Celia Hammond (Curtin, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Women. Will the minister please update the House on how the Morrison government is working to improve the safety of women and children who have been victims of family violence?

Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Minister for the Environment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Curtin for her question and note her strong commitment to women's safety. I will also mention, because the member for Boothby has told us, that in the gallery here we have three Indigenous women who have visited the parliament today: Jacinta Price, Cheron Long and Becky Long. They have spoken quietly but powerfully on the importance of women's safety in Indigenous communities. And may I offer my reassurance that your communities are our communities, and we hear your voices.

Preventing family violence has been a priority of this government, because the scourge of family violence has no place in our society. Today the government has introduced to the parliament the Family Law Amendment (Federal Family Violence Orders) Bill, which will add further support to addressing family violence by ensuring greater protections for those who've experienced family violence. This legislation will establish federal family violence orders to be made by family law courts.

Ms Burney interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Barton will cease interjecting.

Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Minister for the Environment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The orders will operate in the same way as state and territory domestic violence orders and can include restrictions on a person's behaviours, their communications or their movements. The challenges were enormous, yet we've been able to secure 50 million vaccines, produced by CSL in Victoria, for all Australians. Very importantly, on Sunday, the TGA approved the manufacturing processes and the plant. Last night, they approved the first of the batches, and those batches will now be continuously available as we roll out those 50 million doses.

Very significantly, as we have moved to phase 1b this week, we've seen a massive escalation in the number of vaccinations. Last week, there were 116,000 vaccinations, well above the phase 1a target of 80,000 a week. On Monday, we moved into phase 1b, which included our elderly and our immunocompromised, and I was thrilled to see today the Minister for Indigenous Australians and his counterpart, the member for Barton, help lead the Indigenous program with their vaccinations today. On Monday there were 30,000 vaccinations. Yesterday, there were 46,000 vaccinations to take it to 358,000 vaccinations nationwide—that's 46,000 in one day. And those numbers over the coming weeks will continue to grow as our general practices, with the supplies that we're able to provide, are now able to offer every Australian, progressively, the capacity for vaccination. So, as the supplies allow, the vaccines will be administered. What we've seen in the last 48 hours is evidence of that on a grand scale, which will ultimately be about saving lives and protecting lives