Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to congratulate this place and other parliaments around our country that are bringing domestic violence against women and children out of the shadows on this important day, White Ribbon Day. It feels like an important point in time, like we cannot go back from this point; we must keep shining a light on this scourge. It feels like the world is waking up—but it is important to remember the women and children who will never wake up and those who live in fear and terror in their own homes.

It is also important to act. To quote a stranger on Twitter this morning: 'Shut up with the high rhetoric and just fund the services.' I echo that call in this chamber today. I commend also those unions who started the work on domestic violence leave and have seen it introduced into EBAs already.

I commend Bill Shorten and my colleagues in the federal Labor Party for the announcement today about domestic violence leave. It is another action that will bring this issue out into the light. The impact will be substantial if this is brought into workplace law. In businesses and workplaces across the country, when asked, 'Why is she not at work?' the answers will be, 'Because her controlling partner has physically abused her,' or 'Because she has to go to court.' It will shine a light every day on this issue in every workplace where someone is a victim of domestic violence.