During the last sitting week, we had two wins in the family, domestic and sexual violence space on the back of some public advocacy and behind-the-scenes arm-twisting. There’s a lot more to do in this area, but it was encouraging to see some of our efforts bear fruit. You can read more about this, and everything else that's been going on, below.

The past few months have been quite a learning curve for me and the team, and a lot of fun getting to know how the Assembly operates. There are always a number of different directions you need to be running in and it seems like as soon as we settle into an operational rhythm, a new issue arises and we find ourselves recalibrating in response.  

During a sitting week, my role is to spend as much time as possible in the Chamber, bringing influence wherever I can. Back in the office, my small team (limited by the salary cap placed on MLAs) keeps a range of different cogs moving.

When a matter is raised by a community member in a phone call or email, it’s a big team effort to bring it to the Assembly to call on the Government to respond either directly to the individual or through broader reforms. Usually, by the time I am there on my feet in the Chamber, I can see multiple team members’ fingerprints on the issue. 

Thank you to everyone who has been engaging with me and my team, for trusting us with the matters you are seeking to have resolved, and to the many supporters who have acknowledged our efforts in remaining responsive. 

Carol’s Story - Waiting for a Hip Replacement 

You may have seen a recent article in The Canberra Times about Carol, a member of our community who has experienced a distressing failure of our healthcare system. 

Carol has now been waiting for more than six years for a hip replacement. This wait has naturally led to a deterioration of her mobility and mental health, and she’s now on crutches.

As someone who has dedicated most of my working life to recovering from injury and working with others to prioritise their physical wellbeing, I cannot fathom a six-year wait for a hip replacement. I admire Carol’s patience and gentle determination in seeking an update on her surgery. 

Recently, she discovered through a news article that her surgeon, former head of orthopaedics Professor Paul Smith, has resigned, citing a range of frustrations with the administration of Canberra Health Services and The Canberra Hospital.

Carol was left anxious about how this would affect her status on the waitlist. Despite persistent enquiries, Carol was unable to get advice from the Health Minister’s office or Canberra Health Services, so she rang my office asking if we could help.

I followed this up with the Minister during Question Time, and she suggested that Carol could have had her surgery more quickly if she’d been on a “pooled waiting list’’ rather than on Professor Smith’s list. The only problem: Carol had never been advised that this was an option — and when she finally got a call from Canberra Health Services later that week after I passed her details onto the Minister‘s office, she was told that no such list actually exists yet.

This is not good enough. Canberrans should not be suffering through treatable ailments, only to be further confused by Ministerial comments in the Chamber. 

So, I wrote an open letter to the Minister asking for an explanation. After my letter was published, Carol finally got a call from the hospital saying she is now twelfth on the list for her hip replacement, so should expect a procedure within the next couple months.

Our health system is under a great deal of pressure, like all systems around the country. The Government needs to stand by its commitment to provide person-centred care and address its failures at a systemic level, so people like Carol aren’t left to suffer seemingly indefinitely. That starts with better communication on all fronts.

In a concerning development, another orthopaedic surgeon quit late last week, taking the running total to five. All are frustrated by the Government’s poor communication and consultation on changes within Canberra Health Services, and I’ll continue pushing for a better approach on behalf of the Canberrans affected by these resignations.

A Win – Safer Families Assistance Payment

We know one of the reasons vulnerable women don’t leave violent situations is because they sadly cannot afford to leave. That’s why the ACT Government introduced the $2,000 Safer Families Assistance payment, which gives people escaping violence in their own homes a small leg up. I was shocked to hear from a local community service provider that funding for this payment had run out in December — halfway through the financial year. I followed this up at Annual Reports hearings and learned that rather than replenishing the funding for the program to ensure the payments were available through to the end of June, the Government just pulled down the website on which you apply for it.

Further questions revealed that this was the third financial year in a row where funding had been exhausted early, and it had never been replenished. Anyone who needed this payment from January to June simply could not get it! Hard to believe.

I asked the Minister for the Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence about this during Question Time; spoke about this publicly and in a speech at a recent femicide rally; and also wrote a letter co-signed by the leader of the Greens, Shane Rattenbury, calling for the payment to be reinstated. Thankfully, the Minister did the right thing and wrote back saying she would reinstate funding for the program — the first time this has happened.

It’s a small step, but a positive one and hopefully a sign of things to come. I’ve been consistently calling for the Government to put its money where its mouth is when it comes to tackling family, domestic and sexual violence. That starts with offering sufficient funding for frontline crisis service providers so they can do their incredibly important work without being forced to triage women out of service provision or put them on an ever-growing waitlist.

I also hope we can focus on building a future where women are safer in their homes, workplaces and communities, such that the crisis subsides and fewer women need to access crisis accommodation and services. It’s on all of us to create the cultural change that’s needed to bring that future about, which is something I’ve been speaking about as well.

