Thank you to the member for Warringah for moving this important motion. Family and domestic violence is a national crisis. Day after day, the horrific accounts continue. The women and children injured or killed by people—usually men—closest to them: the men they should have been able to trust. Sometimes these stories shock us enough that they make the front pages and our social media feeds for a few days. Sometimes they prompt a moment of collective uncomfortableness where we make comments like, ‘He seemed like such a guy,’ or, ‘They were just a normal family,’ but more often this violence happens without any attention, in houses and communities across our country. For too long we have all looked away, and I am pleased to say that this is not the approach of our government. We are determined to end this national tragedy, to do the work to address the underlying causes of this violence, to support early intervention and to help women and children to leave unsafe situations.
It is fair to say that, when our government came to office, we did have to reset this work. I think tonight’s Nemesis is going to give us a reminder of how the previous prime minister, the member for Cook, really did struggle to understand issues affecting women in this country. I won’t run through it all—we can watch it for ourselves tonight—but, of course, there was the time he told women they were lucky they weren’t living somewhere they could be marching to parliament and asking for women to be safe. I note in tonight’s Nemesis the member for Cook seems to have tried to explain his track record by saying, ‘Suburban dads can be a bit clumsy when it comes to language.’
So there was a lot of work to be done, and our government has got on with it. In 2023 our government released the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children, which has the goal of ending violence against women and children in one generation. Through the plan, we are addressing the underlying drivers of gender based violence to prevent it before it occurs. We’re supporting early intervention and prevention. We’re responding appropriately when violence is used and ensuring that victim-survivors are supported in their recovery and healing, putting them at the centre of this work. We have backed up with this plan with tangible investments. We’ve invested $2.3 billion to support the implementation of the national plan. This does include the first action plan, a dedicated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander action plant and plan—it is so important that we are addressing that issue in itself and not just as part of the broader issue—and six ambitious targets. We have taken immediate steps to support those impacted by family and domestic violence. We have changed the escaping violence payment to significantly reduce the amount of time it takes victim-survivors to access support. We’re providing $159 million to fund the states and territories to deliver frontline services and get more frontline workers where they’re needed. We’ve legislated 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave for all employees, including casuals. As I said, we’re rolling out new frontline and community sector workers to support victim survivors and ensure they get the support they need when they need it.
Our government is also directing funding to address the drivers of violence, and this is crucial. This is where we will need to get real change, not just in this parliament, not just in what governments do but in our community. We’re providing $100 million over five years to Our Watch to support their critical work. We’ve launched the consent policy framework to ensure young people are receiving consistent messaging about consent. We’re working to address the unacceptably high rates of sexual assaults on university campuses. We want the next generations not to have this experience, not to see statistics at the levels that we currently do. We’ve got to change this across our society, amongst young people, amongst all of our communities.
Another critical component of our plan is ensuring that women and children have a roof over their heads. Through the Housing Australia Future Fund, our government has created a channel of $1.6 billion from the fund’s returns to be directed towards social and affordable housing for women and children escaping domestic violence and older women at risk of homelessness. The fund will also provide $100 million for crisis and transitional housing options for those fleeing violence. We know, without a stable roof over their heads, it is so hard for women and children to get back on track and get their lives back together.
This work our government is doing—and what I’ve outlined is only part of it—does reflect the need for a continuing and wide-ranging national effort to end domestic and family violence. We do know that with all this work we are not seeing it. There is much more to do, but I am confident we are on the right path, and we are committed to getting it done.
