All ACT households pay the $50 levy as part of their rates bills but an audit report has found there are problems with transparency when it comes to allocation of funds.
The ACT government introduced the Safer Families Levy in 2016, saying it would be funnelled towards funding frontline domestic violence response services and education.
And now, an audit report has backed that up, finding there hasn't been enough transparency about where funds are going. But more than half a decade on, the ACT Auditor-General has found there's a lack of transparency around how the funds are being used and poor communication with community and other stakeholders.
It went on to detail that the ACT government office set up to manage the levy hasn't set up either a performance monitoring strategy or evaluation framework to measure the impact of initiatives funded through the scheme.YWCA Canberra chief executive Frances Crimmins described the findings contained in the audit report as a relief, as it backed up what she'd been saying for years.
Ms Crimmins stressed YWCA wasn't calling for the levy to be suspended, just for it to be used only in the funding of frontline services, rather than things like public service training or other internal functions of government. She hoped the levy could be used as it had been intended in the future and was keen to see it stay in place, along with ongoing other investment.But Ms Crimmins said the budget process for how that funding had been allocated hadn't necessarily been either clear or transparent.
Canberra Local News Local ACT Government ACT Auditor-General Safer Families Levy Dr Marisa Paterson ACT Policing Michael Harris Frances Crimmins Sue Webeck Domestic Violence YWCA DVCS
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