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

Thank you, Senator Smith—and for the focus of your question on women, and women and children escaping domestic violence, because this is an important part of our government's housing policies. We have been trying to make sure that we have a measure that covers a whole range of areas on the housing scale, and one of them is the pressure that women, often with accompanying children, have when leaving violent relationships. And so, of the housing that the Prime Minister announced today, over 1,200 homes will be for women and children escaping domestic violence and for older women at risk of homelessness. We know that's another area where women—often when marriages break down and children have left home, and there are not a lot of financial assets—find themselves in that precarious position. This government's policies are aiming to support all of those women who find themselves in that position, and this Senate should do its job and support positive housing policies that will make a difference not only for this generation but for future generations.