Monthly Archives: November 2022

Goulburn Mulwaree Council is reimagining streets as places for people with their trial Safe and Shared Street Spaces in Auburn Street, to improve their local street environment and test ideas to build the case for more permanent change as part of the Streets as Shared Spaces program.

This project has received $488,210 under the second round of the NSW Government’s Streets as Shared Spaces $20 million grant program.

Member for Goulburn Wendy Tuckerman said the Streets as Shared Spaces program is part of the NSW Government’s focused efforts to support community wellbeing and economic recovery in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and extreme weather events.

“These projects provide improvements to how we use our public spaces and make our streets more attractive and welcoming for people through facilitating access improving safety with the pedestrian crossing and upgrading amenity with street furniture and lighting,” Mrs Tuckerman said.

The Streets as Shared Spaces Phase 2 project includes:

• A library/café parklet near Market Street on Auburn Street
• 2 chill-out hubs with bench seating at Belmore Park Stairs on Auburn Street
• A pedestrian crossing on the corner of Market and Auburn Streets
• 27 metal grates, fairy lights and benches on sidewalk on Auburn Street
• Lighting, public art and street furniture in Russell Lane
• Café hub furniture in Belmore Park on the corner of Montague and Auburn Street

Goulburn Mulwaree Council Mayor Peter Walker said Council is developing Auburn Street as a better place for people to bring the Goulburn community and surrounding villages back to enjoying our local shops, services and activities on foot.

“Whether for walking, cycling, outdoor dining, socialising and doing business, streets are essential infrastructure for successful and healthy urban areas,” Cl Walker said. 

The Streets as Shared Spaces program encourages councils to trial innovative projects that will revitalise the high street and its surrounding areas by providing more, better and activated public spaces that improve walkability and strengthen the vibrancy and economic vitality of the area for the whole community.

For more information about Streets as Shared Spaces and its programs: https://www.dpie.nsw.gov.au/premiers-priorities/great-public-spaces/streets/streets-as-shared-spaces-program.

Women, children and all members of the community will be made safer as historic and life-saving coercive control reforms pass Parliament this week.

Member for Goulburn Wendy Tuckerman welcomed the passage of the laws through Parliament.

“Coercive control is a form of domestic abuse that involves patterns of behaviour that have the cumulative effect of denying victim-survivors their autonomy and independence.”

“The new law will make it an offence to carry out repeated abusive behaviours to a current or former intimate partner with the intent to coerce or control, and will carry a sentence of up to seven years in jail,” Mrs Tuckerman said. 

Premier Dominic Perrottet said NSW continued to lead the nation in addressing women’s safety and domestic and family violence issues.

“We made a commitment to deliver these landmark reforms to protect our people from this insidious form of domestic violence, and this week we have delivered on that commitment by criminalising coercive control in intimate partner relationships,” Mr Perrottet said.

“There is no doubt that these reforms, which are the first of their kind in this country, will help save lives and deter an abusive and controlling pattern of behaviour that is unacceptable.”

Minister for Women Bronnie Taylor said the NSW Government stands shoulder to shoulder with victim-survivors and their families, and the families of those whose lives have been tragically taken, in condemning this insidious abuse.

“The NSW Government has acted to ensure the lives of women, children and all members of our community will be made safer,” Mrs Taylor said.

Attorney General Mark Speakman said these landmark reforms are the product of unprecedented consultation, including at least eight rounds of consultation over two and a half years.

“Our extensive consultation has included a public discussion paper in 2020; an extensive parliamentary inquiry by the Joint Select Committee on Coercive Control; a public exposure draft that received almost 200 written submissions; targeted consultations on cabinet in confidence exposure drafts; and almost 30 stakeholder roundtables,” Mr Speakman said.

“This unprecedented engagement has allowed us to make careful adjustments to ensure we have the best possible laws to tackle this form of domestic terrorism.

“Domestic abuse isn’t just about physical violence. Perpetrators of domestic abuse also use physical, sexual, psychological and financial abuse to hurt and control their ‘loved one’. Sadly, this behaviour is a known precursor to domestic violence deaths.”

Minister for Women’s Safety and the Prevention of Domestic and Sexual Violence Natalie Ward, who chaired the Joint Select Committee on Coercive Control, said the laws achieve radical reform in a carefully calibrated way.

“We are immensely grateful to the many witnesses who courageously provided evidence to the Joint Select Committee on Coercive Control and helped shape these landmark reforms,” Mrs Ward said.

“Our community has grieved with the families of too many domestic violence murder victims where the precursor was abusive behaviour that stripped away autonomy and human dignity.

