Chris Hayes (Fowler, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Over the weekend many of us came together to celebrate annual White Ribbon Day: 25 November each year is set aside to remembering and committing to do something about violence perpetrated against women and girls in the community. White Ribbon Day is dedicated to raising awareness of tackling the issues of domestic violence against women, which is the most prevalent form of violence that we have in our community today. Domestic violence is the single most widespread human rights abuse throughout the world. Australia is no exception. Although this country is doing much to protect victims and address the attitudes underlying the continuation of violence against women, the statistics on domestic violence are simply terrifying. The fact is that in their lifetime one in three women in our country will experience physical violence and one in five will experience violence of a sexual nature. It is also a fact that one woman is killed each week by her current or former partner. If that is not a wake-up call to society, I am not sure what is.

These statistics should be quite chilling for every responsible citizen in our country, but they become even more confronting when you personalise them and acknowledge the fact that every woman that we know is vulnerable to violence. When I look to personalise this I think of my wife, Bernadette, my daughter, Elizabeth, and my three fabulous granddaughters, Charlie, Maisie and Kiarni. For me that is the one in five; the statistic sits there. So for me it becomes very personal. With the females in my life I love the most, that one in five statistic really resonates with me. I would like to encourage all men to personalise this statistic. If they did, it might strengthen our resolve when it comes to changing the attitude which allows domestic violence to flourish.

Domestic violence and violence against women in general is one of the most significant issues facing our community today. Left unchecked, domestic violence will continue to flourish on an intergenerational basis. What we know is that 60 per cent of young boys growing up in abusive households are more than likely to become abusers themselves. What is even more chilling and disturbing to me, and I just cannot fathom this, is that 50 per cent of young women or girls growing up in an abusive household are more than likely to take an abuser as a husband or a life partner. Then the cycle continues. When you consider that one in four young people have witnessed violence against their mother or stepmother in their lifetime, it clearly demonstrates how widespread this is as an issue in our community.

In fact, domestic violence is even more prevalent in south-west Sydney, in the area of my electorate, than in the rest of the country because of a couple of things. There is an issue about it being a low socioeconomic area, an area of great disadvantage, which probably comes into the equation. It is also a very multicultural community. Many people who migrate are fleeing from violence and oppression themselves, and perhaps some of that is manifested in the way women and girls are treated.

Cultural barriers make it significantly harder to get the message through to victims about seeking help but also to get the message through to perpetrators and potential perpetrators that domestic violence in our community is a crime—that, if you commit this crime, you will be dealt with and more than likely you will go to jail. That is the message we really have to get through. We have to protect the victims and look after them, but also, to abusers and potential abusers, we really need to articulate our stand on domestic violence in our community.

Only last Friday I had the opportunity to speak at a couple of functions. Before I went there I decided to check the level of reported cases of domestic violence in my local areas. I discovered that from January through to now there have been 2,079 incidents of domestic violence reported in Liverpool. In Fairfield there have been 2,024 over the same period. In Cabramatta there have been 797. In Green Valley there have been 1,500. That does not cover a full year, but the stats are very high. When I sit down and talk to the local police they tell me that, of all the assaults that occurred in each of those four police commands, 50 per cent of them relate to domestic violence. In terms of police resources and doing something about domestic violence—looking after victims—we have to take into account that 50 per cent of all assaults in those area commands relate to domestic violence. They also advised me that there are still many incidents of domestic violence going unreported. That may be a cultural reflection. We have seen progressively an increasing number of women having the courage to report their abusive partners. That is a good thing.

Similarly, there is underreporting. Domestic violence not only causes a lifetime of pain for victims and their communities but also has a significant economic ramification. I have just described the amount of work by the local police. Almost up to $15 billion, they estimate, by the year 2021 would be the cost of domestic violence. At the moment it is about $13 billion, they estimate. Bear in mind that the cost of organised crime to our community is $15 billion, so it is not far behind it in terms of the overall cost. We literally cannot afford to turn a blind eye to domestic violence.

On Friday last week, I attended two functions in my electorate designed to draw attention to domestic violence. I attended the Liverpool and Green Valley White Ribbon event at Miller Square, where residents, the local police and local service providers came together to raise awareness of this important community issue. Attendees enjoyed a BBQ and live performances and were able to gather useful information from stalls held by various local service providers. The event organiser, who is a fellow White Ribbon ambassador and a good friend of mine, Jimmy Masher, of the Liverpool Migrant Resource Centre, once again put together a wonderful event. The local area commander, Superintendent James Johnson, was also on hand and put a police perspective to the difficulties of domestic violence in our community.

