Kerrynne Liddle (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Child Protection and the Prevention of Family Violence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to highlight the epidemic of domestic and family violence. First and foremost, I encourage victims-survivors, witnesses and perpetrators to seek help—and to do so early. Physical and mental abuse, coercive control and sexual violence are not easy subjects to talk about, but it's important for us to become more comfortable in starting a conversation about these things.

On average, one woman a week is killed by a partner or former partner. On Monday, a Perth mother of two died, allegedly at the hands of her partner. While this parliament was on its winter break and we were away, another nine lives were lost: on 5 July, a young mother of three was found dead inside her former partner's South Sydney home; on 6 July a 46-year-old woman died with stab wounds to her back on a Northern Territory remote community; on 11 July a woman was killed in Sydney's Rooty Hill; on 15 July a 47-year-old woman was killed by a blunt weapon at a bush camp near Alice Springs; on 15 July in my home state of South Australia a woman was shot and another wounded; on 21 July there were three counts of murder, including a domestic violence charge, following a multi-car crash in Queensland; on 26 July in Perth a woman was shot dead outside her home. There have already been 39 Australian women killed and nine children lost this year. In many of these cases, the trial process is underway.

In South Australia, 40 per cent of homicides are family and domestic violence related—yes, you are more likely to be murdered by someone you know, not by a stranger. We all must remember that statistics are not just numbers; they are grandmothers, children, families, households in pain, lives crippled by violence. The effects last long after the violence has been perpetrated.

As shadow minister for child protection and the prevention of family violence, I make this urgent plea for the Albanese government to do more in prevention, especially if you wish to 'end violence in a generation'—a defining statement in your 10-year National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children. In this chamber in February, Labor senator Jess Walsh said, 'We promised before the election that we would make women's safety a national priority, and we have.' But that's not what I'm hearing or seeing, and I talk to people working on the front lines. Where are the five-year action plans that were due for release in early 2023? Where is the dedicated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander action plan?

It's terrific to see family violence leave recently coming into effect, and I look forward to seeing the impact it has for those escaping violence, but, again, prevention is what this sector needs, and it's what families need. The Albanese government needs to stop telling us what is going on and start acting. Their promise of 500 frontline workers has not been delivered—not a single new worker. And what about those promised positions? We've been told the actual amount of funding only allows, in some places, for entry level roles like cleaning, driving and reception. They need skilled professional workers to work through complex issues.

In South Australia, 279,000 women, 39 per cent of the population, have experienced sexual or physical violence, and there has been a 10 per cent increase in domestic violence. In the NT, the increase is a staggering 26 per cent. In one week in June this year, NT police attended 597 domestic violence incidents. Another state gripped by family violence is Western Australia. From July to March, there were 25,116 offences. That's one report every 12 minutes. In every state and territory there's a similar story—all report increases in family violence.

The statistics indicate just how dire the urgent need for action is. Every state has a different reporting model, different definitions and different time lines. A national transparent data system with all states supplying information is missing. Such a step would allow a strategic approach to assist families, giving the ability to know what is happening on the ground, provide assistance and respond much more quickly and effectively.

That leads me to another point. I've taken every opportunity to meet frontline workers and service providers assisting children and families. What I'm hearing is exhaustion: burnout and a workforce at its wits' end in trying to find staff, adequate resources and certainty. They look forward to getting those workers into their workforce. These organisations and services are experiencing never-ending difficulty in, firstly, keeping up with the increasing need. Even though the promise was 500 more workers, they're not sure where they are going to find them.

Then there is the ideological position, which is just not logical. In Central Australia, the clientele of the women's shelter is over 90 per cent local Indigenous women. In fact, I spoke to a local sector person today who said that that figure is probably 100 per cent. The shelter has not even been actively engaged in conversation in relation to the emergency money—yes, the $250 million for community safety—that was rushed into Central Australia, because, it would seem, they're not an Aboriginal community controlled organisation. It's not logical; it's ideological. (Time expired)