Zoe Daniel (Goldstein, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Social Services. Forty-two Australian women have been killed this year, mostly by men. Three have been killed in the past five days. Most are alleged to have been killed by a current or former partner. In Goldstein, 50 per cent of the police caseload is family and domestic violence. It's been 10 months since the release of the national plan. When will we see the action plans, and how is the Commonwealth going to work with the states and territories to meet measurable targets to urgently address this national crisis?

Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'd like to thank the member for Goldstein for that question, and I appreciate her commitment and the way she's worked to raise the voices of women and children fleeing domestic violence.

The safety of women and children experiencing domestic and family violence is a national priority for our government. Family and domestic and sexual violence destroys lives. One life lost is one life too many, and it must end. That is why the Albanese government has made ending family and domestic violence a key priority since coming to government. We delivered, with states and territories, the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children in one generation. But we've also been working very hard, in collaboration with states and territories, in the development of our action plans.

At a meeting of women and women's safety ministers, just recently, all state and territory and Commonwealth ministers renewed their commitment to ending violence against women and children. At this meeting, all ministers affirmed the importance of the final endorsement of the action plans, which support our national plan. The action plans will detail the actions our government will take, at a Commonwealth level, as well as the shared ambition that each state and territory will also take to help achieve our goal.

There will be two action plans, the first national action plan and a dedicated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander action plan. These will be accompanied by an outcomes framework. This will be an important document for accountability for all levels of government to be measured against.

Since coming to government, we have made family and domestic violence a key priority. In our first two budgets, we have made a record investment of $2.3 billion, at a Commonwealth level, to ensure that supports and services are available. We have been fixing up the escaping domestic violence payment, because it was taking too long for victims-survivors to access this support. We've secured ongoing funding for states and territories to deliver frontline services. This is funding that was not in the forward estimates and not provisioned by the former government.

We are delivering our commitment for new frontline workers, and we've increased the support for temporary visa holders experiencing domestic and family violence, from $3,000 to $5,000—a call from many in the sector. We've legislated 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave for all employees, including casuals. We're investing in educational resources about consent and support for young people.

This is a small number of the actions we've taken. We will continue to take this area incredibly seriously as a national priority and work with all of those who wish to work with us. (Time expired)