The Cabramatta White Ribbon Day event at the Cabramatta PCYC was just as big an event. In fact, I think they had around 300 people attending, with many cultural performances, stalls and guest speakers, including Police Inspector Guy Newman. I would like to acknowledge all the hard work the Fairfield Migrant Resource Centre put into making that event very significant. I would also like to thank Julio Gruttulini, President of the Cabramatta Community Centre, and Dr Simon Emsley, Community Development and Advocacy Coordinator at the Fairfield Migrant Resource Centre, for all their hard work. Another group I would like to refer to is the Aboriginal women's group Sisters for Sisters, which is part of the Liverpool Women's Resource Centre. The group started in 2010 as a result of the Aboriginal Women Against Violence program, which was run in partnership between the LWRC and Joan Harrison Support Services for Women. The group is about Aboriginal women coming together and telling their stories through artwork. I recently attended their art exhibition. These are women who are trying to make a difference and support one another. In that respect, I thank Shirley Kent, the coordinator of the Liverpool Women's Resource Centre, and all the ladies from the Aboriginal art group, who allowed me to view their incredible contribution. I seek leave to tender to the House the document they gave to me, entitled 'Sisters for Sisters: a publication by the Aboriginal women's group on domestic violence'.

Leave granted.

Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Roads and Regional Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In supporting this motion, I would like to commend the member for Fowler. His contribution here tonight joins a lot of fine words that have been spoken in the last 72 hours as community leaders right throughout Australia have denounced violence against women and supported the principles of White Ribbon Day. I had the opportunity to speak last night at a community function in Briagolong, where we took the oath in front of another 100 or 200 men.

In making my contribution, I would like to reinforce the words of the member for Fowler and also those of the Victorian police chief, Ken Lay, who pointed out that violence against women is an issue which is often discussed in terms of statistics. It is easy to talk about these sorts of numbers—51,000 family incident reports, 17,000 arrests or 36,000 offences. On average, one woman is killed by her partner or a former partner every week in Australia. One in three women over the age of 15 report physical or sexual violence at some in their lives. Then we had the incidents in Melbourne quite recently with the tragic deaths of Jill Meagher and Sarah Cafferkey. But the reality is that we do not put a human face to the tragedy when we just talk about statistics. It is important in this place, as we discuss White Ribbon Day, to recognise the human toll of violence against women. It is also important that we recognise that, for a lot of women in Australia, the streets of our cities and regional towns are safer than their own homes. For a lot of people in Australia, the tragic reality is that there is more danger for them in their own bedrooms than there is in a public bar room, and that is a disturbing fact that we need to think about as we talk about White Ribbon Day.

In my electorate, the Gippsland Women's Health Service takes the leading role in the fight against violence in Gippsland. I had the opportunity to meet with representatives from that service in recent weeks, and the really strong point to be made is that this is not a women's problem, it is not a problem for the police, it is not a problem for members of parliament like those gathered here today and it is not a problem just for the Gippsland Women's Health Service. This is a problem for our entire community and, in particular, it is a problem for the men in our community. It is up to us as men, particularly members of the House of Representatives who are leaders in our own communities, to set the example for other men and young boys within our community. Swearing the oath, as we did today in the parliament at the White Ribbon Day function, is the easy part. We must be vigilant for the other 364 days of the year. There are simple things that we can do to demonstrate our respect for women in our daily lives. In swearing to never commit, excuse or remain silent about violence against women, we are taking a stand and setting a standard in the community. When we hear degrading jokes about women, we can choose not to pass them on. We can choose not to forward degrading emails. We can choose to treat all the women in our lives with the respect that they deserve, both in the workplace and in our family lives. The very simple question we can ask ourselves as men is: would we laugh at that joke or enjoy that pornographic video if it were our mother, our daughter, our sister, our wife or our girlfriend? These are the choices we can make every day of the year as men.

On that point in relation to pornography, I want to raise my concern about what I see as the increasingly violent nature of pornography and the extraordinary level of accessibility that now exists. It has the potential, I believe, to distort men's views of women in the community. I was going to demonstrate this on my iPad today, but I thought we might lose our G-rating on A-PAC. When talking about this issue on Friday in my office with two of my staff members, we googled three words on the iPad: nude, women and sex. These are words which I would say any 10-year-old boy could spell and certainly could search online—they are very competent with the technology. Within 10 seconds, Google had provided us with a long list of sites which met those search parameters. Within 30 seconds we could download visual images of sexual acts which were demeaning, violent and aggressive towards women. We were not asked at any stage to verify our age and we could access that 24 hours a day with a mobile device like an iPad, anywhere we liked. We have access to hardcore pornography wherever we are—at home, in the workplace, in the parliament of Australia or anywhere we choose to go online.

I know some people listening will say, 'That's freedom of choice—what's the problem with that?' But as a father with two sons and two daughters, and as a member of parliament, I am deeply concerned about the potential impact that such violent and aggressive images will have on young people. The objectification of women within the porn industry has direct links to violence against women in our community. Women are continually depicted in demeaning roles. The gender role they are given in the pornographic industry is to serve men. The images are often violent and graphic, and it can give young people and particularly young men a false sense of how a healthy sexual relationship should work.

