Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Housing) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Throsby for her interest in this area. I know that she has a longstanding commitment to addressing the issues of violence against women and children. Today the Prime Minister and I attended the first meeting of the National Council on Violence Against Women and Children. Establishing an expert body in this very important area is a major milestone. During the election campaign we said that if we were elected we would accept some responsibility as a Commonwealth government to reduce the incidence and impact of domestic violence and sexual assault on women and children in our community and that we would ask an expert council to help us and guide us in that work. Today we delivered on that commitment.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics reports that around one in three Australian women experience physical violence in their lifetime and almost one in five experience sexual violence in their lifetime. It is a problem that remains still too hidden in our community and is one that requires the urgent attention of our government. We released new figures today that show that 90 per cent of women who experience physical or sexual assault do not access crisis support services, legal help or helplines. We also know that two out of every five women who do get help and take out a restraining order against a former partner experience further violence after that restraining order has been put in place. That is simply not good enough. It requires practical Commonwealth leadership in this area.

Our council is made up of 11 experts with very high standing. The chair of the council is Libby Lloyd, who is one of the founders of the Australian White Ribbon Day campaign and an internationally respected voice in human rights. The deputy chair is Heather Nancarrow, the Director of the Queensland Centre for Domestic and Family Violence Research. She is also working with us on the homelessness steering group. The other members of the council include: Lisa Wilkinson, Pauline Woodbridge, Vanessa Swan, Dorinda Cox, Andrew O’Keefe, Dr Melanie Heenan, Associate Professor Moira Carmody, Maria Dimopoulos and Rachel Kayrooz. These people are extraordinary community leaders from a very diverse range of backgrounds. I am sure that they will make an enormous commitment in helping us reduce violence against women and children.

The Prime Minister has asked this council to oversee not just our national plan but the practical measures that have already begun in this area, including a resource that will roll out to high schools all around the country educating young men and young women about what respectful relationships look like and about the impact of domestic violence and sexual assault on our community. They will also oversee work on the expansion of the White Ribbon Day campaign and a number of other projects that we have already initiated in this area. This is in contrast to the actions of the former government in this area. There was a degree of—

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