Jodie Belyea (Dunkley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Yesterday was the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, marking the start of the 16 days of activism against gender based violence. In the first month of my role as an MP, I was asked to speak in the chamber on my lived experience of domestic, family and sexual violence. I have many colleagues in this chamber and family members, friends and local constituents who have experienced domestic family and sexual violence.

In Dunkley we have some of the highest rates of domestic and family violence. It is a blight on our society and our community. To support the women, men and children experiencing violence, we have many incredible organisations and professionals doing amazing work in this space, supporting those in crisis: Anglicare, Family Life, Good Shepherd, OzChild, the Salvation Army, the Orange Door, Community Support Frankston, Mums Supporting Families in Need and Women's Health in the South East.

The list of organisations is deep and long, and thank you to all of the staff for all you do for the women, children and families in our community. Your dedication is commendable.

Too many women live in fear every day, unable to leave home, or too scared to go home, because the person that professes to love them is the greatest threat to their life. I've heard many stories of horrific violence during my career in the community sector and have my own lived experience. I know how totally paralysing domestic, family and sexual violence can be. Often, these women turn the most horrific experiences into action and advocacy.

I would like to give a shout-out to some incredible women from Dunkley: Kathy Heffernan, Melissa Flores, Justine Lenart. You are some of the amazing women I know who have endured the scars of violence and are making incredible contributions to the lives of other women and families in our community. I am inspired by all of those women and their supporters, and to them I say: this government is committing to ending violence.

It's why, since coming to government, we have made record investment into ending violence. We've invested $4 billion into this important task—investments to prevent violence, to intervene where it happens and to respond and support victim-survivors to recover and heal. This is on top of $3.9 billion for legal assistance, announced following National Cabinet's historic meeting to end violence against women and children. These investments also include extra funding for housing. This includes specific investments targeted at women escaping violence, which also will include—as of today—the Help to Buy initiative.

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