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

My question is to the minister representing the Attorney-General, Senator Payne. Frontline domestic violence crisis services have said for years that women and children are being turned away from essential services due to lack of funding: the beds are full; the crisis phone lines can't all be answered when they ring; and women are being forced to choose between violence and homelessness. This government's DV funding is not enough. It's not protecting sufferers from family violence. How many more women and children need to be killed before this government will treat this as domestic terrorism and as the real national security crisis and put the $5 billion over 10 years that's needed for frontline services and primary prevention?

Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I acknowledge Senator Waters's question, but I also say that this government, and I think those opposite, will not be politicising the events of last week. As the finance minister said in his statement before question time, the Commonwealth has, in the fourth action plan, made the largest contribution to addressing violence against women and their children, with a $340 million contribution. It covers a range of factors. It covers improving and building on frontline services. It covers prevention strategies to help eradicate domestic and family violence in our homes, our workplaces, our communities and our clubs. It covers support and prevention measures for ATSI communities, funded under the Indigenous Advancement Strategy. There is funding to provide safe places for people impacted by domestic and family violence, funding for 1800RESPECT, funding for dedicated men's support workers in family advocacy and support services locations, and funding to better support former partners of veterans who are impacted by domestic violence.

There are a number of other measures that will contribute to improved safety for women and girls. There is funding of $1.2 billion over three years from the Commonwealth for legal assistance services, including delivering that through a new single mechanism that allows for a more collaborative, innovative and effective legal assistance sector to address the legal needs of the most vulnerable. There is $10 million for practical, on-the-ground improvements to online safety for Australian children and their families.

There is more that I could add, particularly in relation to the national implementation plan, but I also want to say that the recognition, which goes across government at the Commonwealth level and also at the state and territory levels, is that the complexity of this challenge and the complexity of the problem that we are dealing with is much more than about funding. (Time expired)

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

Senator Waters, a supplementary question?

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

The national road toll serves to draw the public's attention to the ongoing epidemic of deaths on our roads and to change behaviour. The number of women killed by violence is a statistic that also should be published widely to draw attention to this national crisis and help deter it. Destroy the Joint, a volunteer-run project, publishes it. Why hasn't the government established a close-to-real-time, national, government-run toll to track the national crisis? If a small organisation can make credible data available within days, why is the government so slow to act?

Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I know that this is a matter that Senator Waters has raised previously. Our commitment as a government is to preventing, addressing and, ultimately, ending this violence. What the Australian Institute of Criminology has been doing for over 25 years is reporting through its National Homicide Monitoring Program. It's data which is credibly sourced through our law enforcement, our National Coronial Information System and other data sources. As appropriate, it provides trend data upon which the government can design policy to prevent these homicides in the future. I understand the matters that Senator Waters raised but don't necessarily agree with them. The most important thing, from my perspective and from this government's perspective, is to eliminate violence against women and their families.

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

Senator Waters, a final supplementary question?

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

This morning, Senator Hanson said, on national television, that Hannah Clarke's ex-husband—and I won't name him—was driven to it and that these things happen. These abhorrent attitudes are offensive and they undermine efforts to prioritise children's safety in the family law system. Will this government now accept that Senator Hanson's attitude puts women and children at risk, and will you remove her as deputy chair of the family law inquiry?

Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There are a range of issues to address in that question, but the most important one, I think, relates more broadly at a national level to use of language. We have to speak, write and report more accurately and empathetically about domestic violence. It's a matter that Senator Ruston and I raised in our statement last week. We have to think more carefully about our expectations of healthy, respectful relationships. As I said in answer to Senator Askew's question earlier in question time, language does matter. It does matter—

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

Order! Senator Waters, on a point of order?

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

Yes. Thank you, President. It's relevance. We know language matters. My question was on whether you were going to remove Senator Hanson as deputy chair of the family law inquiry.

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

Senator Waters, that was part of your question. The minister is being directly relevant to another part of your question. Senator Payne, continue.

Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you very much. Just to conclude, I said it in my response to Senator Askew, we cannot tolerate public language that trivialises or distorts the reality of domestic violence. Each murder, each act of domestic violence, is an individual atrocity.