Melissa McIntosh (Lindsay, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for the Environment, representing the Minister for Women. As today is International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, will the minister advise the House on the measures the Morrison government is taking to address this critical issue?

Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Minister for the Environment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for her question and commend her on her outstanding work with women's leadership—something she has a history in internationally—in her electorate of Lindsay. Today is International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, a day to take stock of the challenge we face and remember those we have lost to this insidious cause. As Kofi Annan said:

Violence against women is perhaps the most shameful human rights violation and it is perhaps the most pervasive. It knows no boundaries of geography, culture or wealth. As long as it continues, we cannot claim to be making real progress towards equality, development and peace.

Globally, one in three women aged 15 or older have experienced sexual or physical violence and 137 women are killed by a member of their family every single day. Closer to home, 68 per cent of women in the Pacific have experienced violence by an intimate partner. In Australia, a woman is killed by a partner every 11 days, and one in five women over the age of 15 has experienced sexual violence.

Family, domestic and sexual violence is everybody's business, and it is exceptionally important that we particularly listen this day to the voices of First Nations women and girls in this process. That is why today the government has announced, in conjunction with a number of incredibly strong Indigenous women, our support for the Wiyi Yani U Thangani National Summit to amplify the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and girls. These voices need to be heard to make sure that we have a dedicated action plan for Indigenous women and girls. Their leadership and empowerment at local level is so important to provide that national platform for healing intergenerational trauma.

This is an area where there is just so much more to do. Our surveys indicate that one in seven Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women have experienced physical violence in the past 12 months. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are 32 times more likely to be hospitalised as a result of that violence than non-Indigenous women.

We are taking a leadership role. That is why, yesterday, we committed to establishing a domestic violence commission and commissioner. There is, as I always say in this area, much work to do, as we recognise and respect those who do that work on the front line every single day, not just today. This government and parliament are resolute in the aim of stopping violence against women and children. We are not there yet, but we will continue to do everything we can to get there.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

on indulgence—I associate myself with those comments. I think of all Australians who want to see the scourge of domestic violence stamped out in this country. It is a stain on our nation that, on average, one woman will die every week and that every single night women and children are turned away from refuges.