Another Win – Coercive Control 

The rate of family and domestic violence perpetrated in the ACT is alarming. It affects people from all walks of life, and has unsurprisingly been a big topic of debate in the Assembly recently. One part of the jigsaw puzzle is tackling coercive control. Several Australian jurisdictions have recently moved to criminalise coercive control to provide better protection for victims and hold perpetrators accountable for abuse. 

Coercive control is a pattern of behavior where someone slowly chips away at their intimate partner’s independence, confidence, and sense of self. It doesn’t always involve physical violence, but it’s the most common risk factor leading up to intimate partner homicides. It often includes manipulation, isolation, surveillance, and making the other person feel trapped or powerless. It’s like an invisible cage — one that’s built piece by piece until the person inside barely recognises they’re stuck. What’s difficult is that coercive control isn’t a single act; it’s a pattern of behaviour. It can be a difficult thing to prove, and that’s why it has not been explicitly included as a criminal offence yet.

One woman I spoke to tried to report this behaviour to the police only to be told “it’s not illegal to be an asshole”. I met several women - including victim-survivors with lived experience, and a former public prosecutor with family and domestic violence expertise -  who said they wished legal protections had been in place to keep them and other women safe. These conversations are why supporting the criminalisation of coercive control became one of my election commitments. 

There was general support across the Assembly for a motion brought by the Canberra Liberals to introduce legislation to criminalise coercive control in the ACT. However, there was also recognition that this is a very complex issue that requires careful consideration and extensive consultation. 

Labor and the Greens worked together on amendments to address some of the nuances of the issue, especially the risks around the misidentification of victims by police and the need for extensive education efforts to help people understand exactly what coercive control is.

But the amendments they had landed on didn’t include a clear commitment to introduce legislation to address coercive control. I was ready to vote against them because of that, and put pressure on the Minister’s office to include a clear commitment to legislate against coercive control. The Minister ultimately agreed and I was glad to see the amended motion pass with unanimous support.

Speeding Up Construction Approvals

Speaker of the Assembly and Liberal MLA Mark Parton sponsored a petition during the second March sitting week with 500 signatures calling for a simplified building approvals process in the ACT.  In essence, there is no complaint from the sector about the need to meet standards and get approvals. Their frustration is with the lengthy delays in obtaining the approvals, with some simple matters like tree protection plans sitting with the Government for up to seven weeks. Approvals sit across various difficult government agencies and can be stalled at multiple choke points. Builders, planners, architects, subbies and their clients — i.e. Canberrans! — report finding it increasingly difficult to just get the job done, waiting 8 to 16 weeks for approvals on relatively simple projects like a backyard deck. 

I was approached to join some local builders and add my voice to this issue. Senator David Pocock and a few Liberal MLAs joined me and a few dozen construction workers at a rally outside the Assembly calling for change on the day the petition was tabled.

Looking at the approvals process through the eyes of the building sector, it is easy to see that it is bureaucratic, not at all fit-for-purpose, and does not deliver the outcomes we all want to see. In the midst of a severe housing crisis, that’s a real problem. Lengthy delays don’t increase building quality; they just slow down the work that’s needed while increasing costs. So I was glad to see a petition brought by the sector introduced and referred to an Assembly Committee for consideration. The Assembly also passed a motion on the matter which you can learn more about here.

This is a sector that has been beset by a range of unforeseeable challenges in the last few years including steadily rising material costs, workforce labour and skills shortages, and industrial relations reforms. I have been concerned by the number of businesses that have closed in the last few years — a growing number each year. The ACT Government can’t do much about global and national challenges but it should do everything it can to reduce unnecessary administrative burdens. 

Criminal Justice Reform

The Canberra Liberals also brought a motion in the Assembly to follow Victoria in introducing “tough new” bail laws, and while I understand their concerns, I do not support their proposed way forward. The evidence simply does not support a “tough approach” to bail laws. 

In my remarks on the motion, I quoted Pierre Johannessen, a respected local legal practitioner with extensive expertise in this area, who advised that prioritising incarceration before trial undermines the presumption of innocence — one of the cornerstones of our justice system and Human Rights Act.  

The Assembly’s Inquiry into the Administration of Bail highlighted the importance of early intervention programs to divert people from anti-social pathways, which have been proven to work in other jurisdictions. 

In the ACT, people who serve time in prison are more likely to reoffend than anywhere else in Australia. By contrast, those who receive community corrections orders have some of the lowest reoffending rates in the country. This tells us that incarceration isn’t the answer; diversion and rehabilitation are what we need to prioritise if our goal is reducing reoffending rates, which it should be. However, the ACT Government’s low investment in diversion and rehabilitation programs does not reflect the need for an evidence-based approach. 

Part of the context for the Liberals’ motion was a perceived increase in youth crime across the ACT. We know that young people who have access to appropriate support services are less likely to come into contact with the criminal justice system. Yet organisations like Canberra PCYC, which provide essential preventative and rehabilitative programs, are overwhelmed. I visited them recently and they reported that close to 500 young people are on their waitlist. They simply cannot meet demand under their current funding arrangements with the Government.

