Ken Wyatt (Hasluck, Liberal Party, Minister for Indigenous Australians) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for O'Connor for his continued support and commitment to Indigenous women and children in his seat. The Morrison government is committed to advancing opportunities for Indigenous women and girls, given the historical disadvantage and some of the challenges that they face. We're providing significant investments through all Commonwealth agencies to provide support for women, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island women and girls. We've provided $99.6 million to support education, leadership, health and wellbeing outcomes for girls and young women; $72.4 million for academy and mentoring projects to improve year 12 attainment and support students into post-school pathways; $25 million for the Indigenous Girls' Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Academy; $2.2 million to support girls and young women through sport and other youth development activities to empower them to realise their potential; more than $75 million for family violence prevention and legal services to address family violence; a further $13.8 million investment in the Indigenous Women's Program legal services and supplementary legal assistance activities over three years, from 2020-21 to 2022-23; an additional $35 million investment in Indigenous-specific measures under the Fourth Action Plan; and $2.9 million for the Wiyi Yani U Thangani (Women's Voice) Project. This is also made up of the job opportunities that we've created.

I have been into some of the academies and schools where the programs operate. I went into one in particular, a group of young high-school women. When I went in, they asked me to go through a process that they'd put in place to create a secure and safe environment for them. They asked me to pick up the object that they hold while they make this commitment to honour each other's confidence. What I saw was young women who had been damaged regain confidence to be able to speak and share what they had experienced to provide peer support to each other. Deadly Sista Girlz, with the Wirrpanda Foundation, not only achieve academic outcomes but provide levels of support and interaction. When we consider some of the adverse events we see through media, we know these programs are absolutely important and critical in giving young women a journey that is better than what we would expect for them.

Our investment for the boys, about which I was asked, is $54 million. For the girls in the same program it is $57 million. So our commitment is extremely strong to young women and young girls.

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