Australia’s Domestic, Family & Sexual Violence Commissioner wants gender-based violence to be treated with the same seriousness as terrorism.
Micaela Cronin has provided the first progress report on the Government’s decade-long National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children.
Cronin noted some improvements in funding and policy in the nearly two years since the plan was introduced.
However, she called for more ambitious reform, pointing to the increased number of women being killed by intimate partners and male perpetrators.
Background
The Federal Government’s National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children was introduced in November 2022.
The 10-year-long plan includes “building the workforce, growing the evidence base and strengthening data” to help prevent violence and improve responses for victims.
It sets out responsibilities for governments of all levels, as well as the public and private sectors.
Progress
This week, the Domestic, Family, and Sexual Violence (DFSV) Commission handed down an update on the plan’s progress.
It said: “There is momentum for change and hope in the community about the impact of the important work underway.”
The report noted that lived experience voices were increasingly “included in government policy, planning, and program delivery”. It also commended broad funding boosts at state, territory and federal government levels.
Priority areas
The report criticised aspects of current systems that allow violence to continue, and “at worst,” cause “additional harm.”
The DFSV detailed five key improvement areas:
- Using “lived experience expertise” to inform policy
- Engaging men to end violence
- Increased funding for gender-based violence prevention and responses
- Extra training to respond to gender-based violence in workplaces
- Better Government data and information sharing
Commissioner
In a National Press Club address on Wednesday, Cronin said most DV response services are designed “to move women around.”
“We do risk assessments on women… We don’t do risk assessments in the same way about men and their behaviour,” she said.
Cronin called for more conversations with and about men.
She said the word “women” appears 543 times in the national plan, while “men” is used 129 times.
Cronin said that domestic violence should be responded to with the same seriousness as terrorism.
“We need to be using all the tools that are available to us, that we use for terrorism”.
She pointed to the recent case of Molly Ticehurst, who was allegedly murdered by her former partner in Forbes, NSW earlier this year.
“If we were watching [Ticehurst’s partner] the way we watch people who are labelled as terrorists in our communities, then [Molly] might still be alive today”.
Response
Assistant Minister for Prevention of Family Violence, Justine Elliot, conceded there are “no quick fixes“ to ending violence against women.
National leaders convened a meeting earlier this year to declare rates of gender-based violence as a national crisis.
Shadow Minister for Women Sussan Ley said the Coalition wants to “turn the dial” on gender-based violence.
She highlighted concerns about the impacts of violent pornography, social media, and financial abuse.
So many young girls and women have always had to think and act differently… Walking on the other side of the street… turning the volume down on your music so you can hear behind you… [leaving] work before it gets dark… For some women, once they get home and lock the door, they still aren’t safe. For too many women, home is the most dangerous place.
Assistant Minister for Prevention of Family Violence, Justine Elliot, Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday.
Advocates
Sexual, domestic and family violence support service Full Stop Australia said Cronin highlighted challenges around “the growing exploitation of online environments in gender-based violence.”
“Emerging forms of tech-facilitated sexual violence are rapidly increasing, yet legal and systemic responses are lagging behind,” said Full Stop Australia CEO, Karen Bevan.
Funding
Greens Senator Larissa Waters has accused the Government of underfunding essential DV services.
Community Legal Centres Australia called for $35 million in immediate funding to address staff issues. The not-for-profit requested an additional $230 million per year for DV support and response services.
Full Stop CEO Karen Bevan also echoed these calls, and warned that prevention and response priorities “cannot be made to compete for inadequate resources. We have to move on all fronts with urgency and commitment.”
