Terry Young (Longman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'd like to share with you tonight some disturbing facts. In Australia, on average, one woman a week is murdered by her current or former partner. In 2018, 69 women and children were killed as a result of domestic violence. One in six Australian women have been subjected to physical or sexual violence by a current or previous partner since the age of 15. That is 1.6 million women. One in four women have experienced emotional abuse by a current or previous partner. These are the statistics staring us in the face every day when we talk about domestic and family violence. But there are still so many untold stories. So many women and children are currently suffering and have suffered violence and abuse at the hands of someone whom they loved and who should have loved them back—who should have protected them, not harmed them.

No-one deserves to be abused. No-one deserves to have to deal with the pain, the uncertainty, the emotional and psychological trauma and the long-term effects of domestic violence. No woman or child should ever be given a reason to fear for their life. Domestic and family violence tears lives apart. Every day we see the terrible media reports about women and children who have been killed or hurt at the hands of someone else. Our local police departments deal with multiple calls about domestic and family violence every day. Families are forced to watch as their daughter, sister, mother, grandmother or friend suffers because their partner or former partner is abusing them.

I know this because one of my daughters has suffered in a violent relationship. I can remember when my son and I made the four-hour drive to pick her up in the middle of the night because her partner had harmed her physically. I can remember the anger and the feeling of helplessness as we drove back that same night and the confusion and the hurt in her voice, but also the confusion I had as I realised during the conversation the love that she still had for this man.

Domestic abuse affects not only families and friends. I have also had a staff member who was a victim of domestic violence. I can remember the awful sobbing noise as I passed the door of the ladies toilet. This was 12 months after the abuse had ended, but the memory and pain still remained and a trigger had reignited that trauma. It's one thing to hear about these stories, but to hear it for yourself is another thing altogether.

Domestic and family violence can take many forms, whether it's verbal abuse, emotional abuse, social abuse, financial abuse, physical abuse or even stalking. But any form of abuse is never okay. So, to the victims of domestic and family violence, I want to say: it is not your fault and it is never your fault. I knew that this was a problem, but since being elected I've been overwhelmed by the number of organisations that are out there to deal with this problem, which is more evidence of how big a problem it is. I have personally met with eight different organisations in my electorate so far; I've counted and there about another 14 to go before I cover them all. This is an epidemic.

But tonight I want to talk about an organisation that has gone above and beyond when it comes to helping and supporting women who have gone through domestic and family violence. In Longman electorate we have an organisation called Hairdressers with Hearts, who are supporting those facing family and domestic violence, including elder abuse, by harnessing the safe and trusted environment of a hairdressing salon and a barber shop to provide information and support for clients to access the right services and the right advice at the right time. You probably wouldn't have thought that a hairdressing salon would be that place. They do this by utilising the unique advantage of being licensed to touch hair, which allows a close and trusted relationship to develop between a hairdresser or barber and the client. Because of the bond that is created, a hairdresser or barber is often confided in by clients—kind of like the old bartender. It makes sense that this environment produces trust, as often these appointments go for hours and the client is relaxed as they are being pampered. I can testify to this firsthand as I have on occasion gone to collect my wife from a hairdressing appointment, and of course it was running late, and I have heard some of the conversations that my wife has had with her hairdresser. I'm sure the hairdresser knows more about me than I know about myself, which is scary.

Hairdressers with Hearts takes a proactive approach by providing appropriate training and the necessary resources to assist victims who confide in their hairdresser or barber about their current situation. This wonderful organisation, headed up by two ladies, Sonia Colvin and Adrienne Logan, who had no more than a vision and a desire to help others, is fast blossoming into a force to be reckoned with. Sonia has personally helped 131 people in her single salon at Bribie Island. If the 55,000 hairdressers and barbers around Australia helped the same number of people, that would be 7,205,000 people helped—a big dream indeed.

But it is their desire and mine to go a step further. We would like to see another subject added to the curriculum of the certificate III in hairdressing, or hairdressing apprenticeship, for want of a better term. The subject would be along the same lines as one called No More Silence, which was first introduced in Illinois in the United States. In essence, it would give the hairdresser or barber training to identify those who potentially are suffering abuse. Secondly, it would give them the skill set to put these victims in touch with the appropriate organisation that best suited their individual needs. In the US, 16 states currently have this in their hairdressing apprenticeships and we'd like to see it rolled out here in Australia.

To give a little bit of history about Hairdressers with Hearts, it started under the window of a 'safe room' at a Caboolture courthouse, in 2012, with a simple conversation between Sonia Colvin, who was a hairdresser, and a domestic violence worker. It was a dream, a dream of being able to do something to harness the power of hairdressing salons. Hairdressers and barbers are at the front line of the community, reaching people at the grassroots level and having intimate conversations with clients who walk through the door on a regular basis. Their aim with Hairdressers with Hearts is to harness the intimate and trusting relationship between Australia's 55,000 hairdressers and their clients. They believe that by empowering hairdressers with the correct resources and appropriate training they'll be doing their part to make a difference in the lives of many Australians. The number and location of domestic and family violence and elder abuse units across Australia is not sufficient to meet the needs of victims in rural areas. However, most small rural communities have a hairdresser and/or a barber who could safely make resources available for these victims.

They have a great vision, which is to provide every Australian hairdresser and barber with the Hairdressers with Hearts 'no more silence' training so that they are empowered to help clients by providing appropriate resources. In doing so, they will reach the most vulnerable in the community, who may have no idea where to turn. Hairdressers with Hearts has the ability to cross cultural and socioeconomic barriers, because hairdressers are a part of all communities.

Mobile hairdressers are regularly entering the homes of the elderly and the disabled and also nursing homes, reaching some of the most vulnerable and at-risk in our community. The second part of their vision concerns elder abuse. As recently as five years ago my father-in-law, who was suffering from dementia, was subject to a type of abuse that is not often talked about, which is economic and social abuse. He had been reached by a telemarketing company and we took a phone call to say that he was in debt for the sum of around $600 because he hadn't been paying for a teddy bear that he had apparently signed up for six months previously. How they got the number of a man in a dementia clinic I'll never know.

It's so important that we continue to give those who have been through violent situations the help and support that they need to get back on their feet and the confidence to believe in themselves again. This additional subject will achieve just that outcome, because everyone deserves to live in a world without violence. Thank you.

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