Kara Cook (Bonner, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that during Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Month we raise awareness, support victim survivors and promote zero tolerance for violence in our country;

(2) commends the Government's National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children 2022-32;

(3) recognises the Government's record investment to end violence against women and children and work undertaken under the First Action Plan 2023-2027; and

(4) supports the Government as it develops the second action plan towards its goal to end violence against women and children in Australia in one generation.

I rise today to acknowledge Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Month, a time when we come together as a nation to raise awareness, support victims-survivors, honour those we have lost and reaffirm our collective commitment to zero tolerance for violence against women and children. I also rise to speak about the Albanese Labor government's National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children, our government's record investment in this work and the important consultation now underway to shape the next phase of reform, including the development of the second action plan and the continued implementation of the First Nations action plan.

As a former domestic violence lawyer and as someone who has sat across the table from countless women at the most terrifying moments of their lives, I've seen the courage it takes to leave. I've sat with women making impossible decisions, women trying to protect their children, women trying to find somewhere safe to sleep and women trying to navigate systems while living in fear. I've also seen their extraordinary resilience. I've seen women rebuild their lives after unimaginable trauma, and I've seen frontline workers go above and beyond to keep people safe, often with limited resources and under immense pressure. Those experiences are one of the reasons that I came to this place. Violence against women is not inevitable. It is preventable, and governments have a responsibility to act. That is why I am proud that this government has made the single largest investment of any Australian government in tackling violence against women and children—more than $4 billion across frontline services, prevention programs, early intervention, behaviour change initiatives, housing, and supports for children. These are not symbolic announcements. They are practical reforms that are changing lives.

This government made the leaving violence payment permanent because no woman should have to choose between violence and homelessness. We legislated 10 days of paid domestic and family violence leave, recognising that safety should not cost someone their job or income. We invested $1.2 billion in emergency and transitional accommodation because escaping violence means little if there's nowhere safe to go. We've boosted funding for the 500 frontline workers program by more than 70 per cent. And, for the first time in Australia's history, we launched a standalone national plan for First Nations women and children, 'Our Ways—Strong Ways—Our Voices', backed by a $218 million investment in this year's budget. In my electorate of Bonner, organisations like the Red Rose Foundation, home to Australia's only strangulation trauma centre, continue their life-saving work supporting victims-survivors because of sustained investment in frontline responses.

This is the kind of reform you see when women's safety is treated as a national priority, not as an afterthought, and it's what happens when lived experience informs policy, when frontline workers are listened to and when governments understand that violence against women is not just a justice issue; it's a housing issue, a health issue and a workplace issue. And, fundamentally, it is a national crisis. That is why the next phase of this work matters so deeply.

Consultation is now underway on the second National Action Plan to End Violence against Women and Children. At the same time, consultation is occurring across several related frameworks, including the next action plans under Our Ways - Strong Ways - Our Voices, Safe and Supported, and the National Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Child Sexual Abuse. Importantly, these consultations are being coordinated so people are not forced to repeatedly relive their trauma across multiple processes. I encourage victims-survivors, frontline organisations, advocates, researchers and community members to have their say, because ending violence against women requires all of us.

I would be doing a disservice if I didn't acknowledge all of the women and children who we have seen murdered in this country, not just in the last few weeks but over the last 10 years in particular. I want to acknowledge the work, through Australian Femicide Watch, of journalist and researcher Sherele Moody, who has documented 3,000 deaths of women and children over the past decade. She herself has said that this count is incomplete because our systems still fail to capture every life lost. An estimated 2.3 million Australians have experienced some form of domestic and family violence in the last year alone. That is the size of the Greater Brisbane population.

I'm proud of what this Labor government has delivered, but there is much more work to do. The women who have been killed need us to continue this work. They need us to fully fund frontline services, to strengthen responses and to ensure that no-one is left without the support they need.

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