Gabriel Ng (Menzies, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you to the member for Wentworth for moving this motion acknowledging the actions taken by the government in this important space of addressing family violence. I rise today because urgent action is required to stop violence against women and children. Every nine days, a man in Australia kills his female partner. One in four women in Australia have experienced intimate partner violence since the age of 15. Each week, a woman is killed by a man's use of violence—almost always a man she knows. They are young women whose lives were only beginning and older women with so much to look forward to, and so many more women live with lasting injuries and trauma, particularly because of men who are making a choice to use violence.

But it doesn't need to be this way. We can prevent this violence. The Albanese Labor government is acting with the urgency that is required to tackle this pervasive issue. We all have a role to play when it comes to preventing violence against women, but is it us as men who need to step up and speak up, because the evidence tells us that the key driver of family violence is gender inequality. Since coming to government, we have invested over $4 billion in preventing and responding to family, sexual and domestic violence; strengthening services for women; providing tailored support to help children and young people heal and recover; and driving change to men's violence-enabling behaviour. This is in addition to $3.9 billion for legal assistance frontline services announced at the 6 September national cabinet on gender based violence as well as billions in funding for housing for victims of family and domestic violence who are looking for emergency accommodation. This investment reflects the priorities of a government that understands the scale and the depth of this crisis.

Properly addressing family violence means understanding the number of ways in which it affects victim-survivors. The consequences of abuse can be felt far beyond immediate physical risks, impacting women and children financially, legally and psychologically. That is why our government has been focused on ensuring that women have the support and resources to be safe. The actions we have taken include introducing 10 days of paid family violence leave, permanent leaving-violence payments and delivering on our election commitment to ensure the social security system cannot be weaponised against women experiencing family violence. Just this week, the Minister for Social Services week announced that there can be compassionate waivers for women who have had debts accrued against them due to financial and systems abuse. We have also strengthened access to legal support through our National Access to Justice Partnership 2025-30, which invests in community legal services, like the Eastern Community Legal Centre, in my electorate of Menzies. We've invested in dedicated social and affordable housing for victim-survivors so that women and children know they have a safe place to go. We've worked with state and territory governments around the country through our national plan to end violence against women and children to ensure we invest in evidence based, high-quality and specialised services that meet local needs.

Within the community I'm lucky enough to represent, there are several services that are dedicated to prevention, early intervention and response to family and domestic violence who help thousands of locals get the support they need. In particular, I want to acknowledge the work of our community health centres Doncare Community Services and Eastern Community Legal Centre, as well as the workforce at the Orange Door in Box Hill, who facilitate the critical links between victim-survivors and the people who help them. Having volunteered in a community legal centre, I know what a vital role they play in preventing family violence. Most of the cases that came through the door of Fitzroy Legal Service, where I volunteered, related to family violence, and the urgency of the issue and how endemic family violence is throughout our communities was clear. Having worked at the County Court of Victoria, I also note that the courts themselves are sometimes used to enact systems abuse on victim-survivors through the use of applications against family violence intervention orders and personal safety intervention orders.

I know that, given the scale of this problem, the community groups who offer family violence support in my community alone are too numerous to name. I thank them for the sensitivity and care they show to so many vulnerable people in Menzies. This is an important motion that speaks to the government and what we are doing to invest in research and best-practice development in the prevention space.

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