“These reforms will drive societal change to make sure we protect our most vulnerable and provide an avenue to justice for those who need it most.”

“There will be an extensive implementation period of at least 14 months and up to 19 months before the laws commence, to allow plenty of time for training, resourcing, education and raising community awareness.”

The NSW Government has committed an additional $69.6 million in this year’s Budget for services that support victim-survivors of domestic and family violence, and minimise the trauma experienced during legal proceedings. 

Goulburn electorate residents are being encouraged to nominate the local people or events that helped to shape the rich heritage of the State in the second round of the $5 million NSW Blue Plaques program.

Member for Goulburn Wendy Tuckerman said the program is a fantastic opportunity for communities to learn about and celebrate local heritage.

“This initiative is all about recognising the eclectic characters, personalities and important public figures that have made or become part of the history of our state,” Mrs Tuckerman said.

“I encourage people to nominate diverse and unique individuals and stories for a Blue Plaque in the second nominations round.

“The second round of nominations for Blue Plaques opened on 13 November, and close 21 December 2022.”

To be eligible, each Blue Plaque must meet eligibility criteria and go through an extensive fact-checking process carried out by independent historians to verify the story behind the Plaque.

Minister for Heritage James Griffin said the second round of nominations opens as 14 new Blue Plaques are announced.

“Our newest 14 Blue Plaques recipients are an eclectic mix of people, events and stories that helped shape our State,” Mr Griffin said.

“Among them, we have Australia poet and author Dorothea Mackellar who, at the age of 19, wrote the words we all know and love, ‘I love a sunburnt country, a land of sweeping plains’.

“We’re recognising the 1965 Freedom Ride, which was pivotal in highlighting the racial discrimination experienced by Aboriginal people, challenging a ban on Aboriginal ex-servicemen at the Walgett Returned Services League, and local laws barring Aboriginal children from the Moree and Kempsey swimming pools.

“We’re celebrating the life of Dr Thomas Fiaschi, who migrated to Australia from Italy at the age of 22, and went on to become a pioneering surgeon whose expertise significantly improved the survival rate of patients after surgery.

“The 35 Blue Plaques announced so far are just the beginning of this fantastic program, which is reinvigorating community connections with our rich NSW heritage.”

The previously announced 21 Blue Plaques are currently being installed in locations including Albury, Wagga Wagga and Yass, and the 14 new Plaques will be installed in 2023, with exact locations to be revealed on installation.

For more information on Blue Plaques recipients, installation locations, and to find out how to nominate a Blue Plaque, visit the Blue Plaques website.

Member for Goulburn Wendy Tuckerman has announced that the NSW Government will ease the pressure on patients who find it difficult to get an appointment with a GP, by making it easier to access more medications through a local pharmacy.

Mrs Tuckerman said the reform will expand the number of vaccinations pharmacists can administer, trial pharmacists prescribing medication for urinary tract infections and also develop a pilot for trained pharmacists to prescribe medications for a range of other conditions.

“These ground-breaking reforms which are aiming to relieve pressure on emergency departments and wait times to see a GP by giving our community more access to primary care services,” Mrs Tuckerman said.

“Today’s announcement is yet another innovative way in which the NSW Government are delivering reforms to combat the pressures currently facing health systems across the nation.”

The NSW Government will increase the community’s access to primary care through:
• Authorising pharmacists to administer a wider range of public health and travel vaccinations from 14 November 2022, including Japanese Encephalitis, Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B, Poliomyelitis, Typhoid and Zoster.
• Funding a 12-month trial to evaluate allowing pharmacists to prescribe medication for urinary tract infections; and
• Supporting a state wide pilot where appropriately trained pharmacists can prescribe medications for certain conditions, such as skin ailments, ear infections, and hormonal contraception.

Mrs Tuckerman said that the COVID-19 pandemic provided a prime example of just how vital of a role local pharmacists play in keeping the community safe and well.

“Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic many of us opted to visit our local and trusted pharmacist to receive a vaccine,” Mrs Tuckerman said.

“Following the implementation of today’s announcement, the community will be able to visit an appropriately trained pharmacist to get a script for things like a urinary tract infection or birth control, easing the burden on our local GPs and reducing wait times for others that require more specialised care.”

NSW Health will work with pharmacists to support the expansion of the vaccination program with education modules and materials for both themselves and their customers.

NSW pharmacists are currently able to administer six vaccines, including COVID-19 and influenza vaccines.

An expression of interest process for participation in the urinary tract infection trial will commence on 14 November 2022.