Alison Byrnes (Cunningham, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Social Services. How is the Albanese Labor government working to reduce family, domestic and sexual violence?

Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to thank the member for Cunningham. People working in family, domestic and sexual violence in her electorate know that they've got someone who has got their back. She has made a huge contribution on this issue. Family, domestic and sexual violence is a problem that's been with us for generations, but it's a problem that is changing all the time. We're seeing evolving threats—like more tech facilitated abuse, more victimisation where the perpetrator and the victims are both under 18, and more choking in intimate relationships. As the threat evolves, we need to evolve our response. That's why the government is consulting right now on our second action plan under the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children.

But we're not waiting for these consultations to take action. Right now, in this parliament, for example, we've begun the work to prevent perpetrators of family, domestic and sexual violence from receiving the superannuation death benefits of their victims. I want to congratulate the Assistant Treasurer on that work. We've established an inquiry into the relationship between family, domestic and sexual violence and suicide, and I want to thank all the members of that committee for that work. We have already, as a government, changed our social security system to prevent the weaponisation of social security debts against victims of family and domestic violence.

In the most recent budget, we set aside $183 million to update our child support system. We know that the child support system is being weaponized against children and against victims of family and domestic violence. I think every member of this place has probably heard some really disturbing stories. There's almost $2 billion of debt owed to Australia's children because of people avoiding their responsibilities. Almost 100,000 people on the system have an indicator that shows there has been family or domestic violence in that family. We need to make sure that children get the support they need and that systems like the child support system are not weaponized against victims of family and domestic violence.

These efforts right now and the further consultation we're doing on the next action plan really build on the $4.4 billion that we have invested as a government to eliminate family, domestic and sexual violence in this country—measures like making the leaving violence payment permanent, launching our first ever standalone First Nations plan on family, domestic and sexual violence with a $218 million investment in the most recent budget, boosting funding for our 500 Workers program by 70 per cent, boosting funding for 1800RESPECT by 40 per cent and funding practical programs that help men, adolescents and children specifically address the risks of violence in our community. Every one of us has a responsibility—every level of government and every one of us as citizens.