Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

( It's almost a decade to the day since I stood in this chamber and delivered a ministerial statement on White Ribbon Day in 2009 as the then Minister for the Status of Women. I'd recently received the Time for action report from the national council of experts I had asked to consider how we could reduce violence against women and their children in Australia. That report led to the groundbreaking National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children—a piece of work that I remain very proud of today.

In that speech in 2009, I said that one in three Australian women had been a victim of physical violence and almost one in five would be a victim of sexual violence. Almost 10 years later it troubles me deeply that those numbers are so stubbornly the same, but I think one thing has changed: around the world, many more women are speaking out and sharing their experiences of sexual harassment, of assault, of rape, of violence.

Rosie Batty, as Australian of the Year, did such an incredible job of raising this issue, sharing the painful story of her son's death by family violence. Her courage led to a royal commission in Victoria and a massive investment in change by the Andrews government. Tracey Spicer received hundreds of letters after asking Australian women about their experience of workplace harassment. One came from a woman in her 70s who revealed that 50 years earlier she had been sexually assaulted at work—she didn't want to pursue the complaint; she just wanted to tell someone half a century later for the first time in her life what had happened to her.

Labor's national plan made a huge difference in raising awareness about violence against women. Domestic violence is no longer seen as a private matter, and I believe we did raise the issue of domestic violence to become a national priority, tackled by the Commonwealth government and the states and territories together. We've seen, for example, Victorian police referrals to specialist services double since the new national plan was launched. The number of people seeking help from refuges, from legal centres and trauma counsellors has soared.

Back in 2009, we knew that there would be an increase in demand for services when we named this issue and said that there was help available, because women who had once been part of a silent majority gained confidence that our judicial policing and support systems had improved. Increased reporting, in this instance, was a good thing because we knew that so many of these assaults in the past had gone unreported.

The eighth year of the national plan—we are in the eighth year now—has been a particularly bad one: 63 women have lost their lives already this year, children have been killed as acts of revenge against their mothers who have fled abusive partners and reports of sexual harassment are increasing. We still have epidemic levels of violence against women and their children in this country.

Almost a decade ago I said that ending violence against women has to be treated like a public health issue, like reducing drink driving or smoking. It's going to need long-term and constant effort from government. It will need investment in education, in behaviour change. It will need laws to be strengthened and policed effectively. It means jailing perpetrators. It means offering better supports for victims.

Yesterday Bill Shorten, the Leader of the Opposition, committed Labor to a second 10-year national plan to reduce violence against women and their children. We have to work together with the states and territories, with non-government organisations across the country, to get this right. It won't happen overnight, but we have to remain committed for the long term. That is why we've committed $88 million to a new safe housing fund and another $18 million for keeping women safe at home so that they can stay in their own homes when ending an abusive relationship. We will also legislate 10 days paid leave, and it's about time. (Time expired)