have a coordinated strategic approach.
01:31We need to start at the prevention all the way through to healing and recovery.
01:36The ACT Government told the inquiry it's working on providing more transparency.
01:40A clear, detailed document that outlines the overall amount of money that the Government
01:48is spending on all initiatives including consolidated revenue but also the levy funding.
01:54While it's also hired consultants to address other issues highlighted by the Auditor-General.
01:58There's performance monitoring so this is establishing an evaluation framework.
02:06It says the consultants are expected to deliver the overarching strategy and evaluation frameworks
02:11for the levy by mid-2026.
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