Terri Butler (Griffith, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

In government Labor established the policy infrastructure needed to respond to family and domestic violence and reduce violence against women and their children. The National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children commenced in 2010 and runs to 2022. The plan has seen the establishment of Australia's National Research Organisation for Women's Safety and also Our Watch, the foundation to end violence against women and their children. It has also seen the establishment and expansion of the national counselling hotline, 1800Respect. The plan and the work done to give effect to it have brought the national epidemic of family and domestic violence to the nation's attention. It has generated political will needed to respond. The subsequent appointment of Rosie Batty as 2015 Australian of the Year catalysed the swelling public sentiment and turned it into a national focus on family and domestic violence. I am hopeful that David Morrison, this year's Australian of the Year and Our Watch ambassador and director, will help to keep domestic violence in the spotlight.

But it has not all been good news in the national effort to reduce family and domestic violence. It is not just that more needs to be done, though that is true. It is a shame that the Turnbull government has yet to provide a meaningful response to the Senate Finance and Public Administration References Committee's report of August 2015 in relation to family and domestic violence.

But it is worse than that. The Turnbull government's cuts are undermining the nation's response to family and domestic violence. There have been cuts in the order of tens of millions of dollars from community legal centres, legal aid commissions and Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander legal services. There has been a cut of $44 million each year to the capital expenditure component of homelessness services. The Turnbull government's failure to adequately resource the family law courts is a national disgrace and is directly affecting victims and survivors of family and domestic violence. The government needs to do better. Unfortunately, on family and domestic violence, as in so many other areas, the Turnbull government's actions do not reflect its words. The Turnbull government says one thing and does another.

It is also not good enough that the government is in here with a motion about technology facilitated abuse at the same time as it is refusing to legislate to make so-called revenge porn a crime. In a report of October 2015, Digital harassment and abuse of adult Australians, RMIT researchers Anastasia Powell and Nicola Henry said:

1 in 10 Australians reported that someone had posted online or sent onto others a nude or semi-nude image of them without their permission

That is one in 10, Deputy Speaker.

The member for Gellibrand and I have introduced a bill for a specific criminal offence in relation to the circulation of intimate images and recordings without consent. We have called on the government to support our bill, both publicly in the press and by letter of October last year. Incredibly, in January this year, the Minister for Women wrote to us, refusing to support our bill and, instead, putting it on the backburner until COAG provides a comprehensive response to technology facilitated abuse.

We say there is no need to wait any longer. In November, the Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee commenced an inquiry into so-called revenge porn. Support for legislating a specific measure, a specific criminal offence, criminalising the non-consensual sharing of intimate images and videos such as the one that we propose in our private member's bill can be found in a submission to that inquiry from the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions. The submission stated clearly:

There are limitations on existing Commonwealth laws to adequately deal with ‘revenge porn’ conduct.

  …   …   …

In limited situations, the CDPP—

the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions—

observes that there may be coverage of such conduct by an offence contra 474.17(1). However, such situations will be uncommon.

That is what the Director of Public Prosecutions said in its public submission to the inquiry in relation to revenge porn that is currently on foot.

Obviously, there are other forms of technology facilitated abuse, like the covert installation of spying applications to read your partner's messages and track her movements, the types of applications that members have already spoken about in this debate. But the fact that there are other responses that may be needed to technologically facilitated abuse, as well as responding to revenge porn, does not remove the need to act decisively and swiftly to do with the non-consensual sharing of intimate images and videos.

We have heard in this debate about the harm that can be done. It is obvious. Passing our bill right now would demonstrate to the community that the leadership of this country is serious about stopping this abuse. So while I support the sentiment of this motion sentiment is not enough. It would be greatly disappointing if it turns out that this is just another example of the Turnbull government saying one thing and doing another.

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