David Shoebridge (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I want to be clear that I reject the suggestion that Services Australia would inevitably be aware of violent circumstances, particularly those that First Nations women face. I know this because I've spoken with First Nations women who are so desperately afraid of the state coming and taking their kids that they are utterly distrustful of telling either state child protection authorities or Services Australia circumstances about their domestic violence. The reason First Nations women in particular won't tell government departments about domestic violence and family violence that happens in their families is because they know that, too often when they do, a white van turns up and takes their kids. They know that. That's the lived reality still for First Nations women, kids and families. So for you to say that you have some blithe acceptance that First Nations women will tell Services Australia about the domestic violence that they're suffering and about the threats to their kids flies in the face of so much that I've heard in direct testimony from First Nations women who say that they would never tell the government about this, because they know what will happen: their kids will be stolen.

As I tell you this, one case comes to my mind of a mum in Tamworth in my home state. She couldn't stay in her housing accommodation flat because of a flea infestation, so she was staying with her kids in the car and only using the flat to go to the bathroom. She made the mistake of telling the department of housing of New South Wales about the flea infestation. They came and did an inspection, saw that she was sleeping with the kids in the car and sent in the Department of Communities and Justice, DCJ, and they took her kids. It took her two years to get them back. That's the reality. You can deny the reality all you like, but it just flies in the face of so much of the experience that I've heard from First Nations women. Do you seriously say that Services Australia will know the lived reality of First Nations women and that First Nations women feel safe telling them about domestic violence? Do you seriously say that?