Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Waters for the question and also for the role she plays in the women's policy space more generally but particularly in the area of women's safety. I would say to Senator Waters: we are coming at this issue of how to end violence against women and children with every single available lever across government. Yes, it is about frontline services, and we have invested heavily in that space—over $4 billion in programs for ending gender based violence, including support for frontline services and, in addition to that, $3.9 billion in legal services, including women's legal services and Aboriginal legal services, to make sure that they're on solid and sustainable footing, with funding into the future.

We are also coming at this from housing policy; from sharing and valuing care policy—that is, how we deliver care; and from driving women's economic equality policy, ensuring that women's wages are not suppressed, that they are getting paid properly for the work they're doing and that they have skills and training opportunities on par with men. Our women's health package ensures women aren't paying out-of-pocket and are able to access services in the health system in ways they haven't been able to before. Of course, there is also the work that we're trying to do around women's leadership and representation and diversity across the government, using all of the levers available to us. We know, in driving gender equality, which is at the heart of violence against women and children, we have to come at this from every possible angle, and that is exactly what we are doing.