Sue Lines (WA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The President has received the following letter from Senator Wong:

Pursuant to standing order 75, I propose that the following matter of public importance be submitted to the Senate for discussion:

Preventing and eliminating violence against women, which continues to be an obstacle to achieving equality, development, peace as well as to the fulfilment of women and girls' human rights.

Is the proposal supported?

More than the number of senators required by the standing orders having risen in their places—

I understand that informal arrangements have been made to allocate specific times to each of the speakers in today's debate. With the concurrence of the Senate, I shall ask the clerks to set the clock accordingly.

Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's a national crisis and a national shame that one Australian woman is murdered each week by her current or her former partner, and the responsibility to end violence rests with all of us. Earlier this month we recognised the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Today we begin 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence.

While domestic and family violence affects everyone, we know that women are disproportionately impacted. Violence and abuse against women exist in many forms: physical abuse, emotional abuse and financial abuse. In Australia, one in three women have experienced physical violence since the age of 15. There's a complex relationship going on here, and it is a relationship between attitudes towards women, people's economic circumstances, substance abuse and violence that we have to tackle. Today, I want to talk in particular about the relationship between financial security, female independence and the ability to leave a violent relationship, because it's a complex relationship.

If a woman is experiencing violence in a home, too many people still ask, 'Why doesn't she just leave?' Well, there are many barriers to leaving a violent relationship, and a key reason is your financial security. Leaving an abusive relationship and finding new and safe accommodation costs, on average, $18,000, and it takes an estimated 141 hours of time. Many women do not have access to a lazy $18,000 for a number of reasons, and it's partly to do with the structure of our economy, because women are more likely to work part time, work casually and have extended periods out of the workforce to care for children and family members. That means that the amount of savings, the amount of capital and the economic resources available to women are not the same as they are to their male counterparts.

Perpetrators of violence will often take control of household finances to restrict women from accessing money, and it leaves them little opportunity to flee. Fleeing the home means women need to search for new and safe accommodation at the same time as they may need to seek out health services, legal services and other support services. At the moment, too many women do this with too few resources. It is of deep concern that older women are the fastest-growing group facing homelessness in our community—women who have cared for others their whole lives are left with a choice to stay somewhere violent, to stay somewhere where they are deeply unhappy, or to live in poverty and, potentially, homelessness. It is unacceptable. It is hard not to conclude that the persistent unfairness faced by women at work—an unfairness that leaves women with lower status, less pay and less superannuation—is a contributor to the broader problem of violence.

In the short term, there are things we can do and we should do. Tackling violence is everyone's responsibility. It is the responsibility of business, it is the responsibility of community groups, it is the responsibility of our neighbourhoods, it is the responsibility of individuals and it is the responsibility of government. There is a very practical proposal on the table right now that would help women who right now are seeking our support to move themselves and perhaps their children to a place of safety. The government should introduce 10 days paid domestic violence leave into the National Employment Standards. It would be a very good first step to support women economically to leave violent relationships. Many businesses already provide for this, and the ones I've spoken to are shocked by the numbers of their staff who need to avail themselves of this leave. Last year the government introduced just five days unpaid domestic violence leave to the National Employment Standards. Self-evidently, this is not good enough. This does not provide the financial support and paid time that is truly needed to find safety and to exit violence. Government can and should just make it easier to leave.

Sarah Henderson (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and the Morrison government recognises that family and domestic violence in Australia is a national emergency. It is unacceptable that we are still seeing so many women and children killed as a result of domestic violence. Over the last six and a bit years, the coalition government has demonstrated a profound commitment to preventing, addressing and ultimately ending this violence.

The statistics are unbearable. They are a national emergency, and I am very proud that as a government we are confronting the need to take extremely strong action. The statistics of one woman on average being killed every week are just abhorrent, but there are cases that stick in all of our minds. One case that has never left me is the case of Darcey Freeman, the young child thrown off the West Gate Bridge by her father. Every time I drive over the West Gate Bridge in Melbourne, it is very hard to control the emotion and the tears. That is just one of many hundreds of horrific cases that have occurred in our nation and that should never, ever occur.

Of course, our government has now made the single largest-ever Commonwealth investment, of $340 million, to support the fourth action plan, a plan which includes $82 million to improve and build frontline services to keep women and children safe and $78 million to provide safe places for people impacted by domestic and family violence. That is a very substantial investment.