I fear, and the evidence supports me, that there is a strong link between violence and pornography. The industry would deny it, but you would expect that from the industry because it is a $25 billion industry—we are talking about a big business. It is constantly developing even more hardcore images as consumers become bored with previous offerings. I quote an extract from the summary of the report from the United States Attorney-General's Commission on Pornography, which looked at the violent repercussions of porn:

Since the clinical and experimental evidence supports the conclusion that there is a causal relationship between exposure to sexually violent materials and an increase in aggressive behavior directed towards women, and since we believe that an increase in aggressive behavior towards women will in a population increase the incidence of sexual violence in that population, we have reached the conclusion unanimously and confidently, that the available evidence strongly supports the hypothesis that substantial exposure to sexually violent materials as described here bears a causal relationship to antisocial acts of sexual violence and, for some subgroups, possibly to unlawful acts of sexual violence.

I am a realist. I am not a wowser. What adults choose to do, within reason, is entirely up to them. In this modern era of accessibility and increased accessibility via the internet, I acknowledge that we cannot ban pornography and we will not be able to stop it or police it, but I think we can discredit it. We can work harder as a community to discredit it. We can give our young people the appropriate skills, the resilience to cope and an understanding of how a positive sexual relationship works, and reveal to them the ugly side of the porn industry. We can help them understand that the violent sex depicted in pornographic videos is highly unlikely to be the type of physical contact or physical relationship their girlfriend or wife in the future will enjoy.

I have been reading the work of Victorian researchers Maree Crabbe and David Corlett, who have studied the porn industry very closely. They are developing prevention measures to help young people understand the difference between pornography and reality. I encourage other members to take the time to have a look at some of their work. They say that we need to help young people to understand issues of gender, power and consent, and we need to do this by having conversations with young people in our schools, at home and in society more broadly.

It is not just the young people we need to educate. We need to give parents the skills to talk more comfortably about this issue, because it is a difficult issue for parents to talk about with their sons and daughters. I think young people are very smart, and they are pretty tech-savvy; I think they are better than the porn industry and I think they are going to figure it out. If we are serious about reducing the incidence of violence against women, we have to take on the porn industry and give our community those skills and the capacity to counter this cancer in our society. The violent and extreme scenes which have become mainstream pornography are a cancer in our society. It is slowly eating away at our morality and it is certainly eroding the social fabric of our community.

On White Ribbon Day we talk a lot about justice and equality for women, but there can be no justice and equality for women when we have a $25 billion industry that survives by depicting violent, aggressive and dominant roles for men over submissive women. There can be no justice or equality for women until we address that fundamental issue. Exercising control and power over women is the absolute core of pornographic material in the 21st century, and exercising control and power over women is a fundamental feature of violence against women. The link is undeniable, and our challenge is to help our young people to develop the skills to have healthy relationships in the future.

I am certainly not saying that if you watch porn then you are automatically going to commit violent crime towards women, but when we have such young and impressionable viewers exposed to such images on a constant basis the risk is obvious to us as a community. In raising this issue today in the context of the debate put by the member for Fowler I am not wishing to sound alarmist, but I think parents need to be aware of the risk. I challenge parents listening tonight to take the 30-second test I took on Friday with my staff. Anywhere, at any time, their children could be downloading hardcore pornography and violent images.

We all need to start working together to explode the porn industry myth. We need to be telling our sons about healthy relationships and how to respect girls and women. We need to let our daughters know what they should expect and what they deserve. Preventing violence against women is something that all members of this place have expressed their passion about here today. As men, I believe that we do have the capacity to make a difference. Violence against women is never acceptable and in the 21st century it is up to us to redefine what masculinity is about. Real men do not hurt women.

As I said earlier, it is fine for us to come in here today as members of parliament and swear the White Ribbon Day oath, but the real challenge is going to be what we do for the other 364 days of the year. I commend the motion and I commend all members for taking the opportunity to speak on behalf of the White Ribbon Day event. I wish them well in the future as we work as a community to eliminate violence against women, wherever it may be.

Michelle Rowland (Greenway, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise this evening to support the member for Fowler's motion and I commend him for bringing it to the attention of the House. Violence against women is one of the most insidious crimes that we as a society are confronted with, and the statistics reveal a disturbing situation. One woman is killed every week by a current or former partner, one in three women over the age of 15 report physical or sexual violence at some time in their lives, in 50 per cent of households where domestic violence occurs child abuse also occurs and one in four young people have witnessed violence against their mother or stepmother. These are the terrifying realties that confront women experiencing violence in my electorate and right across the country.

In fact, the very term 'domestic violence' is one that is often seen as inaccurate. For some years there has been a growing debate about whether we should be distinguishing between private and public forms of violence. It is more commonly, however, used to refer to violence generally against women. Domestic violence does not only constitute physical violence. It can take many forms, including forced isolation, verbal abuse, financial abuse and emotional abuse.

Statistics are one thing but the human face is, of course, another. I saw first hand during my time as a pro bono duty solicitor for female victims of domestic violence what this really means. In approximately 10 years of my former life as a lawyer, I was a volunteer duty solicitor for the Redfern Women's Domestic Violence Advocacy Service. I would front up to the Downing Centre at least one Wednesday a month, usually more, to assist representation in mentions and apprehended violence order hearings for female victims of domestic violence.

