Ruth Matchett outlines the role of Minister Yvonne Chapman (1986-87) in establishing the Domestic Violence Taskforce, followed up by Minister Peter McKechnie (1987-89). The taskforce recommendations were adopted by the coalition government under Russell Cooper as premier. She describes the challenge of preparing the recommendations so that they would be accepted by the government. Discusses how the removal of firearms from perpetrators of domestic violence was dropped from the recommendations so as not to create public debate on gun laws and so jeopardise all the other recommendations.
Ruth Matchett describes how she returned to social work at the Children's Court, which sparked her interest in juvenile justice. Main achievements were practical changes as the government was not interested in legislative change in this era. She discusses her involvement in the Domestic Violence Taskforce and how this led to a higher public profile and involvement in the development of social policy. In 1989 she was taken 'off-line' to develop the Women's Policy Unit when Beryce Nelson (1989) was the Minister.
