Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

I too rise to speak on the motion by the member for Warringah. I know her commitment and everyone's commitment to ending violence against women and children. I know that all members in this House agree that family, domestic and sexual violence destroys lives and that any life lost to gender based violence is one too many. We know the impact of this violence extends throughout communities. It is a national crisis, and indeed it has been for some time, and it must end.

The safety of women and children experiencing violence is a priority for the Albanese Labor government, and it has been since day one. Indeed, all Australian governments are united in our shared goal to end family, domestic and sexual violence in a generation. We're all committed to our work under the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children, which has been bolstered by our investment of more than $3.4 billion so far. We must acknowledge in this debate also that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are disproportionately impacted by domestic, family and sexual violence. It's important that we all acknowledge that.

Tuesday night's budget, as we heard, will deliver $925.2 million over five years to provide financial support and support services for victims-survivors leaving a violent intimate partner relationship, by permanently establishing the Leaving Violence Program. Victims-survivors will now have the certainty of knowing that, if they need it, there will be a safety net where they can access up to $5,000 in financial support as well as safety planning, risk assessment and referrals to support pathways. The budget includes a new decision to direct a billion dollars of funding towards crisis and transitional accommodation for women and children fleeing domestic violence. This decision will supplement the more than $9 billion five-year National Agreement on Social Housing and Homelessness. We are also investing heavily in improving information sharing and policing through the National Criminal Intelligence System, building an evidence base on the perpetration of family, domestic and sexual violence. We're injecting urgent funding into the legal assistance sector and investing in women's economic equality by paying superannuation on government funded paid parental leave.

This is all on top of the significant work that our government has led over the past two years. It includes reforms to family law, justice responses to sexual violence, national principles to address coercive control and the appointment of the first ever Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commissioner, Micaela Cronin, who is ensuring that the voices of victims-survivors, their lived experience, is at the heart of advice to government.

Of course, I'm very proud that one of the first bills we passed in this parliament legislated 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave for all employees. Across previous budgets we've boosted funding to frontline services. This has included delivering funding to the states and territories for frontline workers and restoring funding for services which were running out. We continue to deliver more safe places for women and children experiencing family, domestic and sexual violence, which will assist more than 2,800 women and children each year with an additional 720 new places available under the next round. We're putting the focus on perpetrators by developing a national risk assessment framework, as well as trialling new perpetrator interventions. These are just some of the many actions our government has taken.

We all know there is more to do. We all acknowledge that. All of us, as governments at all levels, need to do more—and the community as well. Governments, the community and business need to work together to end violence against women and children, and we must all continue to make that commitment. We have demonstrated our commitment as a government over these last two years, which sees our record investment in women's safety go to $3.4 billion. We take this very seriously.

In late April, we saw thousands across the country march at rallies against gender based violence. I attended the rally on the Gold Coast and spoke about the government's actions. I outlined our record funding and our commitment to ending violence against women and children in a generation. I also spoke about my time as a former frontline police officer, in which I attended literally hundreds of situations involving domestic violence. I have stood in the lounge rooms and kitchens and seen firsthand the destruction this causes for women and children.

For anyone listening today or watching, if you need help, call 000 if it's life-threatening, or please call 1800RESPECT—that's 1800737732—for support. The fact is one life lost is too many, and the deaths of women at the hands of men have to end.

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