Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Women, Senator Gallagher. Ending gender-based violence is a national priority for the Albanese Labor government. Tragically, women and children are still losing their lives at the hands of men who use violence. What is the government doing to address gender-based violence, and what has it heard from consultations on the next phase of the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-32?

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

I thank Senator Brown for that question. It has been an ongoing piece of work how we address violence against women and children in this country. That has been a priority for this government since we were elected. I would like to start by acknowledging that again, yesterday, we heard the very heartbreaking news of another woman who has been allegedly killed by an ex-partner. I know that the thoughts of everyone in this chamber are with her family, friends and community as they deal with this unimaginable loss.

Yesterday I joined the Prime Minister, the Minister for Social Services and the Assistant Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence at a roundtable to hear from experts, service deliverers and those who had lived with the experience of violence in their homes. This is part of the work that has been led by the Minister for Social Services, Tanya Plibersek on the Second Action Plan consultations under the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-32. Across government, we've already held more than 160 roundtables with more than 1,100 people, and we've heard from almost 2,000 people online who are providing direct submissions. The messages that have been provided through these consultations are that Australians want men's violence against women to stop. They want better responses when violence occurs. They want to acknowledge that sexual violence against women is increasing and that the changing nature of tech-facilitated abuse and the new ways it can be used to harm, control and abuse women and children is making the task harder.

I think there are agreements on the emerging themes coming out of these consultations—to prevent violence using evidence based approaches, to intervene as early as possible, to keep people safe, and to reduce the risk of reoccurrence and escalation.

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

Senator Brown, first supplementary?

Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

We know there are no simple solutions and that action is needed in every area. For instance, we have seen how perpetrators can weaponise government and legal systems to control, harass and financially harm victim-survivors. What is the Albanese Labor government hearing about system abuse through these consultations, and what action is being taken to address it?

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

I thank Senator Brown for the supplementary question. As Senator Brown alluded to, system abuse is one of the most consistent themes coming out of the consultations, where perpetrators weaponised courts, child support, Centrelink and other services to continue coercive control after separation. The tactics are financial—debt delay, non-payment, vexatious applications—and children are caught in the middle, going without the support that they are entitled to. We know that almost $2 billion exists in unpaid child support across Australia, and almost 100,000 parents and carers in the child support system have experienced or are at risk of family and domestic violence. That's why in this budget we have increased investment to make sure that we can do the reforms to the child support systems—the biggest reforms in 20 years—to reduce the systemic weaponisation of the child support system.

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

Senator Brown, a second supplementary?

Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

It is clear that we cannot address violence against women in isolation. Since day one, we have seen the Albanese Labor government make women's equality, including women's economic security, a core priority. How have the government's efforts in this space improved economic outcomes for women in Australia and how has this helped improve women's safety?

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

Thank you, Senator Brown, for the supplementary. Again, as Senator Brown points out, we are using every lever available to reduce the rates of violence against women and children, and we think part of the answer sits with making sure that women are getting a better deal when it comes to economic security. We know that having the opportunity to work if you want, get well paid and have the support you need through payments and other services is important to show that women can leave violent situations and set up a new life. Today's data that we've had come out shows that some of those measures are starting to show in the data that's coming, with the gender pay gap at 11.3 per cent, the lowest on record. When we came to government, it was 14.1 per cent. We've got it down to 11.3. There is more work to do, but women are earning, on average, $325 more a year than they were when we came to government.