David Pocock (ACT, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

This year six women, including three First Nations women, have been murdered in intimate partner and family violence related homicides. We are less than five weeks into 2026, and already six women have been murdered by a man that was known to them. These deaths are not isolated incidents; they are a painful continuation of the ongoing crisis of men's violence against women and children in our communities.

The number of women being murdered in Australia is totally unacceptable, and it's much worse for First Nations women and children, who continue to be disproportionately represented as both victims and victims-survivors. That First Nations women are 35 times as likely to be hospitalised due to family violence related assaults than non-First Nations women is a systemic failure. Women and children and their communities deserve much more from us in this parliament.

Let me be clear: this is a men's issue. It is men by and large perpetrating the violence, so it is men who also have to be standing with experts and victims-survivors to push for solutions. And we know that across the country they are. It is by no means simple, but we know what will make a difference: consistent, sustainable funding for frontline services; funding for men's behaviour-change programs; changing the way the media report on and how we talk about men's violence when it happens; increasing our social safety net, particularly to give victims-survivors opportunities to not just leave but recover from violence; banning gambling ads and focusing on industries that we know accelerate violence; expanding social housing options; and listening to women about their experiences, their solutions and working in partnership to implement them.