Jodie Belyea (Dunkley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

One of the clearest lessons in public life is this: when women are around the table, things change. They change because women bring lived experience, practical thinking and an unshakeable focus on the everyday realities families face. They ask different questions, they see different pressures and they push for different priorities. For example, on Monday, the federal government launched the menopause and perimenopause campaign to better understand the signs and symptoms of menopause. That matters in every parliament, but it matters especially when we talk about domestic and family violence. This issue is not something happening elsewhere to someone else. It is happening in our suburbs, in our streets, in our schools and in our communities. It affects women and children in Dunkley, just as it does across the country. That is why I am proud to stand with the majority of Labor women in this government that understand that women's safety must be at the centre of the budget—not an afterthought and not a footnote but a national priority.

This morning I was very fortunate to sit with the Minister for Social Services and the Assistant Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence to talk about a range of consultations that will be rolled out over the second half of the year to talk about the impact of domestic and family violence and how we build a second plan to address this scourge on our communities. This budget shows what that looks like in practice—how we work with people in the community and support women.

Since Labor coming to government, $800 million has been invested into women's health. More than $4 billion has been invested to address gender based violence, strengthening legal assistance with $3.9 billion in new funding. This funding has boosted 1800RESPECT by $41.8 million and builds on the introduction of 10 days paid domestic and family violence leave. This leave and these measures support the first ever First Nations led plan to end family violence against women. It continues the full implementation of Respect@Work, including a legislated positive duty. These are not small changes. They are structural changes. They acknowledge that violence against women is not private, it is not inevitable and it is not something governments can ignore.

This budget also recognises something women in my community know too well. Violence is not just physical. It can also be financial. It can be coercive. It can continue long after a relationship ends. That is why we are investing $183 million to make the child support system both safer and fairer. Right now, there is around $2 billion in unpaid child support debt in Australia, and women make up around 83 per cent of recipients. The average debt is nearly $8,700. For many families in Dunkley, $8,700 is significant, particularly with the cost of living. It is money for braces, for a child's school excursions, sport registration fees, music lessons and groceries. It's food on the table. These reforms are the most significant changes to the child support system in nearly 20 years. They will crack down on financial abuse, reduce the scope for weaponisation of the system and help ensure more children and families get the support they are owed. That matters deeply because economic security is safety, as is a fair system.

Housing is safety too. Everyone should have a safe place to call home, especially women and children experiencing domestic and family violence. That is why this budget includes support that helps women leave unsafe situations and rebuild their lives. We are investing $59.4 million over four years for community housing providers, supporting young people at risk or experiencing homelessness. Girls and young women make up 66 per cent of homelessness service users, and many of those young people have also been affected by gender based violence. This builds on broader action we are taking: a 50 per cent increase in Commonwealth rent assistance, $1 billion for crisis and transitional accommodation for women and children, the $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund and 30,000 new social and affordable homes. In communities like Dunkley I hear about the need for housing. The stress is real. I hear about it from young mums, grandparents raising children and women trying to start again after trauma. A woman cannot plan for her future if she does not have a house over her head. So housing security is not separate from women's safety but is fundamental to it.

This budget also continues our record investment in women's health because, too often, women's health has not been taken seriously enough. So far, women have saved more than $647 million across almost 139 million prescriptions on the PBS. And this budget includes an additional $2 billion to strengthen Medicare. We have opened 33 endometriosis clinics under this government and provided $2.7 million to improve access to long-acting reversible contraceptives, like IUDs and implants.

Health matters and safety matters but so does opportunity. Since 2022, women's workforce participation has reached a record high. The gender pay gap is at its lowest ever recorded level. Women's average weekly earnings have grown by almost $300 per week. More than one million families have benefited from cheaper child care. Australia's global gender equality ranking has improved from 43rd to 13th. Those outcomes do not happen by accident. They happen when gender equality is treated as a core economic policy. That is why the Women's Budget Statement matters.

A Labor government introduced the world's first women's budget statement in the 1980s, and, in 2022, the Albanese Labor government brought it back. It outlines the impact new budget measures have on women. Through gender-responsive budgeting, every proposal is tested against its impact on women as part of the budget process. That means asking who benefits, who misses out, who is safer, who has more opportunity and who still needs support. This is how we make gender equality part of our economic agenda, not separate from it. And it reflects something we should be proud of: representation.

Our government is majority women: 56 per cent of the Labor caucus are women. When more women are in the room, the national conversation changes. Women's safety, health, the unpaid work of care and the financial pressures on single mothers are all taken more seriously. I know this not only as a parliamentarian but as someone who has spent decades working alongside women in community life.

Before coming to this place, I founded the Women's Spirit Project in Frankston. It grew from a simple belief that women who have experienced disadvantage, trauma and abuse deserve more than a crisis response. They deserve connection, confidence and the chance to rebuild. Through the Women's Spirit Project, I witnessed the strength of women who had long been made to feel alone. When they were offered support instead of judgement, community instead of isolation and opportunity instead of barriers, real change followed. I saw women regain confidence, rebuild connections and begin to imagine a different future for themselves and their children.

Women are not asking for slogans. They are asking for action. They want safe homes, fair pay, affordable health care, reliable child care and systems that protect rather than entrench disadvantage. Above all, they want a government that understands the reality of their lives. This budget also helps with the cost of living, which is critical for women's economic security. In Dunkley, it matters. It matters to the women I meet at schools. It matters to women from every corner of this country. This budget says women should expect better, they should expect safety and they should expect fairness. And, under a Labor government, that is exactly what we are delivering.

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