There are a few cases that really stick in my mind. I saw a lot in those years. The one that sticks out to me more than anything was of a young Lebanese woman who had met in Lebanon an Australian man whom she decided to marry. She married him in Lebanon, came to Australia pregnant and had the baby in Australia. It was decided for some unknown reason that her new husband's family no longer wanted her. She was subjected to just about every form of violence—not just physical but emotional, mental, and financial. She was literally thrown out of the house with her infant. She could not speak a word of English, and she was continually threatened by this man and his family. She ended up being accommodated in a refuge when I was representing her.

Here was a first-time mother with an infant, in a foreign country, having been subjected to every form of violence you can imagine. That is one that to this day sticks out in my mind. Every now and then I think of trying to find out what happened to this lady, but, as I have been counselled by other people, it was my job to represent her. I did, I managed to obtain an order against the perpetrator and his family. But that poor woman and what she went through will always stick with me. I also saw a disproportionate number of Aboriginal women and their children who were victims of domestic violence. Even though this was a couple of years ago and social media has certainly taken off a lot since my time practising, the amount of electronic stalking of young women was absolutely alarming. I want to mention the support workers and the lawyers Gilbert + Tobin, who gave many years of support to advocacy services and continue to do so, because, without these non-government agencies stepping in, female victims of violence would have much less support than they currently do. I particularly mention the Outer West Domestic Violence Network, which held its White Ribbon breakfast at Blacktown two weeks ago. It was attended by hundreds of business and community leaders who all took the White Ribbon oath. I represent a large proportion of the Blacktown local government area, which, unfortunately, has some of the highest rates of domestic violence in Australia. The local area commander of Blacktown police, Superintendent Mark Wright, told us that domestic violence kills about 36 people each year in the Quaker's Hill, Mt Druitt and Blacktown local area command. It is a disturbing and shocking figure that no-one in the public should put up with.

One of the major issues of violence of this nature is the silence that often occurs in an abusive relationship. Two out of three victims do not go to the police. Whilst I would say it is important for us to raise this as a parliament, we should also remember that not only must we raise this but also we cannot tolerate silence when it comes to violence against women.

Karen Andrews (McPherson, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Tonight I rise to speak to the member for Fowler's motion on White Ribbon Day. Violence Against Women, Australia Says No was for many years one of the most visible campaigns in Australia, reaching an audience of millions. But why did such a campaign have to run in a country such as ours? The very sad reality is that as many as one in three Australian women will in some way be affected by violence against them. This is an absolutely shocking statistic and one that we must all work hard to make sure is turned around.

A national survey that was conducted a couple of years ago found that 17 per cent of women had experienced a sexual assault, in many cases by someone they knew, someone who was very close to them. This breach of trust at the most fundamental level is both sickening and disturbing. I guess we all know that, whilst the visible signs of physical abuse may heal, the psychological and emotional pain that is suffered can be ongoing and can last for many years into the future. Some people may take that emotional pain through the rest of their life.

As the member for Fowler has already indicated, the estimated cost of violence against women as well as children in Australia in 2008-09 was $13.6 billion, which is an extraordinary amount. It is a huge cost to Australia and to Australians. We cannot allow this to continue. Certainly, one of the better ways to battle against violence against women is through raising awareness. The Violence Against Women, Australia Says No campaign is a good example of awareness at its best, as it stuck in the minds of many people because of its very simple message.

One organisation that is actively working hard to raise awareness is White Ribbon, the drivers behind White Ribbon Day. Starting in Canada over 20 years ago, White Ribbon Day has spread across the globe and spreads a very simple message that violence against women is simply unacceptable. In 1999, the United Nations declared the date on which White Ribbon is held, 25 November, to be the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Children.

Yesterday, on 25 November, I joined members of the Southern Gold Coast community at Palm Beach to raise awareness for White Ribbon Day. A variety of events and activities were organised by the Palm Beach Neighbourhood Centre, including a bike ride and AFL footy tunnel with members of the Gold Coast Suns team present. I take the opportunity to acknowledge the work of Jill Wynd from the Palm Beach Neighbourhood Centre in making the day the success that it was.

On Sunday, we had the Gold Coast Mayor, Tom Tate; the state Assistant Minister for Child Safety, Rob Molhoek; and the member for Burleigh, Michael Hart, all there attending and voicing their opposition to violence against women. It is very important that we have our community leaders making a very strong stand and showing good leadership on such a significant and important issue. We also had at the event on Sunday the police superintendent Paul Ziebarth, who spoke about the appalling domestic violence statistics in our community.

One of the things that White Ribbon advocates is men taking an oath never to commit, excuse or remain silent about violence against women. The most important part of this oath is the promise not to remain silent. Part of helping end violence against women is not only undertaking not be violent yourself but also having the courage to speak up when you know that someone is using violence against a woman. Together we can help bring an end to violence against women. Through awareness, we can stop violence being perpetrated against today's women and the women of tomorrow. I give my commitment to work with the community to do what we can to ensure that violence against women does not continue.

Janelle Saffin (Page, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of the honourable member's motion. In speaking in support, it is important to put on the record what the motion actually is about. It is about 25 November—which was yesterday—which is White Ribbon Day. It is a day aimed at preventing violence against women in Australia. It is about encouraging Australian men to join the My Oath campaign to challenge the attitudes and behaviours that allow violence to continue.