I agree with the contribution we have just heard that one of the most difficult challenges for women and children when they are faced with family violence is the support and the resources that they need to leave a violent relationship. Our government recognises this and, as a result, we are providing very substantial support. Let us not forget that it is actually the Morrison Liberal government which has passed legislation to provide an entitlement to five days unpaid family and domestic violence leave for up to six million more employees covered by the Fair Work Act. This expands upon a decision of the Fair Work Commission made in March 2018, which provided five days of unpaid family and domestic violence leave for employees covered by a modern award. So in fact it is our government that is recognising the need for this leave and has taken that action.

As part of the fourth action plan and under the 2019-20 budget, as I mentioned, there's the $82 million to build on the frontline services. I just want to go through some of the other investments in more detail. There is $68.3 million for prevention strategies to help eradicate domestic and family violence in our homes, in our workplaces, in our communities and in our clubs. There is $35 million for support and prevention measures for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities funded under the Indigenous Advancement Strategy. There is $64 million for 1800RESPECT, the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Counselling Service. That's been a great success, and that service has been significantly expanded. There is $7.8 million for dedicated men's support workers in family advocacy and support services locations to work with male victims and alleged perpetrators of family violence involved in family law matters. And there's $4.9 million to better support former partners of veterans who are impacted by domestic violence.

A number of years ago, when I was the member for Corangamite, I was very proud, as the chair of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs, to lead an inquiry into family violence law reform. We made a number of very important recommendations, including in relation to substantial changes that should be made to the family law system. I am pleased that some of those changes have been implemented by our government, including a prohibition on perpetrators of family violence in relation to the cross-examination of their alleged victims in family law proceedings. That's a substantial step forward, and it is one of the very many measures that have been introduced recently by our government, recognising that even the family law system itself imposes enormous strains and difficulties on those who are confronted with family violence.

On 9 August 2019, the Council of Australian Governments endorsed the fourth action plan, agreeing on five national priorities to reduce family, domestic and sexual violence. The fourth action plan outlines priority areas for targeting action and investment across the Commonwealth, states and territories to address violence against women. That has been released today, and it sets out another very important, practical way as to how all governments working together are taking the important actions to address family violence. It has a very strong focus on implementation and on measuring outcomes, which is particularly important now that we are moving into the fourth and final action plan of the national plan. Importantly, also, the implementation plan gives greater accountability and transparency on how the Australian government and each of the states and territories are working to support women and children who experience violence.

There is nothing more debilitating than when a woman, in most cases, and her children face family violence in the home and the feeling of helplessness when someone can't escape that family violence. It is a national emergency, but I do want to stress this very important point: men, too, can suffer family violence. The government has taken a strong stand in relation to the measures that have been implemented, which are not gender specific. We recognise, of course, that the vast majority of incidents involve women as victims of family violence, but I do make that very important point that men also suffer from family violence.

There's no doubt that the economic restraints on people who want to leave a violent relationship are very, very significant. Even in the context of the family law system, when trying to escape the hideous situation in which they find themselves, trying to get some sort of economic justice, trying to access financial information and trying to give themselves some sort of economic freedom under these circumstances is very, very important.

On that note, I recognise the very substantial work that was done by the Victorian government—of course, much of it as a result of the Royal Commission into Family Violence. There is also a very substantial amount of investment occurring in Victoria. To those who are suffering family violence: there is help out there. There is support. There is very substantial investment. Obviously, for those who are facing that very difficult situation, the most important message is to seek that help early.

As I said, I am very proud to be part of a government which has made such an enormous and substantial investment in combating family violence in this nation, but there is no doubt that there is more work to be done, because this is a national emergency that must come to an end.

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

Today is International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Sadly, this year we have already seen 50 women killed by violence. The statistic that I think we all know is that one woman a week is killed by violence each year, and yet we are not quite at the end of the year and we are already at 50, so those statistics are getting worse. We know that the reporting is increasing, but we also know that the incidence of violence itself is also increasing. This is a national emergency, and I am proud that this chamber has been discussing these issues for several years now. Much like what the previous speaker, Senator Henderson, said, while we have had inquiries in the House, we have also had inquiries here in the Senate. Those inquiries have led to powerful recommendations, but those recommendations have not been acted upon.

