South Australia’s Royal Commission into domestic, family, and sexual violence formally commenced on 1 July. Embolden, as SA’s peak body for domestic, family, and sexual violence services, has been meeting with sector representatives across the state to plan submissions for the Royal Commission. Over the last month, we held workshops with members in Adelaide, Port Augusta and Mount Gambier, with representatives from Port Lincoln, Ceduna, Berri, and Murray Bridge participating.
The workshops were a great opportunity to discuss members’ priorities for sector reform and key issues across the Royal Commission’s areas of focus – prevention, early intervention, crisis response, recovery and healing, and system integration and coordination. We had really impactful presentations from women with lived experience – Stacey Nelan, Kellie Roche and Amanda Brownlie – and from Dr. Rebecca Buys from No to Violence, who discussed her research into the implementation of Victoria’s Royal Commission into family violence.
Further updates on South Australia’s Royal Commission into domestic, family, and sexual violence can be found on the Royal Commission’s website, and you can subscribe to receive regular updates here.
Embolden also participated in national advocacy early this month with the National Alliance of DFV Specialist Services meeting in Canberra on 3 July to call for an immediate uplift in investment and support for frontline specialist domestic and family violence and sexual assault services across the country. The Alliance called upon the Commonwealth Government to commit to six key actions as a matter of urgency so that no one misses out on the vital support they need to live free from violence. Read the full statement here.
Last weekend, NO MORE violence rallies took place in 26 locations across Australia, organised by What Were You Wearing. Embolden’s General Manager, Mary Leaker, spoke at the Adelaide’s rally on Sunday 28 July, along with a diverse range of speakers. It is really important that across our communities, we continue to raise our collective voice to say NO MORE to men’s violence against women.
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