White Ribbon Day was established in Australia in 2003. It was a unique campaign by men and for men, with women's support, to prevent and reduce violence against women and girls. In 2007 the White Ribbon Foundation was established in recognition that achieving attitude change on violence required a long-term and high-profile commitment to work within communities to engage men and boys. The White Ribbon Foundation has a variety of ways of doing this. It works through a combination of awareness-raising campaigns, community events, and initiatives with schools, universities, workplaces and sporting organisations. It is most widely known for initiatives around White Ribbon Day and the 'I swear' campaign, which has been expanded to the 'I've got your back' initiative and the White Ribbon ambassadors, who are frequently high-profile men in our community.

Every year there are around 350 events held across the country, mostly on or around White Ribbon Day. People register these events on the White Ribbon website. Of these, 50 are coordinated by the White Ribbon Foundation. They mainly also include fundraising. To date, over 220 events have been registered on the White Ribbon website, and there will be many more going on in communities all around the country.

I am pleased to say that there was Australian government funding for the White Ribbon Foundation—$1 million over four years to 30 June 2014—enabling them to do some of this work. It is important work because it is profile raising, it is about being in the public eye and mind. Whenever we talk about domestic violence everybody in this House says how dreadful and terrible it is and how it should not happen, but it continues to happen. I worked in a women's refuge and I set up the Far North Coast Domestic Violence Liaison Committee. I have also been involved in a whole range of things in my community, along with other good people. We continue to tackle it and attempt to reduce it. We want it to end. But it continues to happen. It is a long-term goal to change attitudes in our society so that it is just not acceptable anywhere. To those of us who find it abhorrent and unacceptable and wonder why it continues, there are still many people with the attitude that it is okay, it is all right, or who do not even think about it—they just think it is part of our society. The Prime Minister and the Minister for the Status of Women yesterday in speaking on this issue said that, to achieve a sustained reduction to violence against women and girls, every sector of the Australian community must act—and we must. Sometimes it can be challenging to know when and how to act. If we know about it and we know someone who is perpetrating it or someone who is a victim of it, we must find ways of making it not acceptable and giving support to the person who is suffering it. Women often leave and they are forced back because they need somewhere to live. I think that it has to be the No. 1 priority right across all the services that, if a woman leaves and she leaves with her children and she needs accommodation, that accommodation just must be given. It has to be given and it has to be immediate. With those words, I commend the motion.

Russell Matheson (Macarthur, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Violence against women is a very serious issue, and the horrifying statistics speak for themselves. One Australian woman is killed every week by a current or former partner; one in three women over the age 15 report physical or sexual violence at some time in their lives; one in four young people have witnessed violence against their mother or stepmother; and domestic and family violence is the major cause of homelessness for Australian women and their children.

As a former police officer for 25 years, I have seen many examples of violence against women firsthand. As a husband and a father of two beautiful daughters, I found it very difficult to understand how these violent acts could occur, especially when they were instigated by those closest to the victims themselves. Throughout my time in the New South Wales Police Force I was faced with many acts of violence against women, including domestic violence, family violence, wife bashing, sexual assault, rape, sexual harassment, verbal abuse, emotional abuse and forced isolation from friends and family. It was heartbreaking to see these actions occurring against women of all ages and cultures—and it is even more disturbing to see so many people sit on the sidelines refusing to stand up for what is right while those they love come to harm. This is why White Ribbon Day is so important. It encourages violence against women to stop and asks those who witness such violence to take a stand for these women and make it clear that it will no longer be tolerated in our communities.

In my electorate there are still too many examples of domestic violence against women, both emotionally and physically, but there are also some great initiatives as part of the White Ribbon program taking place to stop this behaviour and encourage others to stand up against it. Each year the Campbelltown Domestic Violence Liaison Committee, which includes the St Vincent de Paul Society, the Campbelltown City Council and UnitingCare Burnside, conducts an event to help raise awareness in the local community for White Ribbon Day. Last year they painted a 30-metre white ribbon on the grass hill at the University of Western Sydney, which could be seen from Narellan Road. They also sent out posters to local businesses so that they could display and sell white ribbons at Macarthur Square and Glenquarie Shopping Centre.

The Campbelltown police, together with members of the Campbelltown Domestic Violence Liaison Committee, held a free barbecue in Mawson park last Friday. The barbecue included information stalls, kids activities and a visit from the New South Wales Police safety mascot, Constable Charlie. Businesses and organisations from the Macarthur community also supported the event, including Tim's Garden Centre Park, the Paul Wakeling Motor Group, Campbelltown City Council, W.I.L.M.A. Women's Health Centre, Tharawal Aboriginal Corporation, the Benevolent Society, Campbelltown Fire Brigade, UnitingCare Burnside, the St Vincent de Paul Society and the Campbelltown Lions Club, who manned the barbecue on the day. It was great to see so many people from my community attend to support the barbecue on Friday. Just by doing so, they have taken a stand against violence against women—and for that they should all be very proud of themselves.