For the last 12 months, I have been moving a motion in each sitting chunk noting the number of women killed by violence. The motion has passed each time, which I am pleased about, but the motion has called for action from government, and that action has not happened. The motion that we have passed as a chamber each sitting chunk for the last year has called on the government to recognise that domestic violence and family violence is the true national security crisis, and it has called for adequate funding for frontline response services. Each time I raise this issue, the government trumpet their—what I consider to be—inadequate contribution to those frontline services. I remember that in the 2014 budget this government proposed cutting those frontline services. In concert with the women's sector and a few other people in this place, there was a campaign to stop that funding cut. We eventually succeeded. But this is the same government that wanted to cut frontline services. We had to fight to simply keep that funding at the same level when what is needed is a massive increase in funding.

We are still seeing beds full, and women and children turned away or put up in hotels, where they do not have the support and folk around them who are trained to help them. We are still seeing phone calls go unanswered because those often not-for-profit services simply do not have the funds to put on the staff to deal with this increase in demand. It is nice that we are getting some lip-service, but it is not enough; $340 million is nowhere near enough. We need a $5 billion commitment so that no woman or child is turned away when they seek help, so that all of those services can actually provide the help that people fleeing violence need and, crucially, so that those prevention programs can be properly invested in.

I am off to an Our Watch launch shortly. They have been doing magnificent work on primary prevention—on cultural and attitudinal change. We know what needs to happen, but that is long, slow, very important and complex work. There is no long-term funding for them. There is no long-term funding for any of that primary prevention work. It is haphazard and it is a pittance. The government occasionally give lip-service to this issue, but they are still not doing what is necessary to tackle this absolute national security crisis.

We have called on them to implement all of those recommendations from that 2015 report. Likewise, there were some useful recommendations in the House's report. Again, much of those have not been touched. We have called on the government to have paid leave for workers when they are fleeing domestic violence. Women and children should not have to choose between paying the bills and being safe. They cannot afford to have five days of unpaid leave. We had a whole inquiry about that, but it, sadly, fell on deaf ears. We have these kinds of days, and it is about time the government took the action that is needed to keep women, children and other sufferers of domestic and family violence safe.

Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today is an important day for combating violence against women and girls. 25 November marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, a UN day designed to highlight the issues of violence against women and girls and to call for more action to combat it. The occurrence of violence against women and girls is not decreasing, and these statistics are sobering. One in three women and girls experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime—most frequently, by an intimate partner. Worldwide, almost 750 million women and girls alive today were married before their 18th birthday, while 200 million women and girls have undergone female genital mutilation. One in two women killed worldwide were killed by their partners or family in 2012, while only one out of 20 men were killed under similar circumstances. Seventy-one per cent of all human trafficking victims worldwide are women and girls, and three out of four of these women and girls are sexually exploited.

The hashtags #MeToo, #TimesUp, #NotOneMore and others have put a spotlight on the issue of rape and sexual violence and the response to it in recent times. Campaigns like this are working to generate publicity on and attention to this issue which affects so many women in our community. Unfortunately, violence against women and girls is one of the most persistent and devastating human rights violations in the world today, and it remains largely unreported, due to the impunity, silence, stigma and shame surrounding it.

Only this morning I attended a roundtable talking about violence and sexual assault of older women in the aged-care residential homes in this country or in their own homes when they are getting a home care package. These are unreported actions that we need to shine a spotlight on, and I'm hoping that the royal commission into the aged-care sector will shine that light on this very important issue.

On violence against women, we've heard from the previous speaker that 50 Australian women have died this year already. That's more than one a week. This is gaining more momentum. It's not decreasing. And we need some action against that.

Efforts to prevent and end violence against women at a global, regional and national level show that there is widespread impunity on sexual assault and rape. Starting on this year's International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, for the next two years the UN Secretary-General's UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign—a multi-year effort aimed at preventing and eliminating violence against women and girls—will focus on the issue of rape as a specific form of harm committed against women and girls in times of peace or war. We all have obligations, as men and women, in this chamber and in the community, to fight violence, to fight abuse and to act to make sure that those perpetrators have the full force of the law brought down upon them. Our society is not a safe place when these acts are still being perpetrated against women and girls.

