Released 25/06/2021
The ACT Government has made progress against its commitment to prevent and respond to sexual assault, appointing the Chair of the overarching Steering Committee and establishing Working Groups and a new Workplace Reference Group.
Quotes attributable to Minister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence Yvette Berry
Renée Leon, an experienced CEO with over 15 years in senior executive roles, including as a Departmental Secretary in the Australian Public Service, has been appointed as Chair of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Steering Committee.
Ms Leon was also previously the Chief Executive of the ACT Justice and Community Safety Directorate and is particularly well regarded for her work at that time in sexual assault reform.
In this role, Ms Leon will work with Steering Committee representatives and the Groups to drive reform in the ACT and advise on key priorities for future work and action by government.
This work will be inclusive and intersectional about experiences from across the community including from people with a disability, children and young people, the LGBTIQ+ community, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community and communities that are culturally and linguistically diverse.
Each Working Group is time-limited and has a targeted focus on sexual assault prevention, response and law reform. There is also a new reference group focusing specifically on workplace issues. Members of the Groups are experts in their fields and will contribute significantly to exploring the issues surrounding sexual assault.
Each Working Group will provide their expert advice to the Steering Committee, who will consider this information to inform their independent recommendations, which I look forward to receiving later this year.
With the groups and steering committee chair now moving forward, I am confident the ACT Government is well positioned to deliver an evidence-based approach to sexual assault that places victim-survivors at the centre of responses and achieves lasting change.
The Prevention Working Group : will focus on driving systemic, cultural change, particularly targeted at schools, universities and workplaces.
The Response Working Group : will focus on service provision and police responses and will be informed by victim survivor experience of accessing support, advocacy and counselling and health care.
The Law Reform Working Group : will focus on progressing the parliamentary agreement commitment to reform consent laws and other sexual assault law reform.
Refence Group - sexual harassment and assault in the workplace: will provide input to all three Working Groups to represent the perspective of workers and workplace safety.
For further updates regarding the progress of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Steering Committee and Working Groups, please visit the community services website.
Quotes attributable to Renee Leon, Chair of the Steering Committee:
“I am pleased to be appointed Chair of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Steering Committee, working to broaden the focus of the response to include significant and sustained efforts directed to prevention, as well as support for victims and mechanisms for holding perpetrators to account.”
Quotes attributable to Heidi Yates, Victims of Crimes Commissioner at the ACT Human Rights Commission, representative of the Law Reform Working Group:
“I am pleased that through the working groups, government has brought together key experts and stakeholders who will collaboratively advise on how the ACT can best prevent sexual violence.
"Informed by those with lived experienced, the groups will also examine how the ACT can deliver best-practice responses to victim survivors across our community, government, and justice agencies. I look forward to participating in this important next step, which will drive long- awaited change in the Canberra community.”
- Statement ends -
Yvette Berry, MLA | Media Releases