The people who took part in these events in Macarthur are helping to strengthen the White Ribbon campaign, which began in Australia in 2003. It was initially part of UN Women and formally became a foundation in 2007. It is now Australia's only national male-led campaign to prevent violence against women. White Ribbon believes in the goodness of most men and it believes that good men reject violence against women and are willing to act to prevent it. White Ribbon believes in the capacity of the individual to change and encourage change in others. I think it is a fantastic program, which is why I signed up to be a White Ribbon Ambassador last year. I believe in everything the campaign stands for, especially its primary focus on prevention.

The White Ribbon Foundation works to change our culture to stop violence before it occurs with activities in schools, workplaces and the broader community. As an ambassador, I have made a commitment to take an active role in any violence against women. I join many men from all walks of life who are passionate advocates for social change. White Ribbon now has 1,900 active ambassadors promoting the campaign in the Australian community. These men share the White Ribbon message within their networks and, through social media, highlight the importance of respect for women and encourage community groups, local councils, workplaces, men's organisations, sports and services clubs to get involved in the White Ribbon campaign.

Today I would like to congratulate all of the people in my community who have signed up to be a White Ribbon Ambassador and those who support the cause throughout the year. Most importantly, I would like to thank every man who has ever intervened or stood up against violence towards women. It is these men who are leading by example and breaking the silence from the front line. They are the greatest ambassadors for the cause, and it is thanks to them that we are moving closer to a society where such behaviour is not tolerated and that is the way it should be.

Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Trade) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise in support of the motion by the member for Fowler and acknowledge his long-term commitment to the principles of White Ribbon Day. I know he has been a very strong advocate of raising awareness about this issue for many years. I also acknowledge and commend all the other speakers on this very important motion.

We know that White Ribbon Day is so important to the whole community in terms of raising everyone's awareness about the devastating impact of domestic violence, and I speak to it tonight, particularly from the perspective of a former police officer. I saw all too often the reality of domestic violence as a general duties police officer. I saw the devastating impact upon women, their children and their families and indeed our community as a whole. So I have a very strong commitment to making sure we work together to take action in relation to this.

The purpose of White Ribbon Day is primarily to highlight the devastating impact of domestic violence and how we can work together to prevent it, to stop it. We know that White Ribbon Day is observed nationally on 25 November each year in conjunction with the UN's International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and aims to raise awareness for the prevention of violence against women.

This day to raise this awareness was brought about by a terrible tragedy. In 1989, 14 women were shot dead at the Montreal school of engineering by a young man. This very brutal act triggered the creation of the White Ribbon campaign. It is the largest effort by men across the world working in partnership with women to end violence against women.

White Ribbon Day stands as a stark reminder to us that violence against women in any form or context is absolutely unacceptable, and I encourage everyone to get involved with the campaign by joining the My Oath Campaign and taking the oath:

I swear never to commit, excuse or remain silent about violence against women

It is important that we recognise that the White Ribbon Day initiative has become a catalyst for many women to seek help, so it is important that we talk about it here in our communities constantly to raise awareness and hope that it assists women in accessing help and support.

I also want to mention an important organisation in my electorate, the Tweed Shire Women's Service, that provides vital support services for women. They provide advocacy, information and support to many women who have been in situations or are in situations experiencing domestic violence, escaping domestic violence as well as supplying support to their families. This service was first established in 1987, and they have also provided lots of early intervention and crisis accommodation for women.

I am proud to be the patron of this outstanding organisation, which has for over 24 years made a huge difference to the lives of many women and children and also a huge difference to the community by the remarkable work that they do and continue to do. It is through the work of organisations like the Tweed Shire Women's Service, other support services, police and emergency services combined with the continued awareness of White Ribbon Day that together we can make a difference: we can stop this happening.

I would also like to recognise the fact that this government has a very strong and proud commitment to providing support for women and families that are affected by domestic violence. I was particularly pleased today with the Prime Minister's announcement that the government would be providing funding for the international conference into domestic violence programs, which will be held next year. The Prime Minister announced that the Gillard government will provide $20,000 in funding from the Women's Safety Agenda to support this important Australian-first conference, which will help increase awareness of the best ways to combat violence against women. It was great to have that announcement today.

The Gillard government is committed to crime and prevention activities aimed at reducing violence against women and their children. The National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010-2022 brings together the efforts of governments across the nation. This government has committed $86 million to initiatives under the national plan to improve the lives of women who have experienced violence. So it is really important to have that major commitment and, indeed, the commitment right across the country from all levels of government so that everyone is working together. I think we would all agree that every year we are seeing awareness raised more and more and we are seeing many more campaigns. It is really good to see that throughout the community people are speaking out. They are taking the oath.

As a former police officer I saw day to day—constantly—the impacts of domestic violence and now I see that these positive improvements are a major step. We certainly have a long way to go and, through increasing awareness raised by White Ribbon Day, we are achieving a lot. We should recognise that and I commend everyone who has spoken tonight and those who are intending to speak in terms of working together to make sure that we are improving the situation for women and their children right across the country, and those who are affected by domestic violence.