I recently met with the group of women at Laurel House in my home state of Tasmania. They are working so extremely hard, day in and day out, to fight against sexual assault and violence against women and girls, and the community recognises their work in trying to support women and girls. We, on this side of the chamber, have been calling on the government to have paid leave for women who are fleeing violence. It takes a lot of courage and a lot of organisation and it takes finances to be able to leave the family home and escape this violence, and we know that the effects of violence on women and children have lifelong implications for them. For Laurel House and those counsellors and support staff there and the time that they give, the demand is only increasing, and I want to put on the public record that we, in our community, thank them and honour them for what they're doing, because, without those women, we would have a huge hole within our community.

It's a long and painful journey when you've experienced family violence or sexual assault. For so many who have experienced sexual assault: my thoughts are with you today and every day going forward. We in this place, and those in the community who work with the people who have experienced abuse, will not stop fighting for people until this scourge is eradicated in our society and women and girls are provided with the unequivocal respect that they deserve.

Claire Chandler (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm pleased to speak today on this very important topic, particularly with today, 25 November, being the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. I'd like to echo the final sentiments of the previous speaker in saying that today, and always, our thoughts are with those people, but particularly women and children, who have been subjected to violence within the home. I want to speak shortly about what we, the Morrison coalition government, are doing here in Australia to reduce and eliminate violence against women, because we all know that there is so much work to do to stop violence against women. As we heard earlier, the statistic of one woman a week dying as a result of family violence is one woman a week too many.

Given it is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women—the international day—it's worthwhile focusing some attention on how this scourge presents itself on a global basis. In 2019, there are still many countries around the world where women are not permitted to vote. They're not permitted to drive. They're not allowed to receive an education of any form, much less attend university, as I have. There are countries where it's illegal for women to go out in public without their husbands. And it's quite sickening to think that, as we approach the third decade of the 21st century, there are still places on this planet where women who've been raped are punished by authorities on the grounds of adultery; where girls as young as 10 or 12 are forced into arranged marriages—and I heard a number of speakers earlier today allude to those statistics as well; and where young girls are subjected to the horrific practice of female genital mutilation. While we have a lot of work to do in reducing family violence in Australia—and I will speak in just a moment about our efforts here—we shouldn't use that as an excuse to forget about some of the truly appalling violence perpetrated on women around the world. I did just want to put on record in the Senate today my consideration of those issues in other countries because, as I said, this is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

The Morrison coalition government has zero tolerance for violence against women and their children. Women have the right to be safe in their homes, in their workplaces, online and in their local communities. Coming from a state like Tasmania, where we have a number of smaller, tight-knit, very regional and rural communities, I have seen just some of the work that these communities are putting in place because they understand the significant impact that family violence can have. Obviously, family violence has an impact wherever it occurs, but we know in these regional and rural areas, in these smaller communities where everyone knows each other and perhaps everyone's business is a little bit more known by others, that people who are subjected to family violence feel even more constrained in their ability to talk about what they're going through, to report what they're going through, because in these smaller communities they fear the impact that it might have more broadly on those people that they know.

I've visited and spoken with a number of people in some of my local communities in Tasmania that run support services not just to support people who have been subjected to family violence but also to help the broader community recognise the warning signs of when domestic violence might occur or might be at risk of occurring. I think it's really important that we consider today all of the hard work of these groups, which do try and do everything that they can to stop violence occurring in the first place. It's very important work, and we need to be constantly vigilant of all of the signs and signals around us that someone we know might be experiencing family violence. As we've heard today, this is a widely occurring issue, and therefore we all need to be aware of the warning signs of when this could be occurring to someone that we know.

Today, 25 November, is also a very important day in terms of the government's efforts to prevent family violence, because today we have launched the national implementation plan of the fourth action plan into family, domestic and sexual violence. The national implementation plan shows the collective efforts across all levels of government that will contribute to a safer Australia for women and their children, and it sets out in a practical way how the Commonwealth, state and territory governments will move forward in implementing their actions under the fourth action plan. In a few minutes I, too, will be heading along to the event run by Our Watch, which is highlighting that organisation's own efforts in this space, and we will be discussing the national implementation plan there.

