I start by acknowledging the work and the words of the minister and commit to her that I will take a very bipartisan approach to this particular issue. I thank her for the work that she has done to date and I am very confident that she will continue to do some exceptional work in this space. There are many people in this place who have done an incredible amount of work to support people who have been affected by domestic violence. I do wish to acknowledge them. I particularly wish to acknowledge the member for Cowper, who is here in the chamber with me today. He has the role of shadow assistant minister for the prevention of family violence. He has done a tremendous amount of work to speak with people who have been affected by this issue. I know that he and everyone else here will do all that we can to make sure that we are preventing as much of this happening as we possibly can.
This week marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Addressing violence against women remains at the forefront of women’s issues around the world and in Australia. All forms of domestic and family violence have their genesis in a lack of respect for a partner. This issue has been highlighted by the establishment of International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, held on 25 November each year. The dedication of this day gives our global community the opportunity to reflect upon, confront and oppose violence towards women, a blight that has transcended time, culture and location. It continues to proliferate throughout our society today. It should not.
Domestic and family violence stories and figures are very distressing and harrowing. They should make us take note that despite the progress we have made as a society there is still much more to be done. It’s a global issue that needs to be tackled as a priority. We’ve all heard the sobering Australian figures and statistics. One Australian woman each week is killed by a violent, controlling male who she knows. One in four Australian women have experienced physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner. In all likelihood we all know one of these victims. Unfortunately I am one of the people who has had to wait for text messages and phone messages to come in. The phone calls are much worse, wondering if someone that you love is still alive. In the time I have left in this place, however long it might be, I will dedicate myself to working to stop this violence. To those people who haven’t experienced it, you can have no idea what it’s like. For the people who sit innocently on the side and wait for that call, wondering if someone they love is okay, it is traumatic. When you’re there at night and the phone rings and you wonder what you’re going to hear, it’s a terribly traumatic experience. But for all the things that I have experienced, there are many other people who have been on the front line and have experienced it themselves. For those people I will dedicate my time in this place to support you.
There are a number of women who have lost their lives. We all know some of the recent stories, particularly from Queensland: Hannah Clarke, Tara Brown, Kelly Wilkinson, and there are many, many more. This should not be allowed to be happening. A global shift in how society currently operates needs to take place to end violence against women and also against our children, who are victims in their own right when there is violence in the home. We as a society do need to change our behaviour, our thoughts and our values, where they allow any tolerance to this behaviour. I know that research commissioned by the coalition when we were in government, conducted by Kantar Public, found that, while there is widespread recognition that sexual consent needs to be addressed among young Australians, adults largely avoid the topic due to concerns they might not be on the same page. Half of all Australians are conflicted in that understanding of the problem and lack confidence in their ability to define consent.
To help tackle this issue from a legal perspective, many Australian states have or are planning on introducing affirmative consent laws. These changes bring our legislative frameworks into line with the community expectations that are already held. Clearly, this legislation is the right step but only part of the solution. Positively, this same research from Kantar Public also found there is a strong desire for clarity and leadership on the issue, with close to nine in 10 agreeing that adults should talk to young people more about the topic of consent.
Earlier this year, in my time speaking with some of the tireless volunteers and the dedicated people running a women’s shelter in Launceston, I heard about the specific challenges women face when they choose to leave a violent relationship, which is when their personal safety risk tends to increase, and how sometimes these women choose to stay in their homes if there is no other housing available nearby. They simply have nowhere to go and often they have children to consider as well, so they stay in their homes.
I’ve heard these stories in many shelters around the country, in Townsville and at another shelter on the Gold Coast. It was raised with me by staff at charities and women’s support service organisations in Perth and in Melbourne. The issue is very widespread, and COVID exacerbated it. Any single act of domestic violence being perpetrated against a woman or a man, or against children, or against any individual in a relationship, is unacceptable. We will work with the government to tackle this. Ensuring that domestic violence does not span generations is a mammoth task that should be a national priority.
The opposition acknowledges the plague that is domestic and family violence and the impact it has, primarily on women, children and the LGBTIQA+ community and their ability to live safely and contribute to our society as they wish. That’s why we invested more than $2 billion since 2013 to prevent and respond to family, domestic and sexual violence. This went across programs tackling prevention, early intervention, response, recovery and funding initiatives such as Our Watch, Stop it at the Start, Respectful Relationships, an education online platform, expanding DV alert training, the escaping violence payment, maintaining protections against cross-examination by family violence perpetrators, and medical programs. Once again, we appreciate the bipartisan support from the minister and we commit to working with her.
The SPEAKER: I thank the member for McPherson for that brave statement.