Annette Ellis (Canberra, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

This morning I want to talk about a wonderful community program in my electorate called the Safety House Program. I recently had the honour of accepting an invitation by Safety House Canberra to be one of their copatrons. Last night I had the pleasure of attending a dinner here in Canberra hosted by Chief Police Officer Audrey Fagan of the Australian Federal Police in the ACT celebrating Safety House Day, which occurred on 5 May. Safety House, as many of you will know, is a wonderful program that began in Victoria some years ago. In Canberra, with a population of 320,000, we have over 600 safety houses spread throughout the community. These safety houses, of course, are offered up by members of the community as an insurance policy, in my mind. It is hoped that they will never be needed, but members are willing to participate in the protection of community members should that be necessary.

I have, along with many other members of this place I am sure, the pleasure of my office in Tuggeranong business town centre being a safety house on a commercial level, and it has been for some years. So my connection to the Safety House Program is long and very strong. I want to pay a definite and distinct compliment to Shirley Cowan, who is the current president and has been for some years of Safety House ACT, and to her very hardworking committee. At the dinner last night celebrating Safety House Day, there were many members of the community who have been members of the safety house committee for some time. They have put their time and commitment to their community very much upfront in their dedication to the Safety House Program. It is a very good program. The liaison and relationship between the safety house committee, all of the people who offer their premises or homes as a safety house refuge and the Australian Federal Police at the community policing level also have to be recognised and complimented.

As I said at the outset, this is a bit of an insurance policy, really. Most people in the room at the dinner last night agreed that their measure of success is that someone will never need to knock on their door. But, should they have that need, then they are prepared to be a very active part of the fabric of our community and to offer themselves up as a support network to their local families, children and anybody else for that matter who may find themselves in need of emergency assistance. So I commend the safety house committee of Canberra to the House. I compliment and congratulate every one of them involved in this wonderful program. As I said, there are over 600 houses in this small community. I also want to commend the Woden Tradesmen’s Union Club, which is now a very strong financial supporter of the Safety House Program in the ACT. (Time expired)

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