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

Earlier this week, together with a number of other parliamentarians, I attended the Parliamentarians against Family Violence event. We heard from 2015 Australian of the Year and one of the most powerful advocates against family violence, Rosie Batty, as well from Jennifer Orr, a survivor of family violence, and Paul Linossier, the CEO of Our Watch. They talked about the persistent attitudes within our society which allow violence to continue, as well as the shortcomings in our responses to this most serious issue. The grim reality is that one in three women will experience violence in their lifetime, and one in five women will experience violence of a sexual nature. Already this year, 15 women have been killed by a partner or former partner. That takes our national average up to two deaths per week.

Our three insightful and very inspiring guest speakers last Monday night touched on a number of different areas where change must happen in order to give victims the support that they so desperately need. They identified the lack of safe and affordable accommodation as one of the greatest obstacles preventing women from leaving dangerous situations. At the moment, 423 people on average are being turned away from homeless shelters every day, and many of them are women escaping a violent situation. The 2008 white paper on homelessness—and this is supported by other studies—certainly shows a very clear link between homelessness and domestic violence. In fact, escaping family violence is the major reason for people seeking to access services for the homeless. Thirty-four per cent of people seeking assistance from services in 2012 had experienced domestic or family violence. The white paper also showed—and I think we would all be familiar with this— that 78 per cent of those victims were women. It is therefore concerning that organisations such as Bonnie Support Services in my electorate, which provides support and transitional housing for women escaping domestic and family violence, have faced significant funding cuts. Equally concerning is the fact that this government has also cut $42 million from the community and legal aid services which help victims of family violence.

Family violence needs to be elevated in our national conversation. We need to look at a number of areas where we might be failing the victims, and set up a national conversation to deal with this truly epidemic problem in our society. This is a blight on our nation and one we must address.

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