Kate Chaney (Curtin, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This is a question for the Minister for Social Services. A crisis payment is meant to be available for women escaping domestic violence, but the conditions exclude half the women who apply. The payment is only available if a woman can show she fits the narrow criteria within seven days of leaving. This is an unrealistic expectation for women whose lives are in chaos. Will the government review the conditions of the crisis payment so that it actually helps women when they need it?

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 Curtin for her question and for her longstanding advocacy for women and children escaping family and domestic violence. We know that the time when a woman is leaving a violent relationship is a very difficult time, and our government has made a number of changes and investments to try and support women at that particular time when they are leaving a violent relationship. For example, we have brought in 10 days of family and domestic violence leave to allow someone in that circumstance to attend appointments or court or to see police.

We've also made permanent the escaping family violence payment, which is not administered by Services Australia but by a non-government organisation that has the expertise. The payment provides people with $5,000 of support to set up a new home or to get things that they may need. In addition, there is the crisis payment, as the member has identified, which is another plank of support. While legislation requires that that person has seven days from the traumatic event to lodge a claim for crisis payment, there is flexibility to support people in this circumstance. Services Australia provides an additional 14 days after contact to lodge a claim if they've experienced family and domestic violence.

Notwithstanding that, we know, as a government, too often perpetrators of family and domestic violence can exploit and manipulate government systems to control, harass or threaten a current or former partner, and we have continued to look at government systems across the board through some of the work we're doing. Most recently, the officials undertaking this whole-of-government systems abuse review in the Commonwealth have met with their National Lived Experience Advisory Council to talk with them about their interactions with the social security system, but also the Australian tax system and the child support system.

We will continue to look across government systems at how we can best support victims-survivors of family and domestic violence, but it is not the only plank. We have a number of measures in place, and we will continue to look at what more we can do.