Maria Kovacic (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to take note of the minister's statement on the Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commission's 2024-25 yearly report, tabled in the House of Representatives on 30 October. I begin by acknowledging the victims and survivors of domestic, family and sexual violence and the families and communities who continue to live with the consequences. Their experiences remind us that it is not a private tragedy but a national failure that requires our collective responsibility. I also thank the frontline workers who confront the reality of domestic violence every single day. Their work saves lives and provides the humanity and compassion that too many government systems have failed to deliver.

The evidence in the commission's report is deeply troubling. The Australian Institute of Criminology recorded a 35 per cent increase in women killed by intimate partners in 2023-24 after a 31 per cent increase the year before. In the same year, police charged more than 90,000 Australians with family violence offences. One in six women have experienced physical or sexual violence from a partner since the age of 15. These are not marginal statistics; they describe a national emergency that persists despite decades of inquiry, countless announcements and record investment. The problem is no longer a lack of inquiry, report or recommendation; it is clearly in the delivery.

This government has invested billions in efforts to end domestic violence and sexual violence, but unfortunately the outcomes have not improved. This is not a question of compassion or intent; it is about systems that seem to fail to guarantee action. Funding is announced but often delayed. Programs are launched but not always evaluated. Agencies work in silos, each responsible for part of the system, while no-one really bears responsibility for all of the outcomes. The lack of accountability has real human consequences. Community legal centres turn away around 1,000 people a day. Crisis payments for women fleeing violence take three times longer to process than those for prisoners leaving jail. These failures reflect a system failing to meet its purpose and failing to protect our women and children. Coordinated, accountable and agile delivery must be the baseline for a nation that claims to take this issue seriously.

Nowhere is the failure of delivery clearer than in housing. When women and children flee violence, the first question is not about programs or policies; it is about where they will sleep that night. Without safe and secure housing, survivors are forced to choose between homelessness and returning to danger. A national plan to end family and domestic violence must therefore include a credible plan to build homes. Safety cannot exist without shelter, and progress cannot occur while the government's housing ambitions are unrealised.

Another lesson is clear: we cannot fix what we cannot see. Data on domestic and family sexual violence remains fragmented and incomplete. Information is drawn from disconnected sources that can't be compared or linked across jurisdictions. Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander women, people with disabilities, LGBTIQA+ Australians and those in regional and remote areas remain underrepresented in the data picture. That must change. If governments can't see the whole system, then they can't manage it. A coherent national data framework is not a technical exercise; it is an act of accountability. Real-time visibility of outcomes is essential to understanding what is working, what is failing and where change is most urgently needed.

The failure of data, delivery and housing converge most tragically in their impact on children. The report highlights that prevention must begin in childhood. Children spend significant time in early education, health and sporting and faith based settings—places where adults hold positions of authority and trust. These environments must have strong child-safe standards, informed workforces and clear referral pathways to identify and prevent grooming and abuse. That finding is echoed in the concerns that have emerged in recent months about safety within early childhood and education care. The revelations of child sexual abuse in childcare settings have shown what can happen when oversight is weakened and systems fail to share critical information. As chair of the Senate inquiry into quality and safety of early childhood education, I've called an urgent hearing with law enforcement and child protection authorities to examine these issues. This is not simply an education matter; it is a question of child safety.

The coalition believes that ending family, domestic and sexual violence must be grounded in essential principles that guide consistent and coordinated action. Our approach is clear: national consistency in data and law enforcement across states and territories; modern laws that address technology facilitated abuse, coercive control and emerging harms; prevention and early intervention through education, schools and community engagement; safety and recovery supported by more crisis housing and targeted financial assistance; and accountability through stronger bail, sentencing and monitoring regimes, underpinned by transparent measurement of outcomes.

Prevention must be central to any government strategy to end this crisis. This means policies that engage men and boys as part of the solution to challenge attitudes before they become embedded behaviours. As the Leader of the Opposition has said, men's health policy is women's safety policy. Strong prevention starts with how men look after themselves and those around them; how they manage anger, stress and relationships; and how they model respect in their homes, workplaces and communities. Fathers in particular play a powerful role in shaping how their children learn to treat others and understand respect, equality and care throughout their lives. When men demonstrate that strength and respect go hand in hand, they can build a culture where violence has no place and where responsibility is shared. That is the work of prevention—sustained, deliberate and led by example, supported by policies that make this everybody's business, not just women's business.

Across parliament there is a bipartisan commitment to addressing family, domestic and sexual violence. Ending it requires ambition equal to the scale of this problem. It demands systems that work; data that tells us the truth, housing that provides refuge; and leadership that is accountable for outcomes, not announcements. The coalition will continue to hold the government to that standard and advocate practical reform built on evidence, coordination and urgency. We have that knowledge and we have the evidence. What is needed now is the courage to move beyond talk, beyond review and beyond complacency and into immediate action.

Question agreed to.