I do want to speak just briefly about the work that Our Watch does. It's an organisation which was established to drive a nationwide change in the culture, the behaviours and the power imbalances that lead to violence against women and children. It goes back to what I was saying previously: that we need to be constantly vigilant to ensure that we're doing everything that we can to heed the warning signs and, hopefully, detect the potential of domestic violence occurring and prevent it occurring if at all possible. The vision of Our Watch is an Australia where women and children are free from all forms of violence. I'm sure that everybody in this chamber can agree that that is a truly noble goal and a goal that we would all like to see come to fruition. That's why the national implementation plan is so important.

The plan that the Morrison coalition government have released today has a strong focus on implementing and measuring outcomes, which I think is particularly important given that we are coming to the final stage of the fourth action plan. The implementation plan gives greater accountability and transparency in terms of how the Australian government and each of the states and territories are working to support women and children who experience violence. It sets out the details for each initiative, including funding, key milestones and intended outcomes and how they're linked to the 20 actions and five national priorities of the fourth action plan. I think it's very exciting that we're seeing such collaborative efforts across federal, state and territory governments to tackle this issue. As many of the speakers today have alluded to, preventing domestic and family violence is everyone's responsibility. It's a responsibility that we as the Commonwealth government certainly take seriously. But we understand the role that our state counterparts will play in assisting us in that prevention and that treatment, and having the implementation plan will ensure that those accountabilities and responsibilities are very well defined.

As I said, the Morrison coalition government have a zero-tolerance policy to violence against women. In the 2019-20 budget, we had a number of initiatives within the action plan to combat violence against women and children. Those included $82.2 million to improve and build on frontline services to keep women and children safe; $68.3 million for prevention strategies to help eradicate domestic and family violence in our homes, workplaces and communities; $78.4 million to provide safe places for people impacted by domestic and family violence; and $64 million for 1800RESPECT, the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service. I think that that's a really important one to just pause and reflect on for a moment, not just because of the great work that that hotline does but also, I hope, to promote that hotline to those people out in the community who feel that they can't report domestic or family violence to their friends or other family members: there is a hotline out there that you can contact to share that information.

In summary, the Morrison coalition government take this issue very seriously, for the reasons that I've outlined today, and, of course, for the many other reasons that other speakers, particularly Senator Henderson, have alluded to today. I only hope that our efforts will see a reduction in that statistic of one woman dying each week, and will eradicate violence against women and children.

Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I too stand to join the debate on preventing and eliminating violence against women, which continues to be an obstacle to achieving equality, development, peace and the fulfilment of women's and girls' human rights. On this day, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, I want to address the issue of sexual assault of older women in aged care and in their homes. Today, we held a round table on preventing the sexual assault of older women, and we heard from Dr Catherine Barrett and Professor Joseph Ibrahim on this issue—both people with deep expertise in the area.

Sexual assault occurs in older women's own homes. It is perpetrated by intimate partners and other family members and also by service providers. Unfortunately, the prevalence of these incidents is not known. Last year, there were 547 reports of unlawful sexual contact in residential aged care. It is likely that the number of incidents of sexual assault is much higher in residential facilities. There is evidence that perpetrators are not being held to account—for example, staff may be moved, or strategies for managing sexual assault by other residents are not well established. The government is not using the data collected on sexual contact in aged care to identify patterns or to shape education. Unfortunately, to date, the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety has not really addressed this issue. We think it does need to address the issue around sexual assault of older women. There have been six submissions on this issue, and I suspect there may be more.

At the moment, there is a lack of education for both home care workers and residential aged-care facilities around preventing sexual assault of older women. Aged-care workers don't know what to do when they are faced with someone reporting sexual assault, and providers don't understand their responsibility. There is also a clear gap for families and advocates, who don't know who they can turn to for help. Many older women are simply not believed when they report sexual assault in residential aged care. We need to listen to women when they report sexual assault. We need to be making sure that action is taken, that perpetrators are dealt with and that there is a proper process for dealing with that. And if an assault is perpetrated by someone who has a cognitive impairment, it doesn't have to be reported, so we know this is happening on a much larger scale than is actually being reported. We need to address this issue urgently.

