Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Border Protection) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Recently I attended a candlelight vigil held by the Domestic Violence Action Centre, DVAC, in Ipswich to honour victims of family and domestic violence and to say, along with those attending, 'Not Now, Not Ever'. Tackling these issues is a community effort and we in Ipswich are blessed to have such a hardworking team of social and support workers at DVAC. DVAC provides community information and education across Ipswich, the Somerset region and the Karana Downs region to enhance community awareness of and support for people suffering from the impact of family and domestic violence. This encourages the community to engage collaboratively in responding to domestic and family violence issues. The centre offers, from a feminist perspective, a range of services to women and children in Blair who are experiencing family violence, as well as supporting men who are actively committed to changing their lives.

I want to thank Queensland Police Service Superintendent Brian Huxley, Inspector Keith McDonald and the many members of the Queensland Police Service who were there on the night. I also want to thank two great organisations in the Ipswich region—Zonta International and the Ipswich Lions Club—who were there in numbers. I thank the men and women of the Lions Club for the barbecue they provided—the sausage sizzle. I also thank local members of the Labor Party in Ipswich who were there and, along with many others, put their hands in paint and put it on the banner saying 'Not Now, Not Ever'.

While violent crimes are perpetrated by men upon men, predominantly, happening in public places, women are more likely to experience violence in their homes by intimate partners. The overwhelming majority of acts of domestic violence are perpetrated by men against women and domestic violence is more likely to have had an adverse impact on women than on men. Intimate-partner violence is the greatest contributor to illness, disability and death in women between the ages of 15 and 44, more so than any other preventable risk factor, and it is the greatest contributor to women's homelessness.

The financial cost of violence against women is immense—estimated to be over $20 billion per year. As a former family lawyer working in the area of family law and child protection for nearly a quarter of a century before I was elected to this place in 2007, I saw it personally each and every day. Exposure to family violence has a profound impact on children, affecting their future relationships, their propensity for violence and their behavioural cognitive and emotional capacity.

I was pleased and privileged to be able to speak there and talk about Labor's plan and what Labor wants to do. I pointed out Labor's plan at the last election. I pointed out that a Labor government would legislate for 10 days of paid domestic violence leave per annum. We are committed to making sure this is a universal workplace right and to supporting those in our community to tackle this scourge.