Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I, and also on behalf of Senator Hanson-Young, move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

  (i) on 19 February 2020, a man murdered his ex-wife, Ms Hannah Clarke, and their three children by dousing their car with petrol and setting it alight,

  (ii) Ms Clarke was the 8th woman to be killed by violence since the start of 2020,

  (iii) many initial media reports of the crime sought to minimise her

ex-husband's role or to portray him as a "loving father pushed too far",

  (iv) following a Four Corners report on 17 February 2020 regarding the conviction of an athletics coach at St Kevin's for grooming a student, prominent commentators also sought to minimise the offence and its consequences,

  (v) inaccurate and biased reporting of violence against women and children allows a culture of violence and entitlement to perpetuate,

  (vi) guidelines adopted by the Press Council, Commercial Radio Australia and FreeTV Australia for reporting of sexual, domestic and family violence make clear that reports should emphasise the role of the perpetrator and avoid any suggestion of culpability on the part of the victim or survivor – for example, the various guidelines state:

(A) "Words matter: Publications should be mindful of the language they use and try to avoid terms that tend to trivialise, demean or inadvertently excuse family violence",

(B) "Violence is never acceptable: The perpetrator is always solely responsible for a violent situation – Avoid using language or framing the story in a way that suggests the survivor of violence was in any way to blame for what happened to him or her", and

(C) "Domestic violence is sometimes reported with headlines like 'Woman assaulted', or with stories that focus only on what happened to the survivor – This can suggest that violence is something that 'just happens' to women – Emphasise that someone perpetrated this violence, and that it was a crime"; and

  (vii) current guidelines are advisory only and are not part of the enforceable standards against which complaints can be assessed; and

(b) calls on all reporters, commentators and media outlets to comply with guidelines for reporting on sexual, domestic and family violence.

Question agreed to.