Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

As the Leader of the Opposition would know, this is a program that had a set period of funding. We are in the process of working through the consultation phase of how that funding can be extended and we're working through that in the normal budgetary process. It is still funded until June. We are providing that funding towards these essential services to address the serious issue of preventing domestic violence. Preventing domestic violence is a shared commitment of every single person in this place. I must say I'm a little disappointed that the Leader of the Opposition would seek to make some political capital of this issue in this place.

The National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010-2022 is a commitment from all governments through COAG. It will again be addressed at the COAG meeting later this year. Since the national plan has been in place, the Commonwealth has invested over $700 million to reduce domestic, family and sexual violence. Yesterday we announced an additional $10.9 million for the 1800RESPECT number service. The funding will boost the number of counsellors to ensure people can receive help when they need it. In 2017-18 1800RESPECT answered almost 100,000 telephone and online contacts, which was a 54 per cent increase from the previous year. This year the service is expected to answer more than 160,000 such contacts. Through the Women's Safety Package, the Commonwealth gave some states and territories supplementary funding for the Keeping Women Safe in their Home and local support coordinators programs.

We are getting on with the job of delivering these essential services, and we are committed and should be committed as an entire parliament, together with state and territory governments, to addressing the very serious issue of domestic and family violence. We're committed to that, and I have no doubt that other members of this place—those who sit opposite and those who sit on the crossbench—are also committed to this. I would ask that we continue to address these issues in a bipartisan way and not seek to play politics with them.

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