Dorinda Cox (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Well, wasn't that just a bit of entertainment for the afternoon, to brighten things up on a Wednesday!

I rise to speak on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and the beginning of the 16 days of activism. In Western Australia, Deputy President Brockman, where we're both from, we call that the '16 Days in WA', and it is the annual call to action to end gendered violence. This year's message could not be clearer. It's that men are part of the solution—not as bystanders, not as commentators, but as active participants in preventing violence and challenging those attitudes that allow it to thrive. As someone who spent more than two decades working on the front line, responding to family and domestic violence, and a decade of that as a police officer in Western Australia, I know how crucial the involvement of men is in our stepping forward.

Every advocate will tell you this truth: women are carrying the burden of this crisis. Women are literally holding their families together. They are screaming out for help. They are rebuilding their lives and doing their own healing from that harm. But we women cannot end this crisis alone. Men must choose to behave differently and men must hold other men accountable.

The Albanese Labor government has recognised that ending gender based violence requires ongoing national leadership. In 2008—in my world before politics—the then minister for women, Tanya Plibersek, asked me to join the National Council to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children. Nearly 17 years on from that, we began that journey of ending family violence at a national level by handing down Australia's first National Plan to End Violence against Women and their Children. Today I stand here, in 2025, and we are not where we need to be, but also we are certainly not where we were back then. We used to talk about reducing violence against women and their children, but now we're actually talking about ending it. Through the Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commissioner's Yearly report to parliament, we are reminded that this crisis demands a whole-of-nation response, one that listens to lived experience and acts on it. I thank Commissioner Cronin and her team, and, in particular, the Lived Experience Advisory Council for their leadership and especially their courage.

But national action must be informed by and centre itself on what communities tell us every day about what's happening on the ground. Last week I was in Bunbury with the Attorney-General, and I met with the South West Community Legal Centre and the Southern Aboriginal Corporation. Their message to us was blunt: housing pressures are trapping women in violent relationships because they can't find anywhere to go. The biggest reason women and children don't leave situations of family and domestic violence is that they don't have a safe and secure house to go to. Frontline workers told me about women sleeping in their cars with their children, about mothers returning to abusive partners because every refuge in the region was full and about women choosing between homelessness and harm. In the words of Minister Clare O'Neil from the other place, it is a reality that is simply not good enough for a country like Australia.

These conversations are exactly why our government is investing in housing and crisis accommodation as a priority matter, and they are why the Albanese Labor government is investing $172.6 million in the safe places program, which funds the renovation, building and purchasing of new crisis or emergency accommodation, to support women and children who are experiencing family and domestic violence. That is why we have invested in the Leaving Violence Program, which provides direct financial support of up to $5,000 to make sure survivors have the funds they need to make those difficult and risky choices to leave. That's why we legislated 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave, to make sure that victim-survivors don't have to worry about losing their jobs just when they're fining their feet. That's why we're also investing $2.69 million in men's helplines like MensLine Australia, the Men's Referral Service and the Brief Intervention Service.

Yesterday, on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, the Albanese Labor government announced another significant measure to keep people safe. We delivered an almost 40 per cent increase to funding for the 1800RESPECT line because more Australians than ever have recognised the signs of violence and are reaching out for help. Since it began in 2010, 1800RESPECT has seen a 3,000 per cent increase in contacts. Last financial year alone, the service received more than 342,000 calls, chats, texts and video calls, and demand is expected to increase. To meet that demand the government is investing in an additional $41.8 million, taking the total funding to $146.8 million until June 2027. This ensures that every person who seeks help, whether it's through a phone call, a text, an online chat or a video-counselling session, they can absolutely get it. This funding also supports the expansion of the new SMS and video-counselling service. Since the SMS line launched late last year, it has already been used more than 25,000 times. Since video counselling became available in early 2024, more than 900 people have chosen that option. These platforms are absolutely vital for people who cannot safely pick up the phone. They are the quiet lifelines. This announcement builds on the Albanese Labor government's record investment in more than $4 billion in frontline services, prevention programs, men's behaviour change programs, legal assistance and support for children, because ending violence is not just one policy, it is not one program, it is not just one announcement; it is the cumulative work of a government determined to drive change.

We also know that a one-size-fits-all approach will never meet the needs of those facing the highest risk. First Nations women are hospitalised due to family and domestic violence at 33 times the rate of non-Indigenous women, and this crisis is ever more urgent. That is why the Albanese Labor government is delivering its first standalone Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander family and domestic and sexual violence plan, Our Ways—Strong Ways—Our Voices. Earlier this year Minister McCarthy and Minister Rishworth announced a further $4.8 million in funding for First Nations crisis accommodation, taking that total funding to $32.3 million so far. This will allow more First Nations women and children to access safety close to home, not hundreds of kilometres away. These are life-saving investments, and they also ensure that a national response reaches the women who need it the most. They ensure that, when men need help to change, support is also there, too.

But taking the first step is absolutely their responsibility. Across the 16 days in WA, the campaign is calling on men to challenge disrespect and sexist jokes. It's calling out controlling behaviour. It's checking in on your mates, modelling respect to boys and young men and using your influence to shift culture in workplaces, in sporting clubs and in communities. This is not about blaming men. This is about getting them involved in a movement that demands better from one another. As a mother of two daughters and an aunty to nieces and nephews, I know the impact of strong male role models and what they can make. Boys learn from what they see, and when they see men treating women with dignity, listening without dominance and resolving conflict with care, that becomes their baseline. When they see anger, entitlement and control, that also becomes their baseline, and we can't afford to leave that one to chance.

Ending violence against women is one of the greatest national projects of our time. I believe that we can be the generation that can end violence against women and their children. It will take governments, frontline workers and communities, but it'll also take men choosing to be part of that solution. This year's 16-day campaign is a reminder that you cannot outsource cultural change. It must be lived every day in our homes, in our schools, in our clubs, in our workplaces and among our mates. The Albanese Labor government will continue to lead nationally, invest meaningfully and back community led solutions. But ending violence will also require every single one of us in this chamber to play our part because every woman deserves to live a life, to thrive and to grow old in safety—safe in their homes, safe at work, safe in their communities and safe wherever they go.