Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Women, Senator Gallagher. Minister, the Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commissioner's yearly report was tabled in parliament today. The commissioner makes clear in her report that, while Australia has made significant progress through record investment, new programs and a strong national plan to end violence against women and children, domestic, family and sexual violence remains a national problem. Could the minister outline the key findings of the commissioner's report and how the report will inform the next phase of the national plan, to ensure we deliver measurable and real change for women and children in this country?

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

I thank Senator Polley for the question. It's an important question about a report that was tabled this morning in the other place. Before I answer, I would like to acknowledge the victims and survivors of domestic, family and sexual violence and remember that women and children have been killed too often by men who have been known to them and who have claimed to have love them. These are words that the Minister for Social Services said in the House earlier today.

We do thank Commissioner Cronin, her team and the Lived Experience Advisory Council for their thorough and thoughtful work on the yearly report and for their ongoing advice to government.

The report is important, and its recommendations, including some that are already in train, are important advice to government as we continue to deal with and seek to end violence against women and children in a generation, as the national plan sets out.

Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Just fund the services.

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

Thank you, Senator Waters. As a government, we have prioritised investment in services—more than $4 billion since 2022. But it's not just about the money, because the issues here are bigger than what government can fund. In addition to that ongoing funding for all of those important legal services that women often rely heavily on when they leave violent relationships and that weren't funded by those opposite in any ongoing sense—they have been funded by us in the order of another $4 billion. So we have prioritised important investments. We've also responded by implementing the leaving violence payment and making it permanent so that women have the financial support to leave, but we're also investing in perpetrator responses to break the cycle of violence. Today's report is an important part of that information, as is the rapid review, which we are responding to as well.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Polley, first supplementary?

Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Minister, the report recognises the government's substantial investment of over $4 billion since 2022 and new initiatives like the Leaving Violence Program. What has the Albanese Labor government delivered to ensure that the scourge—and that's what it is; it's a scourge—of family and domestic violence is properly addressed?

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

I thank Senator Polley for the supplementary. Ending family, domestic and sexual violence has been a core priority for the Albanese government, and, as Senator Polley said, we have made those significant investments. We've invested more than any Australian government ever in frontline services, preventive programs, behaviour change and programs for children who have experienced violence. We've made the leaving violence payment permanent—$5,000 in financial help—as well as safety-planning support for women leaving violence. There is $1.2 billion for emergency and transitional accommodation. We've legislated 10 days paid domestic violence leave. We've expanded discretion for Centrelink so perpetrators can't use the social security system to leave survivors with tens of thousands of dollars of debt, and we are currently doing an audit of key Commonwealth systems to ensure that they aren't being weaponised by perpetrators of abuse. There is more to do, but this government has a number of measures underway to do what it can to end violence against women and children.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Polley, second supplementary?

Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Looking ahead, the report calls for transformational action, especially through the development of the next action plan, stronger accountability and a focus on priority groups, including children and First Nations communities, and emerging challenges, such as technology facilitated abuse. What further steps will the Albanese Labor government take to continue to deliver this really important reform?

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

I thank Senator Polley for the supplementary and acknowledge all of the work she's done in advocating for support for programs in the state of Tasmania when it comes to ending violence against women and children. The commission's report points to the development of the second action plan as a crucial moment to align efforts to new evidence and changing contexts, and we know that, particularly in the area of technology and coercive control, we are seeing changing behaviour all the time.

Today, as Minister Plibersek said in the other place, the first thing that is done when a woman attends an emergency accommodation service is to have their phone, their vehicle and a lot of other electronic devices checked for tracking devices that may have been placed on them by their perpetrator. This is the way that we have to respond to the changing use of technology and its impact on women and children. This report will help guide some of that work, as will all of the other work that's been happening across the sector. We acknowledge those who have advocated for decades to improve the lives of women and children in this country.