Media Release
21.8.15
‘Going Home Staying Home’ Review Report Shows Bungled and Rushed Process with Still No Data on Impact, Especially on Women
The recently released KPMG report into the Going Home, Staying Home program reveals a rushed process with very little transparency says Greens MP and Spokesperson for the Status of Women, Dr Mehreen Faruqi MLC. The report also shows no data on the impact the reforms, which saw many women’s refuges and specialist services close, has had on the community. There is an urgent need for a Parliamentary Inquiry into the program.
Dr Faruqi said:
“This report is essentially a review of the tendering process, which is worth next to nothing to the many women leaving domestic violence situations who have been left without support.
“What the report does show is that the whole process was rushed and non-transparent and added unrealistic workloads to service providers to complete tenders in tight timeframes over the Christmas period. Within FACS itself there was a staffing freeze and an overreliance on consultants.
“But the problems in FACS dwarf the problems we have heard on the ground from Bega to Ballina about loss of funding and staff and the risks this is creating for victims of domestic violence.
“The KPMG report also confirms that the way the tender was structured tended to favour the larger agencies forcing many of the smaller organisations such as women’s refuges to either merge or perish.
“The report shows that less than half of survey respondents felt that the Government had listened to their input. It’s just further proof that this government does not understand the gravity of the situation.
“This is a report that people in the sector and the community have been waiting for. For the Government to finally release the report so quietly and hidden away on their website is unacceptable.
“The reality is we can’t trust the Government to ask the questions needed to get to the bottom of what has happened in the sector. I am calling on all political parties to support the Greens inquiry into the program so we can cut through the spin and find out what has happened. We urgently need data on what impact this program has had on real people, especially women fleeing domestic violence.
“We have seen that when the Government rushes changes to funding for domestic violence services it has put people at risk, particularly women and their families fleeing domestic violence. And a year into this program, the Government still has no idea what the impact has been.
“This becomes even more urgent as the Federal Senate handed down its findings of the Domestic Violence Inquiry which provides further evidence on the prevalence of domestic violence and the need for secure and multi-year funding” she concluded.
KPMG Going Home Staying Home Post-Implementation Review 2015 Final Report:
Greens NSW Inquiry Terms of Reference: http://nsw.greens.org.au/news/nsw/urgent-need-inquiry-nsw-government%E2%80%99s-flawed-%E2%80%98going-home-staying-home%E2%80%99-program
Federal Inquiry Report: http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Finance_and_Public_Administration/Domestic_Violence/Report
