Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Domestic violence is a scourge in our community across Australia. The statistics are shameful and confronting, and they must be addressed. In 2017, 45 women that we know of were killed through domestic violence. In the Northern Territory, where my electorate of Solomon is situated, on any given day there are 61 incidents that we know of relating to domestic and family violence. The number of victims per 100,000 is approximately three times higher than in any other jurisdiction in Australia.

To tackle this shocking situation, the Territory Labor government has launched a Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Reduction Framework. The Minister for Territory Families, Dale Wakefield, has said:

Domestic, family, and sexual violence has a devastating impact on families and our society. For women, it is the single largest driver for homelessness and is a major factor in child protection notifications.

The Territory government is implementing this framework to support the continuation of the Family Safety Framework across the regions, providing intensive interventions and support for high-risk victims of domestic and family violence. They're going to provide an additional $300,000 for prevention programs to support children and young people; they're going to provide $450,000 to develop an integrated and specialist domestic, family and sexual violence hub model for Tennant Creek to support women and their children in the Barkly region; and they're going to ensure the NT Public Service leads the way for Territory employers on domestic and family violence, including paid leave.

I'm pleased to be able to say that some 22 organisations in the Northern Territory already have some form of domestic violence leave policy. I'm particularly aware of the Darwin YWCA, which has a policy of five days domestic violence leave and five days dispute resolution leave. At the national level, Labor leader Bill Shorten has announced that a Labor government will legislate for 10 days of paid domestic and family violence leave. With two out of three women experiencing domestic violence being in the workforce, I think this is an incredibly important initiative. The stress of seeking legal advice and accessing counselling services and medical treatment should not be compounded by fear of losing your job or going without pay. The Prime Minister and his Minister for Employment see domestic violence leave as a cost of business and even argue that it will make women less attractive to employers. Malcolm Turnbull's words, the Prime Minister's words, in support of victims of domestic violence, are just that—mere words. But we need to see some action.