Malarndirri McCarthy (NT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on this very important matter that concerns all Australians. Nearly 10 years ago, in the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly, we debated quite extensively the importance of protecting our women and children across the Northern Territory. I was families minister at the time, and one of the things that we wanted to see across the Northern Territory was a change in culture. And by 'culture', I mean the attitudes—that it was not okay to stand by and witness a woman getting hit, getting flogged or getting smashed up in any of our communities across the Northern Territory, or in the city of Darwin, or in Palmerston, Alice Springs, Katherine, Tennant Creek or Nhulunbuy.

We knew that we had a serious duty as legislators to enable change and to create an environment of safety for all people—in particular, our children, who were witnessing this at horrible rates across our regional areas and communities. So we introduced the mandatory reporting of domestic violence, and we were questioned and scrutinised, quite clearly and intently, across Australia as to why we wanted to embark on that. But the seriousness of the situation was such that, if we did nothing to change the culture, we knew that we would only continue to see the rise in the hospitalisation rates of our women, who were getting beaten up and having to lie in a coma for weeks or months on end. We knew that our children again would be witnessing this and seeing it as something that was normal. But it isn't normal, and none of our children in Australia should be witnessing that or part of a situation where they feel so unsafe—in particular, when it's happening in the home.

Each week I am dealing on a very personal level with members of my family in some circumstances that are always related to violence. I'm at the Royal Darwin Hospital, visiting and sitting beside the bed of either my cousin-sister or my aunty, who was in a coma for nearly six months because she was so badly beaten. We have to work with our women so that they can recover. The recovery stage is so critical because, as we have heard from previous senators here, of the constant cycle of that violence. Some of our women go back to that very situation and, unless they have the tools to escape that situation—to be financially able to leave that environment, to sustain themselves and their children, but also to be emotionally, mentally and physically able to heal and move on and to create a future for themselves beyond the violence—I know I will continue to sit beside these beds in the hospitals and in the women's shelters.

Not a weekend goes by when I do not get a phone call from someone needing assistance in the women's shelters, and so I go and take out a cousin, my aunty or my sister, and this becomes a regular path. I am so grateful to our women's shelters—the Darwin Aboriginal and Islander Women's Shelter in Darwin City, the Katherine Women's Crisis Centre, the Tennant Creek Women's Refuge, the Alice Springs Women's Shelter—and to all of those women in our regional communities who work on providing a safe environment for what are still, unfortunately, recurring cases of violence.

The inability to financially move out of these situations is the next thing that legislators have to address. I raise that because I am deeply disturbed by the fact that this government, which can do so much more, has taken away the emergency funding for our women's shelters. From places like the Darwin Aboriginal and Islander Women's Shelter, $38,000 has been removed. Thinking about the billions of dollars that can go into any kind of large-scale national program, when you take away $38,000 from the Darwin Aboriginal and Islander Women's Shelter, that means they cannot take in a family; they cannot put them up at Daisy Y, which is one of the Aboriginal hostels; and they cannot provide taxi fares to get them from, for example, the hospital to the shelter. These are small things but they mean so much.

The Darwin Aboriginal and Islander Women's Shelter is an appropriate service for First Nations women who are escaping domestic and family violence and sexual abuse or who are homeless. It has been operating for the past 33 years. It's governed by a board of Indigenous women, and 95 per cent of its staff are Indigenous. It also provides 24-hour domestic violence crisis accommodation for women and children escaping domestic and family violence and sexual abuse and assault. It provides eight transitional housing units, domestic violence outreach programs for women and children, and the Darwin Indigenous Men's Service, because we have to work with our men. Men are very much part of the problem, but they are incredibly so much part of the solution, and so DAIWS works with the men. It makes sure that the program is there to assist men to come through and holistically works at giving them hope for the kind of future they need to have—a future that doesn't involve violence.

The removal of the $38,000 has created a great gap for DAIWS. But it's not only them; it's also about the women's refuges in Tennant Creek and Katherine, which have also seen their funding cut. They've been told to move clients to mainstream services. You might think that that's okay, but let me tell you: it is not okay. It is not okay, because these services are culturally appropriate, and they work. How do I know? Because I go there so often and assist with trying to help a lot of these families move from the circumstances that they're in. Much of the time it's repetitive. As many people would know, leaving a domestic violence situation can take decades. People still go back to that situation for different reasons.

