Dorinda Cox (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I echo the comments of the motion moved by my colleague Senator Waters around the fact that we must fully fund front-line women's safety services to at least $1 billion a year, as the sector have repeatedly called for this to address the epidemic of men's violence against women in Australia.

Three years ago I stood here in this chamber to introduce a motion for a Senate inquiry into missing and murdered First Nations women and children, and today, as I reflect on the government's lack of response to that—I urge them to act and respond to those recommendations that have been made in that report—I note that we need to give voice to those that are no longer here, those that have been left behind, and the families and the communities that I heard from during that Senate inquiry and those in the frontline who were exhausted, heartbroken, because of the women that they could not save. Our women and children are disappearing and being murdered, and most of the time they don't even get a mention in the responsible minister's media report. They are invisible to this system. Today, three years on from that, on International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, with heavy heart, I respond to this matter with urgency and acknowledge that not a lot has been achieved since then.

This year 85 women have been killed across this country, at least 12 of them First Nations women, and First Nations people make up only 3.8 per cent of this population. We are being killed at disproportionate rates. These are our mothers, our daughters, our grandmothers and our colleagues. At least half First Nations women also believe that violence against women is not taken seriously, and these women who seek help from police get poor responses and are often experiencing racism. They are asked questions like, 'Why didn't you leave?' This is above petty politics and we need to act now to address what is Australia's national crisis.