Judi Moylan (Pearce, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am very grateful to the member for Fowler for bringing this motion today. I feel enormously proud that so many men in this parliament have taken a lead in speaking on this issue. I think it is really fantastic. I listened with great interest to the passionate speech given by my colleague the member for Macarthur.

I had the privilege of being the minister for women under the Howard government and working with the then Prime Minister to highlight the need for the violence against women to stop in this country. And the Prime Minister took a leading role and garnered the support of every state minister in the country. We met here in Canberra and together the Prime Minister and the state leaders sent out a very strong message that violence against women simply has to stop. They recognised that it is not just a problem for women but is also a problem for men, and that if we were going to succeed in stopping violence against women we would have to get men to take a leading role in talking to other men about it.

And one of the major thrusts of that campaign—I had the responsibility to roll out a national campaign—was to break the cycle of violence. Children are too often the innocent victims of domestic violence in particular. On 2 December 1989, 12 women were killed at Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal, Canada. And this shocking event brought the subject of violence against women to the forefront of the public consciousness. Two years afterwards a handful of men decided to mark the anniversary of this tragedy by starting White Ribbon Day. That is why we are wearing the white ribbons today. I am glad to see mine is still on because I think it has lost the pin.

This has become a worldwide movement and it is marvellous to see our men taking such a key role here in Australia. A unique part of White Ribbon Day is that it is led by men to stamp out violence against women. Men swear never to commit, excuse or remain silent about violence against women. Its initiative asked men to challenge stereotypes and speak out, reinforcing that it is simply not good enough for society to condone violence through silence.

It is an unfortunate reality that in Australia one women is killed every week by a current or former partner, and one in three women over the age of 15 will report violence against them at some point in their lives. These confronting statistics are compounded by the fact that society has been apprehensive in dealing with domestic violence. This is all too common a complaint and was exemplified in a short clip shown on Channel 10's The Project last night. For the benefit of the chamber, I can tell you that it focused on the experience of a women who, after a turbulent relationship, wished to leave her partner. After confronting her partner she was drugged and raped. She complained to the authorities, but the response received was tepid at best, with the woman being steered away from pursuing an official complaint because of the timidity at the time in confronting domestic violence. Five years after the incident she finally brought proceedings against her former partner, who was recently jailed for seven years. These incidents reinforce that society must not remain silent in the face of violence. We must change the social conditions that lead to violence and teach our children from a young age that respect is not dependent on a person's gender.

The myths surrounding violence and women must also be demystified. It is simply untrue that certain socioeconomic groups experience more domestic violence than others. Unfortunately, it is a problem that cuts across all society, regardless of background. Violence is also not necessarily related to drunkenness or substance abuse. Studies have shown that there are even numbers of incidents perpetrated by drunken and sober men. Also, violence is not experienced by a small number of women. A report by VicHealth in 2004, entitled Health costs of violence: measuring the burden of disease caused by intimate partner violence, found that violence is the biggest cause of injury or death for women between 18 and 45.

In the face of these alarming findings, it is critical that the campaign to stop violence against women remains strong. We can do that by urging everyone to visit the White Ribbon Day website and challenge what you think you know about violence against women and to learn more about the positive role models that are making a difference in local communities right across Australia.

Kelvin Thomson (Wills, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise in support of my colleague Chris Hayes and other parliamentary colleagues to support the motion acknowledging White Ribbon Day, November 25, a day aimed at preventing violence against women through a nationwide campaign to raise public awareness of the issue.

Violence against women is indeed an incredibly serious problem. I understand that one Australia woman is killed every week by a current or former partner, that one in three women over the age of 15 report physical or sexual violence at some time in their lives, that one in four young people have witnessed violence against their mother or stepmother, that two-thirds of women who experience domestic or family violence are in paid work, and that domestic and family violence is the major cause of homelessness for Australian women and their children.

I am one of the male parliamentarians for the elimination of violence against women who has taken the white ribbon pledge not to commit, not to condone, not to stay silent about violence against women. One of the things we have committed to do is raise awareness of the issue of violence and, in fulfilling this pledge, I would like to speak to the House briefly about the Brunswick community safety forum which I held jointly with the state member for Brunswick, Jane Garrett, on Monday, 19 November, very recently, in response to the death of Jill Meagher.

This forum was attended by 150 Brunswick residents. The Victoria Police Local Area Commander for the Moreland area, Dean McGowan, reported at the forum that crimes against the person are up around eight per cent, that most assaults are perpetrated by someone who is known to the victim and that some 44 per cent are family violence cases. The Moreland district has allocated a new sergeant and two officers dedicated to the family violence issue.

The Executive Officer of Women's Information, Support and Housing in the North, Trish O'Donoghue, urged women to report all incidents, attempted assaults and the like, and pointed out that this will assist police to apprehend offenders before they commit more serious crimes.

Members of the audience asked questions about what action the police were taking to improve security. They talked about the need for more taxi ranks and more CCTV. Police responded that there will be five Protected Services officers at Coburg railway station, which is a crime hotspot. Later on, they are looking at doing more at the Jewell railway station and other areas in the southern part of my electorate. They also said that speaking up is necessary for police to be able to take action, and they observed again that you are more likely to be assaulted inside your home than outside it.

