ANDREW Barr has welcomed Sue Salthouse’s appointment to the Prime Minister’s Advisory Panel to reduce violence against women.

“Ms Salthouse will make an excellent contribution to the panel through her extensive experience in advocacy and leadership roles in women’s services and the disability sector, which is why she was put forward by the ACT for this role,” Andrew said.

“Ms Salthouse has worked in the area of social justice since 1996, and is a dedicated and highly respected member of the ACT community. She is a tireless spokesperson for vulnerable people in our region.

“Ms Salthouse has served or is currently serving on a number of boards including the ACT Domestic Violence Prevention Council, ACT Disability Expert Panel advising on the NDIS, Women With Disabilities ACT and the University of Canberra Governing Council. Ms Salthouse was awarded the ACT Senior Woman of the Year in 2014 and is the 2015 Canberra Citizen of the Year.

“There have been a number of tragic domestic violence incidents in Canberra in recent months, and the ACT Government has committed to reforms that will make it easier to prosecute domestic violence offenders. We have announced changes to our domestic violence orders so that victims will no longer be required to face a hearing to extend their interim protection orders.

“This year we have allocated $1.89 million for the Domestic Violence Crisis Service and $0.8 million for the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre. An additional $300,000 has also been announced to better combat domestic violence in the ACT. This money will be used for the development of an ACT domestic violence data framework, women’s safety grants and extra funding for the Domestic Violence Prevention Council to expand its works program.

“The panel was established by Prime Minister Tony Abbott in January 2015 as part of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agenda to address ending violence against women. I look forward to continuing to work with the Commonwealth, States and NT on the important COAG initiatives to tackle domestic violence.”