Kylea Tink (North Sydney, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

Domestic violence is happening at unprecedented rates across Australia. My electorate of North Sydney welcomes the beginning of paid family and domestic violence leave. In 2022, 56 women lost their lives to domestic violence, with another 38 losing their lives this year alone. Shockingly, 11 women lost their lives in this last month. That's 94 women in 84 weeks—a record of accomplishment any nation could not be proud of. Every year, nearly 8,000 women return to dangerous environments after fleeing domestic violence because they feel they have nowhere else to go, while another 9,000 become homeless. Crisis response services are overburdened, and emergency shelters are overflowing. These are just the stories we know of—people who have found a way to leave—with the reality being that thousands are trapped silently in violence.

The implementation of this payment, an annual allowance of 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave that's made available to all employees—be they full-time, part-time or casual employees—is to be welcomed, and it's my hope that this leave will encourage more of those who currently feel they have no way out to take those first important and, often, tentative steps to get themselves and those they love to a safer environment. While I welcome this move from the government, we need to also acknowledge that, in of itself, it will not solve the extensive challenges faced by women experiencing domestic violence, and we remain a long way from ending violence within one generation. The truth is that that outcome is going to require far more work and will only be successful if supported by an integrated response—leveraging the legal, economic and government ecosystems to achieve it—while also challenging ourselves to think differently.

For a start, the huge variation of family violence laws—

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 10 : 21 to 10 : 37

With domestic violence happening at unprecedented rates across Australia, my electorate of North Sydney welcomes the beginning of paid family and domestic violence leave. In 2022, 56 women lost their lives to domestic violence, while another 38 have lost their lives this year. Shockingly, 11 women have lost their lives in the past month alone. That's 94 women in 84 weeks—not a record of accomplishment any nation could be proud of. Every year in Australia nearly 8,000 women return to dangerous environments after fleeing violence, because they have nowhere else to go, while a further 9,000 become homeless. Crisis response services are overwhelmed, and emergency shelters are overflowing—and these are just the stories we know of. These are people who found a way to leave, but the reality is that thousands more are trapped in violence silently.

The implementation of this payment, then—an annual allowance of 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave, made available to all employees, be they full time, part time or casual—is to be welcomed. It's my hope that this leave will encourage more of those who currently feel they have no way out to take those first important and often tentative steps to get themselves and those they love into a safe environment.

While I welcome this move from the government, we also need to also acknowledge that, in and of itself, this will not solve the extensive challenges faced by women experiencing domestic violence and we remain a long way from ending violence in one generation. In truth, that outcome is going to require far more work and will only be successful if it's supported by an integrated response leveraging the legal, economic and government ecosystems and applying, potentially, a new way of thinking.

For a start, the huge variation of family violence laws and justice responses across the country is just one of the areas we must address. I argue that the current crisis requires a coordinated response through federal law. Then the stay-at-home programs under the national Keeping Women Safe in their Homes initiative are not working, with the majority of women believing that remaining in their home is not possible at the point of separation. With family and domestic violence being the main reason women and children leave their homes and the leading cause of homelessness for this group, we must find a way to reverse this belief.

It's just common sense that communities and families will be stronger when it is the perpetrator who is required to leave a domestic arrangement when there is violence. This is not to condemn the perpetrator to the same reality women currently face, which is homelessness, but to not pursue this course because it threatens to victimise the perpetrator is ridiculous. On the flipside, we cannot have women leaving and feeling like they're sitting targets for continued harassment and violence because the fractured justice system, frontline services and existing public protection policies do not provide an integrated response.

Recently, the CEO of a women's shelter in my electorate told me that the state of housing is dire and the need is immediate. We cannot wait for housing to be built. Funding alone will never be sufficient in the current climate, and as a parliament we cannot simply measure our efforts by what our government is prepared to spend. While the record investment contained in the 2023-24 federal budget was welcomed, sadly it barely touches the sides of what is required to enable those facing violence to escape without ending up in poverty.

All of us in this place, then, must hold ourselves accountable for genuine progress to end violence against women. I echo the minister's statement. If we all work together and if we all pull in the same direction, this can be achieved. People experiencing violence should never feel like they are standing alone. Instead, they should be provided with all of the support they need to rebuild their lives as quickly as possible.

In conclusion, then, while the government's commitment to ending violence against women and children in one generation is admirable, it's going to take much more than words, and one good policy will not get us there. We have a responsibility to carry this work forward, and I call on the government to: No. 1, look at federal law to better coordinate state justice responses; No. 2, scale up the economic response beyond just funding to maintain relevance in the current economic climate; and, No. 3, walk the talk and action the commitment they have made to end violence within one generation. I must confess that's a walk I would happily take together.

See this speech in context