Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

  (i) since 17 October 2018, when Senator Waters started moving motions acknowledging the number of women killed by violence between sittings of the Senate, 16 women have died by violence in Australia; it is very welcome, but sadly unusual, that there have been no reports of a woman killed by violence since the Senate last sat one week ago,

  (ii) in 2018 so far, 63 women have been killed by violence in Australia – 9 more than the previous year already, as reported by Counting Dead Women Australia from Destroy The Joint,

  (iii) on average, one woman a week is murdered by her current or former partner,

  (iv) 1 in 3 Australian women has experienced physical violence since the age of 15,

  (v) 1 in 5 Australian women has experienced sexual violence,

  (vi) 1 in 6 Australian women has experienced physical or sexual violence by a current or former partner,

  (vii) 1 in 4 Australian women has experienced emotional abuse by a current or former partner,

  (viii) Australian women are nearly three times more likely than men to experience violence from an intimate partner,

  (ix) there is growing evidence that women with disabilities are more likely to experience violence,

  (x) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women report experiencing violence in the previous 12 months at 3 times the rate of non-Indigenous women, and

  (xi) in 2014-15, Indigenous women were 32 times as likely to be hospitalised due to family violence as non-Indigenous women; and

(b) calls on the Federal Government to:

  (i) recognise domestic violence against women as a national security crisis,

  (ii) adequately fund frontline domestic violence and crisis housing services to ensure that all women seeking safety can access these services when and where they need them,

  (iii) legislate for 10 days paid domestic violence leave so that women do not have to choose between paying the bills and seeking safety, and

  (iv) implement all 25 recommendations of the report of the Finance and Public Administration References Committee into domestic violence in Australia, tabled on 20 August 2015.

Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Liberal-National coalition government has zero tolerance for violence against women and works with all jurisdictions to keep women and children safe. The government has invested over $300 million to improve women's safety since 2015, focusing on practical measures that reduce the incidence of violence and support victims and their children. The government is developing the fourth national action plan to reduce violence against women and their children. Legislation is currently before the parliament to approve a minimum standard of five days of unpaid domestic violence leave, as recommended by the Fair Work Commission.

Question agreed to.