Matt Keogh (Burt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Gellibrand for moving this motion, which goes to the heart of why I came to this place. In my electorate, and in Perth's south-east more generally, domestic violence is at a crisis point. Domestic violence is far and away the largest offence group of offences against the person. Over 2015-16 there were 3,477 domestic violence offences committed in the South East Metropolitan police district and the sanction rate for these offences was just 22.4 per cent. WA police are identifying domestic violence offences but, for various reasons, insufficient evidence exists for them to proceed against the perpetrator. These figures paint an unacceptable picture of the issues in homes across my community, but it is not until you hear the stories at the heart of the crisis that you truly grasp the extent of the problem.

Through my work as a local lawyer in the south-east, I became involved with Starick Services, which runs two refuges for women and children who are fleeing domestic violence. I joined the board of Starick and I went on to become its chairperson, and I also represented the sector on the state advisory committee. Starick is much more than a women's refuge. It pioneered the use of assistance officers in police stations and courthouses. It runs programs in high schools to raise awareness of domestic violence and to break the cycle of violence. In the words of domestic violence survivor, Mary, who was supported by Starick:

I am so very thankful for the women's refuges throughout Perth, the police who see the destruction first hand yet continue to care for me in the wee hours when nobody else can help, the magistrates who watch our declining culture day in and day out but choose to protect us, still, by putting boundaries in place, and all the people who became a voice for those who had lost theirs.

I am glad that they didn't grow despondent and give up and that on their hard days they continued to press on and serve their community and in all honesty, by doing so, save lives.

They saved my life and the lives of the seven others that were in my care. For that I am thankful.

Ending the scourge of violence against women will require bipartisan support in this place and in our community. And I am glad to see members opposite rise to support the member for Gellibrand's motion. But, unfortunately, that bipartisanship is not translated into real support in some areas from this government. Since coming to office, the Abbott-Turnbull government has cut a combined $52 million from community legal centres, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander legal centres and legal aid services, which help domestic violence victims every day. That has impacted heavily on local services like the Gosnells Community Legal Centre in Burt. While the recent announcement of new funding for these services was welcome, it does not make up for the previous cuts. It is crucial that we see these funds flow to our front line services in Perth's south-east.

Overall, last month's COAG summit on reducing violence against women and their children was a missed opportunity to deal with the scourge of family violence. More than a third of people accessing homelessness services are family violence victims, yet we have seen no real action to boost funding to these services. We also need to protect domestic violence victims by guaranteeing personal leave when they access help, yet this remains off limits under the Liberal government—a truly shameful situation. We need firmer commitments, better funding and real reform to support family violence victims from this government. Anything less is failing those in our society who need our help most.

As with so many areas of inequality and discrimination, achieving great change involves not just the courage of victims but a push for real change by those responsible. In this way, White Ribbon, as an organisation targeting at engaging men, is working to change the culture of the group in our society most likely to inflict violence on others—men. The existence and work of White Ribbon does not detract from the fact that some perpetrators of domestic violence are indeed women. And I have worked as a lawyer for men who were victims of domestic violence. Let us not be distracted. We must, as a society, rid ourselves of behaviour that sees around 100 women die each year from domestic violence. So I am proud to stand in support of White Ribbon and join hundreds of thousands of Australian men in saying that I will stand up, speak out and act to prevent men's violence against women. This is my oath.

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