These services in Katherine, Tennant Creek and Alice Springs are critical. Again, we are talking about $38,000 in the emergency relief fund. My colleague Senator Jenny McAllister was with me as we went and sat with the women in Katherine. Having that appropriate service means so much for these families. I would call on the government and on the minister: don't hide behind the excuse that you are giving that money to a mainstream service and that's okay. It is not okay. Put the money where it belongs and where it has been adequately and appropriately spent over the last 10 or 11 years. This removal isn't good enough. I would urge you to reconsider that decision. You can reconsider that decision, and you can make a difference to these services, especially before we come to this Christmas season. We know that, unfortunately, the violence rate increases at these times. We want Christmas to bring happiness, but, let me tell you, it also brings some really serious situations that can result, unfortunately, in the death of loved ones.

So I'd urge the government to reconsider its position on these emergency relief funds, in particular for the First Nations services in this country. Give them the Christmas present that they deserve so that they can look after the families who most desperately need the Christmas present that we all would like to give our families. That is one of love, that is one of hope and that is one of decency and dignity and respect—knowing that every individual in this country deserves to have a future without violence.

Mehreen Faruqi (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

'We are mothers, wives and daughters, and we deserve to feel safe wherever we go.' Those are Rana Elasmar's words. Last week she was with friends in a cafe in Sydney when a man approached their table. He shouted racist vitriol at her, punched her and then stomped on her head. She was the target of racist violence, as so many other Muslim women have been. The footage of the attack is absolutely sickening. Even those who do not know what it is to live life in constant, lingering fear of racist violence and abuse could not be unmoved by the brutal inhumanity of the attacker's hate. I do thank the bystanders who had the courage to intervene.

Just last week, research found that the percentage of Islamophobic attacks requiring hospitalisations has jumped from two per cent to five per cent since 2017. The Islamophobia in Australia report from Charles Sturt University found most incidents of racism towards Muslims involved the targeting of women. We should be able to go about our lives free from violence, harassment and intimidation, but we can't, because attacks on women like Rana, and the pervasive hatred that fuels them, persist and are getting worse.

On this International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, we remember every woman whose life has been marred by violence. We say plainly that society remains bound by patriarchy and women remain subjected to the violence perpetrated by men. One in three women and girls experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime. One in two women killed worldwide are killed by their partners or family. All women, whether they have experienced violence or not, live under its threat. We have no choice but to feel the myriad ways in which our lives are forcibly shaped by it.

Today we mourn the 50 women in Australia, so far this year, who have died due to violence, and we acknowledge the Counting Dead Women Australia researchers of Destroy The Joint, who do this heartbreaking and difficult work. Too often their stories go untold. Too often their names are forgotten, lost in the media cycle and in an indifferent world numb to the lives behind the fleeting headlines. To end violence against women we must address its root structural causes. We must dismantle the systemic gender power imbalances and the social, emotional and economic inequalities that result. Otherwise, the untold heartache and sorrow of women being killed will continue. We have a right to be safe, we have a right to live and we have the right to be equal.

Nita Green (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm very pleased that Senator Wong has put forward this matter of public importance. It's a real honour to speak but it's also an honour to have sat here and listened to the really extraordinary speeches from the senators who have contributed to this debate. While domestic and family violence affects everyone, we know that women are disproportionately impacted.

Today, on International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, it is appropriate for us to talk about how violence against women stops women from achieving equality, development and peace. As everyone in this chamber would know, family violence is a deeply personal issue for me and my family, but my family is one of so many that have experienced family violence and have had to navigate their way through the very many steps from the moment a woman decides to leave to the day she finally feels free. As Senator McCarthy said, that journey can often take decades. Today is the start of 16 days of activism against gender based violence. I want to talk about how the government can help make that passage, that journey, from deciding to leave to being fully free of violence and harassment easier.

This government can make it easier for women to escape violent and abusive relationships. First, it can begin by making the financial independence of women a crucial part of its plan to address violence against women. It can do more by improving access to social security and payments through the social security system. Women fleeing domestic violence are often faced with financial hardship if they formerly relied on their partner's income. A 2018 report by the National Social Security Rights Network found that some women trying to leave violent relationships were denied income support, forcing them to stay in the same home as the abuser. For those who are granted income support, they can expect to receive just $40 a day from Newstart. Starting a new life on just $40 a day is challenging for anyone, let alone highly vulnerable women. This government should genuinely start the discussion about raising Newstart, because it is a fundamental link to the financial independence of women.

