Lisa Darmanin (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Today marks the beginning of 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence. It is a stark reminder of both the scale of this national crisis and what enables it. At the root of gender based violence is gender inequality. Rigid stereotypes, the gender pay gap and the ways that society excuses abuse all contribute to a culture that devalues women, and the consequences are devastating. One woman in Australia is killed every nine days by a current or former partner. Intimate partner violence causes more death, disability and illness for women aged 25 to 44 than any other preventable risk factor.

Yet, across the last decade, we have started to see a decrease in violence and a significant decline in the number of women murdered over the past three decades. That progress is not accidental; it is the direct result of advocacy, primary prevention and the tireless work of frontline services and their staff. I want to pay tribute to those frontline workers. Every day, specialist domestic and family violence workers, practitioners and workers in child and family services—including services like the Orange Door in Victoria—support victims-survivors through some of the hardest moments of their lives. Their work is complex, highly skilled, emotionally demanding and profoundly important. The decisions they make can be life or death. It is gruelling work, with high levels of burnout and workers exposed to vicarious trauma. Their important work restores safety, dignity and respect to the lives of women and children and helps set people on a path of recovery. The government has a responsibility to back them in. We do so through the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children and the National Strategy to Achieve Gender Equality, and this drives every bit of progress we make. Those workers deserve our respect.