Nicolle Flint (Boothby, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) recognises the importance of changing the national culture to make disrespecting women un-Australian;

(2) welcomes the Government's $100 million Women's Safety Package to combat domestic violence;

(3) supports efforts at the upcoming COAG meeting to engage all levels of government and the broader community on this shared national endeavour;

(4) places on record its deep concern about the use of new technology and in particular smart phone tracking applications by family violence perpetrators to obtain and monitor the location of their victims; and

(5) calls on all governments to consider this as part of their strategy to combat domestic violence and technology facilitated abuse.

I move this motion today to continue to raise awareness of the terrible problem of domestic violence in our community and the steps the Turnbull government is taking to address this most serious of issues. The Turnbull government is leading the way in terms of policy development and funding and, through COAG, is working with our state government counterparts to ensure all levels of government are doing their part.

Addressing the scourge of domestic violence, however, is not just the responsibility of government; it is the responsibility of each and every Australian. We must all do our part to make it un-Australian to disrespect women. I note the Prime Minister and the Minister for Women this morning condemned the appalling behaviour and language by US presidential candidate Donald Trump in relation to women. It is crucial that we all condemn such actions because, as the respect.gov.au website records, there is a clear link between violence towards women and attitudes of disrespect and gender inequality.

Even though most Australians recognise that violence against women is a serious issue, fewer people realise where the behaviours and attitudes can start—in childhood. Adults have the strongest influence on young people's attitudes about disrespect towards women. But when we see it in action, we tend not to get involved. Without realising it, what we say and do is shaping young people's views about more serious behaviours. We need to, as respect.gov.au says, stop violence against women at the start.

The problem of domestic violence in Australia is incredibly serious. Statistically speaking, according to a 2012 Australian Bureau of Statistics personal safety survey, one in three women has been a victim of physical or sexual violence since the age of 15 by someone known to them. The same survey found that one in four women have been emotionally abused by a partner. But the most distressing figure comes from the 2015 Australian Institute of Criminology report, which found that almost one woman dies almost every week at the hands of a current or former partner.

Addressing the awful problem of domestic violence has been at the forefront of the Turnbull-Liberal-coalition government agenda. The first act of the Turnbull government was to announce a $100 million Women's Safety Package on 24 September 2015. At the time of the announcement, a staggering 63 women had been killed by a current or former partner for the year. I know the Prime Minister and the Minister for Women have a special interest in this issue as they have again demonstrated today. The Women's Safety Package is part of the Turnbull government's approach to take real, practical and immediate action to keep women and children safe. The $100 million package focuses on improving training for frontline workers, enhancing service delivery and providing the best educational resources to change attitudes in our community.

The Turnbull government, in partnership with the states and territories, has also launched a $30 million national campaign to change young people's attitudes to women and violence. The campaign website has received almost 400,000 views and there have been more than 32 million online views of the TV commercials. Crucially, we are doing a number of specific things and have funded a range of specific activities to keep women and children safe. In relation to Indigenous women, who are 34 times more likely to be hospitalised as a result of family violence, we have announced up to $15 million to help police in Queensland to better respond to domestic violence in remote communities, $1.4 million to extend the Community Engagement Police Officers program in remote Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory and up to $1.1 million to help remote Indigenous communities prevent and better respond to the incidence of domestic violence through targeted support.

There is a range of frontline services, support services, education, as I have mentioned, and technology initiatives that we are undertaking. And I would again like to place on record my deep concern about the use of new technology and in particular smart phone tracking applications by family violence perpetrators. This is something that we must have all governments working on as part of their strategy to combat domestic violence and technology facilitated abuse.

I commend the Prime Minister, the Minister for Women and the government for all they are doing to address domestic violence, and to support and protect Australian women.

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