I found this particularly concerning as the age of criminal responsibility is set to rise to 14 in July. Without proper support systems in place, we risk failing the very children these reforms aim to protect.

I agree that repeat offending is a serious issue that needs to be addressed Canberra. But as Mr Johannessen put it, “more people in more cells is not the answer.” The ACT has long prided itself on prioritising rehabilitation over punishment. It’s time to turn that principle into action. Instead of pouring resources into harsher bail laws, I used my remarks on the Liberals’ motion to call on the Government to invest in real, evidence-based solutions — early intervention, diversion, rehabilitation, and strong community supports. Talking about a progressive, rather than punitive, criminal justice system isn’t enough; we need to invest in the wraparound support services needed to deliver on the promises of a more progressive approach to criminal justice.

Transparency Around Light Rail Expansion

A high-quality public transport network is essential to improve the lives of current and future generations of Canberrans. The existing light rail service has provided significant benefits to those who can access it, but its extension must be carefully planned to ensure these benefits are shared equitably and disruption is minimised across the city.

Importantly, any large-scale infrastructure projects like light rail must be subject to the highest level of scrutiny. The significant investment involved means that Canberrans want full transparency around its implementation. 

That’s why I’ve been supportive of calls from the Canberra Liberals for more openness around its rollout. At a time when the Territory’s budget is under immense pressure and we are being told that key community services cannot be funded, it is only fair that Canberrans receive evidence-based assurances that this investment is justified. I supported a motion from the Liberals calling for the Government to table documents related to planning for, and expenditure on, the light rail project. I look forward to reviewing those documents.

By allowing its plans to be scrutinised, the Government can rebuild trust with the community and ensure that future extensions of the light rail network deliver real value for Canberra. 

National Ride to School Week – Lyneham Bike Bus

National Ride to School Week is all about getting kids active, building confidence, and making the journey to school safe and fun. The Lyneham community very kindly invited me to celebrate Ride to School Week by joining their Bike Bus — a group ride where children pedal together along a set route, at a set time, with adult supervision. The initiative not only encourages more families to embrace cycling, but also helps kids develop road safety awareness and independence in a supportive environment.

The group was very excited to have a record 26 children riding with them. Most are accompanied by an adult, and it was pretty remarkable riding from the North Lyneham Shops through to Lyneham Primary School in a group of around 50 bikes. While I acknowledge it doesn’t work for everyone, I’d love to see as many kids walking and riding to school as possible. It’s just so good for health, community connectedness, traffic congestion and, of course, the climate.

The Lyneham Bike Bus was a great example of what’s possible when communities come together to create safer, more sustainable transport options for young people. Hopefully we’ll see this movement grow — hard to beat the freedom and fun of riding to school with mates!

Ainslie’s New Active Travel Street

I believe we really need to shift our approach to transport infrastructure investment to encourage modal shift, getting more people to choose active travel over private car usage. Canberra is a place where we could be seriously ambitious when it comes to investing in active and public transport infrastructure rather than endless road duplications. 

I was excited to hear recently about plans for Canberra’s first active travel street in Ainslie, and sought a briefing from the Government on the initiative. The plan is to have Sherbrooke Street in Ainslie form part of the Garden City Cycleway — which will provide a safe cycle route connecting Watson, Downer, Hackett, Dickson, Ainslie and Braddon with the city — by transforming it into an active travel street where greater priority is given to pedestrians and cyclists. It will be the first of its kind in the ACT, and if successful, the model could be rolled out across other parts of the city. 

If you live in the area and are interested in sharing your views on the project, you can RSVP to attend an online workshop happening on 10 April here.

Intergenerational Wellbeing Roundtable

I was very grateful to receive expert input on Friday from professors, lecturers, researchers and PhD scholars at a roundtable on legislating for intergenerational wellbeing, hosted by ANU’s Planetary Health Equity Hothouse with attendees from from the Crawford School of Public Policy, the ANU Law School, the Wellbeing Economy Alliance, and more.

I was impressed by the amount of work going into researching and developing new approaches to public governance focused on furthering the long-term wellbeing of citizens. The expertise and insights shared at this event will help shape my thinking around the Future Generations Bill I am preparing to introduce to the Assembly. It’s still early days in the drafting process, but the Bill will be designed to drive cultural change within government to empower all public servants (and politicians!) to focus their efforts on delivering outcomes that maximise the wellbeing of current and future generations of Canberras. It’ll be intended as a salve to the political short-termism and siloed government decision-making that so often gets in the way of good policy.

I’m looking forward to consulting on this more broadly and will provide updates on my plans to do so soon.

Watson Mobile Office

I enjoyed a 90-minute mobile office last Friday at Watson Shops, especially with Watson Day being celebrated yesterday courtesy of the Watson Community Association. You’re very much welcome to come along to any of my future mobile office events, which are listed here.

Alternatively, you can reach out any time at [email protected] or on (02) 6205 1475. If there are issues discussed in this newsletter that might affect people you know, please feel free to share it with your friends and network.

Thank you for taking an interest in the work of my office.