Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Families and Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Hughes for her question on this really important issue. In the 2021-22 budget I think we have demonstrated our absolute commitment to keeping Australian women safe with our historic $1.1 billion commitment to ending domestic violence, family violence and sexual violence against women and their children. It also lays the groundwork for the establishment of the next national plan. As I said, we're talking about ending violence against women and their children, not merely reducing the level of violence.

The package focuses on all aspects: prevention, early intervention and responding to give women support when they make that extraordinarily brave decision to leave a violent relationship. That's why we have made an investment into the escaping violence payment: $164.8 million over the next two years to provide up to $5,000 in support to women and their children when they leave a violent situation. We know that financial dependency is something that often keeps women in a violent relationship, and we are absolutely committed to helping women who wish to escape those situations. This money goes towards a $1,500 payment in cash so that a woman can buy the essentials for herself and her family. There is also a further $3,500 to do things, maybe, like paying a bond or registering the car, or maybe it's just being able to give her the confidence to start a new life.

We've also provided $130 million through the COVID pandemic to help frontline services. We will be providing an additional $260 million to continue to support our states and territories to bolster frontline services over the next two years. We have also added money to our safe places program—$60 million over the last two years, with another $12.6 million—to make sure that women have a safe place to go when they're escaping violence. We know that emergency accommodation is one of the most critical things on that night or day when a woman chooses to leave home.