Chris Hayes (Fowler, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—On behalf of the member for Gellibrand, I move:

That this House:

(1)   notes:

(a)   with concern that family violence is an issue affecting members of all of our communities, but that not enough attention is given to it in public debate;

(b)   that the impact of family violence upon our communities is devastating, especially given:

(i)   intimate partner violence is responsible for more ill-health and premature death in women in Victoria under age 45 than high blood pressure, obesity and smoking; and

(ii)   one in three women since their teenage years have been exposed to violence, one in five have been exposed to sexual violence, and one woman per week is killed by her partner or former partner;

(c)   the importance of a bipartisan approach in addressing such a complex issue and support for addressing family violence by all Members of Parliament within the House; and

(d)   with support the creation of the Parliamentarians Against Family Violence friendship group, and acknowledges the success of its launch event on 20 October; and

(2)   makes all efforts to raise awareness of the family violence taking place in our communities.

By now we should all be familiar with the dreadful statistics: one in three women in this country will experience violence in her lifetime. One in five will experience sexual violence. Sixty per cent of boys growing up in abusive households are likely to become abusers. Even more disturbingly, half of all girls growing up in abusive households are more than likely to take an abuser for a partner in their adult relationships. On average, one woman dies each week at the hands of her partner or former partner—the person in her life who is probably most meant to love her and protect her. Only last week this was very much brought home to my community when a 49-year-old woman, a mother of three, was killed in Casula, which is in the electorate of my good friend the member for Werriwa. This shows how close at hand the issue of domestic violence is.

This morning, along with many members of the House, I attended a gathering of police commissioners from each of the Australian jurisdictions as well as from New Zealand, with representatives from all sides of this parliament. It was revealed at the meeting that we have already exceeded the average number of deaths related to domestic violence this year.

Because of the nature of their work, I guess police are in a unique position to have an insight into the circumstances and the effect of domestic violence. In speaking to officers of the four police commands in my area, they told me of the high proportion of their work which is focused on dealing with cases of domestic violence. In fact, what they say is every general duties officer responds to at least one domestic violence case each and every shift. Forty-three per cent are repeat victims and 48 per cent are repeat offenders. In my police jurisdictions, almost 50 per cent of all assaults reported to local police are domestic violence related. Most local area commands have experienced an increase in the number of incidents reported to police. Hopefully that is because of the great work our police and also members of our community are doing in encouraging people to report these assaults.

But I am proud to say a number of organisations and individuals in my local area are working very hard to spread the message that violence against women and children is unacceptable. The number of those organisations is growing, but I would like to refer to two of them. The Liverpool Women's Resource Centre recently celebrated its 30th anniversary of supporting and empowering disadvantaged women in south-west Sydney. They have been involved in building capacity and reducing social isolation through a number of projects showcasing the talents and power of local women. They do an extraordinary job and I hope they continue well into the future.

I would also acknowledge the Bonnie Women's Refuge, another organisation providing vital support to local women and children experiencing and escaping from domestic violence. This not-for-profit organisation in south-west Sydney goes to great lengths to engage with the community and to aid the delivery of violence protection strategies that focus on activities which address the factors contributing to the violence in the first place. It should be noted that they also provide short-term crisis accommodation, prevention and early management of violence, among other useful services that they have been doing over the last 37 years now.

Domestic violence is the single biggest cause of homelessness for women in this country. At the moment one in every two women attempting to access these services is turned away, and this is due, regrettably, to the cuts to homelessness services. I would also like to acknowledge in the time I have left the work of a good friend of mine, a local teacher, Paula Keyes. Last week she organised a domestic violence forum in Liverpool to raise awareness of this very important issue. As a White Ribbon Day ambassador, I commend Paula for her initiative.

I acknowledge that the Liverpool and Fairfield migrant resource centres are also holding their annual domestic violence forums to mark tomorrow as White Ribbon Day. Tomorrow we should all stand together as members of this place and take the oath never to commit violence and never to excuse or remain silent when it comes to violence against women and children.

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