The Royal Commission will complete a significant piece of its work next week, when the final two Public Hearings are held on Tuesday and Wednesday.

These two days will give me an opportunity to explore further key themes under our Terms of Reference, with a particular focus on family violence and then asking what we can do as a community to move towards a future without family, domestic and sexual violence in South Australia.

The “Family Violence” Public Hearing on Tuesday 25 March will be centred around violence in family and family-like settings, and our final Public Hearing on Wednesday 26 March will explore more deeply “what do communities need to thrive?” This will give us an opportunity to discuss ways in which the South Australian community can recognise and respond to domestic, family and sexual violence more effectively.

Days 9 and 10 of Public Hearings will ensure we can hear from a range of witnesses including Federal Domestic Family and Sexual Violence Commissioner Micaela Cronin, as well as representatives from Our Watch, Council on the Ageing SA, the Australian Refugee Association and Safe Pets Safe Families. We will also hear from members of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Family Safety Plan Steering Committee, the Adult Safeguarding Unit, the LGBTQ Domestic Violence Awareness Foundation, Movember and Safe Steps. For the full details on the witnesses, please visit our website.

Our Public Hearings have provided the Royal Commission with a large amount of information about critical issues impacting the sector. We will continue to build on these insights as we progress towards recommendations and findings.

I look forward to providing a further update next week.

Natasha Stott Despoja AO

Royal Commissioner