Tim Watts (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

We have seen a fair bit of rhetoric this morning, as we always do in sessions of this kind, and a bit of cut and thrust. That is all well and good, but I seek the indulgence of the parliamentary secretary to ask a question of earnest importance, and that is a question dealing with the incidence of men's violence against women in our community. I ask him to take this question from me as one man asking another man about an important issue that all men should be speaking out about in our community. Questions that go to the prioritisation of funding are inherently political, but I emphasise I am not asking partisan questions as I do not doubt the intent of those opposite to curb the growth of men's violence against women in our community and, in fact, to drive the rate of violence down.

My questions relate to two areas of funding and the Office for Women. I am seeking guidance from the parliamentary secretary about whether the Office for Women provided advice to the government on how this year's budget would impact on services provided to women in danger of family violence, in particular in the area of community legal centres. We have seen $1.6 million cut in the budget from the women's leadership and development strategy, which includes the Australian Women Against Violence Alliance, but also $15 million from legal aid and millions from community legal centres.

In Melbourne's west, in my electorate, more than 50 per cent of the work of community legal centres is advising women in danger of family of violence. For the benefit of people who have not engaged with these groups, this kind of advice includes their rights in the legal system, protection and their rights to intervention orders to ensure their safety. It is also advice about what to expect if they make the decision to leave their home, in terms of their financial security, the obligation of the government to them and the obligation of their partners to support them. Also, there has been a 35 per cent increase in demand for community legal centre advice in this space in my electorate.

MYEFO contained cuts of $3.6 million from the National Family Violence Prevention Legal Services, $9.6 million from community legal centres and $6.5 million from legal aid. Did the Office for Women provide advice to the government about the impact of those cuts on women in these situations? Also, did they take into account that the rising rates of domestic violence increase demand for these services in the community? If they did provide advice, I would ask what the recommendations of that advice were and whether it was acted on by the government?

The second area I would like to ask about is the impact of cuts to Medicare Locals funding contained in this year's budget, and the impact this has on family violence services. Family violence was a priority area for the Medicare Local in my community. As I said, family violence is an extraordinarily serious and growing problem in my community. These cuts will have substantial impact on the ability of Medicare Local-funded programs to continue in our community.

I should emphasise that these are not cuts to the Medicare Local institutions, these are cuts to the funding of programs being implemented by Medicare Locals. Again, I ask whether the Office for Women provided advice on these decisions and about the impact of these decisions on women in these situations? I ask whether the cumulative impact of these cuts to programs that assist GPs in providing advice to women and identifying women in these situations, combined with cuts to community legal centres, who are providing advice to women in these situations, were taken into account in the budget process?

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