Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

Tomorrow is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, which also commences 16 days of activism against gender-based violence. It's a time when we come together across the world to call for an end to violence against women, and I thank the Senate for the opportunity for all of us to make contributions today.

Every year we ask the same thing: how do we end violence against women? Like most people, I am sick of asking, sick of having to say, 'Let's not hit women, let's not kill women, let's not accept the all-too-many cases of a woman's partner controlling her movements, bank accounts, work and freedom.' Like so many, I'm sick of asking each year for men to stop being violent to women—something we should never have to ask or demand. As Chief Minister, as a senator and now as Minister for Women, I've heard from too many women about their trauma, their frustration, their fear, the loss of their friends, the loss of their loved ones, and the impact on their lives and their children's. The violence has to end.

We have a lot to be proud of in this country, but the rates of violence against women and children that persist in Australia are our national shame and an uncomfortable truth. It's a national shame that one woman is killed every 10 days in Australia by her former or current partner, that one in three women have experienced violence by an intimate partner, that one in two women have experienced sexual harassment in their lifetime, that 51 per cent of women in their 20s have experienced sexual violence, and who are then 45 per cent more likely to experience high levels of financial stress. It's an uncomfortable reality that if you asked the women in this chamber to put their hands up if they had experienced violence, sexual assault or sexual harassment in their lifetime, how many of us would put our hands up. It's the same in every workplace, every home, every small business, every big business, every educational institution, every nightclub, every restaurant—everywhere. You ask the women how many of them have experienced violence or know someone who has, and all of our hands would go up.

Behind these statistics I just read out are the millions of women in Australia who live with this violence—hundreds of thousands who are living with this violence today, women who carry trauma with them every day, women each year who live with increasingly lower expectations of anything ever changing. There must be an end to women becoming statistics or names on the front page of a newspaper. There's a temporary outcry and calls for change, and then the next day it still goes on. We must have an end to women being subjected to fear and trauma— often in their own homes by men that they love and trust—and an end to men choosing to use violence and control and not being held to account or changing their behaviour.

I acknowledge the statements made yesterday in the other place on this important issue ahead of International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, including comments by the Minister for Social Services, Amanda Rishworth, who is leading our work to end gender-based violence through the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children, and by the Shadow Minister for Child Protection and the Prevention of Family Violence, Karen Andrews, who spoke so candidly about the devastating impact of this violence on victims-survivors and those people around them. These statements reinforce the cross-party commitment on this issue, an issue that requires action from all of us—men and women—in this place. This is why we are working with states and territories, through the national plan, to end violence against women and children in a generation. One death is one death is one too many.

The national plan includes a powerful statement from victims-survivors of gender-based violence. It implores us to put their experiences at the core of our policy-making and to truly listen to them. It reminds us that this is a matter of life and death. In that statement it says:

We should not have to die to get your attention.

It's confronting, but it's a message that we must hear. Ending this violence will save lives, because right now women and their children are dying.

I want to take a moment to acknowledge the all-too-many women who have experienced domestic, family and sexual violence, the women who relived this experience of trauma in order to advocate for change, the women who live with the enduring emotional, physical and financial impacts of violence and the women who are not here today because their lives have been stolen by the deliberate acts of others—often those that they loved. I acknowledge the activists who have spent years and decades calling for action and the frontline workers who are on the ground supporting those victims-survivors to access help, support and justice. We know we've made a start, with the national plan and the investments to provide consent and respectful relationship education, to provide additional frontline service and community support workers, to prevent violence before it begins and intervene early to support men to change their behaviour, to respond to victims-survivors' needs and support their healing and recovery, and to implement all the recommendations from the Respect@Work report so that women are safe at work.

We're also looking at our investments in relation to housing. We know this is a massive issue for women wanting to escape violent situations with their children and also for older women, who we know are such a significant and growing group of people who are at risk of homelessness in this country. We've passed legislation to provide paid family and domestic violence leave. There is also the important work that's being led by Minister Rishworth and Minister Burney on a standalone First Nations action plan to sit under the national plan. There is work going on there, and from consultations to date we know that it is a national priority to finalise those action plans and get them in place.

We are targeting a key driver of violence against women through our work to advance gender equality. We know that, whilst the statistics remain as they are and the prevalence of violence remains as it is, we will not be able to achieve a country with gender equality at its core. This work includes investments in paid parental leave, early childhood education and our work to develop that national strategy. I know there's a lot of interest in the national strategy and people want the consultation process to get underway, and we welcome all of the input and the support that will be provided there. We are hoping to finalise that national strategy in the first half of next year.

We know that gender inequality is not only a key driver of gender based violence; it's also a result of it, with long-term impacts on women, their economic participation and the economy, and on their children. The cost of violence against women and their children has been estimated to be $26 billion a year, with victims-survivors bearing approximately 50 per cent of that cost. We know that we need to take action, and we'll continue to act, to listen, to consult and to talk with local communities. But we can't do it alone; we must work in partnership with a whole range of stakeholders, including all levels of government.

Every year when we have this day, I always am frustrated at the fact that we have to recognise this day each year because the prevalence of violence remains at this unacceptable level. But I am also optimistic. I believe in the aspiration of the national plan. I believe in the strength and support of the sector in driving to reach that goal—a goal which imagines a society that is free from gender based violence. It is ambitious, but if we work together we can achieve it. We know the importance of achieving it, because lives will be lost if we don't achieve it, and lives depend on us getting this policy response right. I'm proud that so many people in this place share this vision, determination and commitment. I acknowledge the work of Senator Waters, who has consistently and often in this place raised this to remind people of what's happening out there in our country.

Living free from violence is a human right. Women have the right to be safe in their homes, at work, in the community and online. So tomorrow, throughout the 16 days of activism and on all days, I encourage everyone to unite and consider the role they have to play and the actions they can take. Let's imagine a society without violence against women and children and let's commit to achieving an Australia and a world where all women and girls live free from violence and from fear.