Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Trade and Tourism) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Sheldon for his very important question and for his interest in this important part of the federal government's policy. The Albanese government is putting families and gender equality at the centre of policy-making. This is not a new commitment—it's been at the centre of our decision-making processes—and we saw last night through the Treasurer's budget speech that we've dealt with this issue.

In the lead up to the 2022-23 budget, we announced that we had delivered the biggest boost to Australia's paid parental leave since it was created, giving every family with a new baby more choice, greater security and better support. The extension of paid parental leave is the first time the scheme has been modernised since Labor government introduced the scheme in 2011. It is the cornerstone of our commitment to addressing gender equality issues in this country.

We are also deeply committed to ending violence against women and children in Australia and we are taking action. To this end, the very fine Minister for Social Services released to the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-32. We have also introduced legislation for 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave per year to ensure that no-one should have to choose between a job and seeking support to deal with domestic violence. We are conducting an open, competitive process to appoint a domestic, family and sexual violence commissioner to act as an advocate for victims and survivors and to oversee the implementation of the national plan, including the monitoring and evaluation.

In addition, in the budget released last night we confirmed our $1.7 billion commitment to— (Time expired)