Residents talked about a range of community safety issues. They talked about the extent of population increase in Brunswick and they expressed a view that developers who make a lot of money, with hundreds of apartments going up, should make a contribution to the measures needed to improve safety and that it should not all be the responsibility of council or state governments. They talked about the need for more spending on lighting along pedestrian paths and railway stations. They said that Brunswick Police Station should be made more prominent and basically should be lit up like a Christmas tree. One resident talked about the 292 liquor licenses in Moreland. He believed they should financially contribute to making the community safer, with measures such as late night buses or extra lighting. Residents also talked about the fact that mixed-use planning can encourage slums and crime. In the light of further recent attacks on women in Melbourne, such as the murder of Sarah Cafferkey, I say again that violence against women is never acceptable under any circumstances, and we affirm that women like Jill Meagher and Sarah Cafferkey mattered and that they and their lives were important and meaningful to us.

We had at the forum Michelle Noon from the White Ribbon campaign who gave a very strong presentation. As the House is aware, every year White Ribbon runs an awareness campaign about the issue of violence against women and the role that men can play in preventing this violence. White Ribbon is encouraging men to stand up to violence against women with the knowledge that, and I use their words, 'Thousands of good men have got their back.' White Ribbon's new campaign highlights that men can challenge their mates and others in a way that does not endanger their own safety, knowing that there are many good men who support their actions and that the change starts with good men standing up and letting the perpetrators know that violent attitudes and behaviour towards women are never acceptable.

Tony Windsor (New England, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, member for Wills. I think it is worth commenting that your electorate's response to the tragic death of Jill Meagher was something that all Australians would find very commendable and a strong community response.

Ken Wyatt (Hasluck, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This year, the White Ribbon Day campaign is its 11th year, and the campaign is as pertinent as it was when it began. Research, as we know, reveals that as many as one in three women experience physical violence in their lifetime and one in five experience sexual violence in their lifetime. These numbers are far too high. The White Ribbon Day campaign is about reducing the number of women in Australia who experience violence perpetrated against them. The White Ribbon Day campaign is about changing the culture in our society so that violence against women is completely unacceptable. White Ribbon Day encourages men to take a stance in their lives and in their relationships with other men to let them know that violent and predatory behaviour against women will not be tolerated.

What makes White Ribbon Day unique is that it does not seek to preach to men using a top-down approach, because we know that the top-down approach to education and public awareness campaigns that aim to change or influence behaviour does not have a great deal of success in achieving goals. In contrast, the White Ribbon Day is about change on the ground through peer-on-peer influence. The White Ribbon Day seeks to inspire men to stand up publicly in their networks and make it clear that they will never commit, excuse or remain silent about violence. Having personally witnessed the devastation that violence against women can have on families and communities, I believe that the White Ribbon Day is a campaign with a lot of merit. This is a campaign that every man in Australia needs to offer their full support to. As a nation, we need better awareness about the devastation that violence against women has on our society. It is for this reason that I again took the oath of the White Ribbon Day campaign. As I have said in this place before, violence against women has far-reaching effects. Violence impacts on women for the rest of their lives and even beyond. Violent behaviour is easily modelled by victims and witnesses, resulting in a dire intergenerational outcome. Unfortunately, there are all too many instances of generational learning of violent behaviour against women. We need to take a stand now to ensure the safety of the next generation of Australian women.

One community group in my electorate has taken-up the fight to stop violence against women. The Midland Information, Debt and Legal Advocacy Service Incorporated, known as MIDLAS, has this year run its own campaign for White Ribbon Day. MIDLAS created a series of short videos featuring community leaders of all ages, political persuasions and professions swearing the oath to end violence against women. I was pleased to be able to lend my own voice to this important initiative. It is fantastic to see so many people from my community get behind this great local campaign. It is through the efforts of MIDLAS and other community organisations that we will begin to see genuine change in our culture and an end to violence against women.

Violence against women can also result in dislocation of women and children in times of hardship; isolating women from their support networks and making it difficult to end the cycle of abuse. The emotional cost alone is enough reason for us to take action now to stop the cycle of violence. But on top of the emotional toll is an economic cost. It is estimated that violence against women in 2008-09 cost our country $13.6 billion, and if we do not take action against violence against women it is estimated that in 10 years we will face a cost of $14.6 billion. The financial and social cost of violence is far too high. I encourage all men—including my parliamentary colleagues and men in my local community—to seriously consider swearing the White Ribbon Day oath to take a stance against violence against women. We are role models in our communities and it is important that we lead by example. Violence against women is a serious and important matter—one that we need to shine a light on and bring out of the shadows and into the open. Violence against women will never be acceptable in any circumstance. Australian men cannot afford for this important issue to go unchallenged. No woman should ever be in fear of violence in the workplace, in her home or in a social context. Australian men need to do everything in our power to make sure the women around us are safe. If we do not make the effort, the intergenerational changes will not occur in the way that we require. In my work as an undertaker and as a teacher I have seen the end result of violence against women and the impact that it has.

Debate adjourned.