Ann Sudmalis (Gilmore, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

This morning I joined my parliamentary colleague the Hon. Michaelia Cash, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women, along with police commissioners of Australia and New Zealand to stand together against violence towards women and children. One in three women over 15 has already experienced physical violence and one in five has experienced some form of sexual violence. One Australian woman is murdered every week by a partner or former partner.

These awful statistics are the kind that most of us would prefer to sweep under the carpet, described this morning as 'Australia's dirty little secret'. Every person in every family deserves a life of safety and free of violence. It is a sad truth that many young people in our community grow up seeing violence as a way of life. Almost one in three children raised in a violent household has admitted actually witnessing violence against one of their parents.

For a long time violence against women and violence in the home has been treated as a 'don't ask, don't tell' issue. Today I am proud to stand in this House with very clear bipartisan support to say that this culture must end. It is no longer okay to turn a blind eye, or to sweep this important issue for Australia under the carpet.

Just yesterday we had a community gathering in Harry Sawkins Park: one of our local journalists, who has been a champion of this cause for many years, Damien McGill; many members of our Zonta Club of Berry, whose mission is to improve outcomes for women and children, organised by Fran Smith; Waminda, one of our local women's Indigenous advocacy and service provider groups; Duncan Nisbet, a teacher and the local White Ribbon Ambassador; and Adam from the Equal Playing Field program. Uncle Arthur Wellington spoke from the heart, and gave welcome to country. Duncan then described the 900 man-only gathering in 2009, and the continuing work with young men and youth in schools, and then asked those men present to make their pledge by saying: 'I swear never to commit, excuse or remain silent about violence against women. This is my oath.' He then told the story of the initiative where 14 handbags were left with their contents on the footpath to illustrate the issue of women killed due to domestic violence. Near these handbags were contents with such statements as: 'this is her lipstick which she will never wear down', 'these are photos of her children who she will never see grow up' and 'those are the appointment cards for appointments that she will never attend'. This was a poignant and powerful image, and made so much worse when we were told that lives lost to domestic violence last year could only be symbolised with 52 pairs of shoes—one pair for each woman. These deaths were caused by someone who once loved them. I truly despair that what was once love turns to frustration, hate and violence.

Each of us needs to put every ounce of our ability towards supporting community groups, who work so effectively with these families. This is true in the regions especially, where much of the additional work is facilitated by hours and hours of volunteers' time. Just two weeks ago, the Shoalhaven Women's Health Centre celebrated 30 years of effective operation with exactly this combination of professional and volunteer help for women. Tracy Lumb, the manager, asked only that when funding was considered by government, successful small groups in the regions would not be consumed by large groups, who very often do not have the deep insights that smaller groups have, and who often do not put in the volunteer hours.

This government takes the issue of family violence very seriously. I was shocked to discover that family violence actually costs us around $8 billion a year. A number of initiatives across all arms of government have steadily increased the support to combat this terrible blight on our community. These include an additional $1 million for the White Ribbon campaign, and implementing the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children. That is a national plan from 2010 to 2022. We have just released the Second Action Plan of the strategy: a united and strong message. This means $3.3 million for CrimTrac to develop and test a prototype for a national Domestic Violence Order scheme; $1.7 million to take the next steps in developing a national family violence data collection service; and $1 million for 1800RESPECT, Australia's first national professional telephone and online counselling service.

Deputy Speaker, it is important to acknowledge that this is truly an issue of bipartisanship. The Parliamentarians Against Family Violence group, founded by Ken Wyatt, Andrew Broad and Tim Watts, is a clear symbol of our joint commitment, and shows that all sides politics can and will work together for a better outcome on this issue. We must also expand the support of non-violence towards women and children to be the support of non-violence towards families—to have that equity, and so that we do not leave certain sectors out of the question just because of gender. We must work collectively to reduce violence in our families, both here in Australia and around the world. We have both a duty and a responsibility. (Time expired)

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