The government can also provide more safe places for women and their children to stay and enough funding to ensure that they have the essential services that they need to start afresh. This includes providing adequate social housing. In Far North Queensland, remote and Indigenous communities are still waiting for $105 million, promised by the government before the last election. It is hard to leave if you haven't got a place to go. It is even harder in regional and remote areas. Although funding has been provided for various programs, the question is: is it enough? In Cairns, an Indigenous women's shelter needs help to pay a fee to store furniture that it is gifted by the community. This generosity from the community is fantastic, but they don't have anywhere to put the donations. This is just an example of the bare-bones funding that they have to do such crucial work.

The government can also ensure that our National Employment Standards provide the flexibility and support for women to leave violent relationships, including a commitment to paid domestic violence leave. Currently women are entitled to five days unpaid leave through the National Employment Standards, and this is not enough. Paid domestic violence leave is important because financial security is crucial to women fleeing a violent partner. I know this firsthand because I worked with the Working Women's Legal Service in Queensland. It was a service that provided employment legal advice, but often the people that came and sought out that service were fleeing domestic violence relationships. That service was shut down by this government and Minister Cash.

In concluding, I want to say that I've been the kid packing up the boxes and sleeping in the caravan park, seeing her mum go off to her third job just to make ends meet. It's really bloody tough to leave, so we need to change the culture that creates family violence and turns a blind eye to family violence and we need to make it not just possible to leave and survive but possible to leave and thrive.

Jess Walsh (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to say a few words on this matter of public importance because today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Violence against women and their children is a persistent and shamefully prevalent issue that really needs national leadership from this parliament. While we know that domestic and family violence affects everyone, we also know that it's women who are disproportionately impacted. Family violence hurts, and its effects can be felt for generations.

In Australia today, one woman per week is murdered by a current or former partner. We know that one in three Australian women will experience physical violence in their lifetime. One in five women has experienced sexual violence, and one in four women has experienced emotional abuse by a current or former partner. Across the country, there is on average a police call-out every two minutes to a family or domestic violence incident. These statistics are shocking, they are outrageous and they are inexcusable. We should also recognise that this issue is even more prevalent for Indigenous women, who are 32 times more likely to be hospitalised due to family violence than non-Indigenous women. I join Senator Green in congratulating Senator McCarthy for speaking out on these issues in the Northern Territory and in Darwin in particular.

In 2019, it is absolutely unacceptable that this many women are the victims of violence at the hands of their current or former partners. It is important for us to know that this violence is not always physical. Men and women need to think about the ways in which aggressive, coercive and controlling behaviour can mount up and cause the physical violence that is so damaging today. These behaviours can have long-lasting impacts on women's economic independence, emotional wellbeing and psychological wellbeing as well. All of those impacts can add up to take a huge long-term and profound toll on the health of women and also of children. In fact, domestic and family violence is the largest driver of homelessness for women. It is so damaging for children as well. It affects their attitudes to relationships. It affects their emotional functioning. It affects the prospects for their own futures in a range of ways. So there is so much more to do to make sure that women can live without fear and without violence.

There are many places that we as a parliament can work together and put our attention. More support for frontline services is absolutely critical, as is more support for emergency accommodation so women can leave and more support for safe and affordable housing for people escaping violence. As a country, we really need to confront domestic and family violence now. The effort to end violence against women rests with all of us in this place. The statistics that I mentioned really suggest a national crisis—at the very least, they are a national shame. All of us have to confront the underlying causes of family violence, and that is the persistent gender inequality in this country today—gender inequality that makes women vulnerable and also limits men to traditional roles and the damaging behaviours that can go with them.

We can tackle gender inequality by focusing on supporting respectful relationships—we can do that in schools, we can do it by supporting men to understand and change their own behaviours, and we can do it by having a positive national conversation about the cultural and attitudinal changes our society needs to make through much more focus on awareness and on education. Of course, if Labor had been elected at the last election, we would have legislated 10 days paid domestic violence leave as part of the National Employment Standards, because people who are experiencing family violence shouldn't have to choose between their job and their ability to leave a violent relationship.

Stirling Griff (SA, Centre Alliance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Walsh. The time for discussion has expired.