Queensland’s leading figure on domestic violence reform says the government seems to have ditched key recommendations from her work, as the alleged murder of a mother heaped pressure on the LNP over its funding priorities.
In rare public remarks about her wound-up Women’s Safety and Justice Taskforce, Margaret McMurdo AC – a retired judge and past Court of Appeal president – said public updates on action toward almost 300 recommendations had dried up.
This was despite a key ask from the taskforce’s first Hear Her Voice report, published in 2021, for an independent implementation supervisor to oversee the reforms and publicly report on progress twice a year.
McMurdo’s comments come amid scrutiny of a departmental funding drop in the recent state budget. Following reports by News Corp, Minister Amanda Camm explained that some taskforce-recommended programs were only funded for limited periods by the former government.
The development in another area of Camm’s ministerial responsibility comes after pressure over children in state care sleeping on child safety service centre floors, the rollout of the Unify IT system and scrutiny of her relationship with a colleague.
Source: Qld government: DV taskforce chair Margaret McMurdo concerned LNP has ‘abandoned’ key recommendation