Good morning, everyone.
I would like to start by acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the lands from which I am speaking to you – the Ngunnawal people – and pay my respects to elders past and present.
I extend that acknowledgement to all First Nations peoples joining the conference today.
I would also like to recognise everyone joining the conference who has lived or living experience of family, domestic and sexual violence.
Thank you for your courage, resilience and bravery in sharing your stories.
I would also like to thank the National Women’s Safety Alliance for inviting me to speak at this significant event.
I’m glad you are gathering in my hometown of Adelaide to come together and I regret I am unable to be there with you in person. I can assure you that here in Parliament, we are also marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
Tonight, as sun sets over Canberra, Parliament House will be lit in orange to mark this significant day and in solidarity with all victim-survivors of family, domestic and sexual violence – as well as those who are no longer with us as a result of that violence.
Today through to the International Human Rights Day on 10 December, we observe the United Nation’s 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence.
This time calls on us to come together to strengthen our commitment to ending family, domestic and sexual violence, because all people, regardless of their gender, have the right to live free from fear and violence.
As we know, violence against women and girls remains one of the most widespread and long-standing human rights violations across the globe.
Sadly, this is also the case here at home in Australia.
This is a sobering reality.
This is why ending gender-based violence has been a national priority for our Government. It is an issue which cannot be allowed to fall off everyone’s radar.
We have this opportunity to recommit ourselves to the consistent and persistent action required to achieve our shared goal to end gender-based violence in one generation, as well as look ahead with hope to the lives that can – and will – be changed as a result of the work we are all doing.
The Albanese Labor Government is committed to working with you to achieve the much-needed change we all want to see.
All women and children in Australia deserve to be safe – at home, in the workplace, at schools and in daily life.
We will achieve this by working at both the systemic and individual level – addressing the underlying drivers of gender-based violence to prevent violence before it occurs at a society level and a local level; intervening early and preventing further escalation; responding appropriately when violence is used; and supporting the recovery and healing of victim-survivors in ways which put them at the centre.
Since being elected in 2022, we’ve worked with you to develop the National Plan, which we have backed with $4 billion into 113 initiatives across these four key areas of prevention, early intervention, response, and recovery and healing.
We established the first-ever Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commissioner to bring the voices of victim-survivors to the forefront of our work.
We are investing in the things that keep women and children safe, like building more crisis accommodation, and making permanent financial supports like the Leaving Violence Program.
We are also working closely with states and territories to support the frontline sector, as well as on better responses to high-risk perpetrators and on national standards for men’s behaviour change programs.
It is through collaboration between governments, frontline sectors, and the whole of society that we can achieve our shared goal of ending gender-based violence in one generation.
I want to acknowledge the work of our Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commissioner Micaela Cronin, and emphasise a point she made in her first Yearly Report to Parliament earlier this year.
The specialist domestic, family and sexual violence workforce is critically important – all of you there today are acutely aware of that. For decades, the family, domestic and sexual violence workforce has been on the frontlines of this national epidemic of violence. Your skills, experiences and advocacy have driven the action and change we have already seen.
But we know you can’t do all the heavy lifting by yourself. And we need to harness the huge potential in other workforces that come into contact with people experiencing violence on a daily basis.
Workforces such as our police, our medical professionals, and our allied health workers. These workers need to be equipped with the skills and knowledge to respond to and prevent violence alongside you.
Let’s think about the change we can create where these workers are supported and confident in their ability to respond to or prevent family, domestic and sexual violence.
The Albanese Government has funded DV Alert, so anyone can access the free workshops delivered by DV Alert, as well as the further training they offer, to learn how to Recognise the signs of domestic and family violence, Respond appropriately and refer to support services.
We are proud to support the frontline sector through our funding to states and territories under the National Partnership Agreement, and through initiatives like our 500 additional frontline workers.
One of the key outcomes of the second dedicated National Cabinet meeting on gender-based violence was that the Albanese Government will invest an extra $351 million for funding under a renewed, five-year National Partnership Agreement on Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence Responses for frontline services, to be indexed by the Commonwealth and to be matched by states and territories.
Because of course the Commonwealth doesn’t deliver services directly.
We rely on our partners in the community and non-government sector to deliver on this work and be the critical workforce we need.
We could not achieve the changes we are making without you, and I strongly value that partnership.
We are stronger when we work together.
Being stronger together – very appropriately is the theme of your conference this year. It also means ensuring victim-survivors are at the centre of our discussions.
Continued input from individuals with lived experience of family, domestic and sexual violence, as well as input from frontline workers, is vital to ensure the success of our initiatives.
This includes input from culturally diverse, refugee and migrant communities, First Nations peoples, people with disability and members of the LGBTQIA+ community.
We know that family, domestic and sexual violence disproportionately affects these groups, and in different ways.
I want to again acknowledge the victim-survivors here today.
I often say it can be so much easier to talk about others and incredibly hard to talk about your own lived experience. I have the greatest respect for your bravery and resilience.
We will continue to ensure that the diverse, lived experience of victim-survivors informs policies and solutions.
This is one of the six cross-cutting principles of the National Plan.
We listened to over 3000 people across various mediums in the development of the National Plan and its Action Plans.
This important source of information, which continues to expand throughout ongoing input from victim-survivors, has informed the development and implementation of the 113 Commonwealth funded initiatives currently being delivered from learning about consent and how to work with youth at risk of using violence, to trialling culturally safe and place-based programs.
We use your voices, your experience and your suggestions to guide our work to make a real, lasting and impactful change.
Commissioner Cronin has also done great work establishing Australia's first national lived experience advisory Council.
It's a rare event I attend or stakeholder I meet with these days who hasn't yet engaged with the Council.
They've been extremely busy.
I'm really pleased to see the level of engagement across the Commonwealth government, as well as the broader sector, with this type of lived experience group.
It's encouraging that organisations of all types want to get better at supporting victim-survivors of family, domestic and sexual violence, because there's always more to be done across all parts of society.
We know that if we are to achieve our goal of ending gender-based violence, we need to engage better with men and boys.
Men and boys have a crucial part to play in preventing and ending gender-based violence.
We need tailored and culturally appropriate violence prevention responses that resonate with boys and men, and provide them with practical advice around how to be a good ally and role model.
This includes how to demonstrate leadership amongst their friends and peers on this issue, and how to intervene effectively as a bystander where appropriate.
We need more men to have the confidence to stand up and set the standard for behaviours and attitudes.
Our Government is supporting this work through key prevention and early intervention initiatives, like our Healthy MaTE project to encourage healthy expressions of masculinity among school-aged boys and young men with the goal of reducing gender-based violence and promoting more respectful relationships among young people.
We are also trialling new programs to work with young men and boys with adverse childhood experiences of family and domestic violence, which is now being rolled out in 12 locations across Australia.
And at the other end of the spectrum, we need a deeper understanding of those factors related with people who choose to use violence.
What drives them to commit violence and what forms that violence takes.
We also need to better understand, in many cases, the role of their own lived experience of violence and trauma.
This is why we have supported ANROWS to undertake research on perpetrators as one of their four priority areas.
14 successful projects are now in progress to build the evidence base on pathways in and out of family, domestic and sexual violence perpetration.
This includes the roles of influencing factors and how to best address harmful gender norms that popularised misogyny and promote harmful masculine norms, and the best way to increase understanding about healthy and respectful relationships.
This evidence base is critical to ensuring our initiatives are impactful and appropriate as we work together to achieve our goal of ending gender-based violence in one generation.
As the year draws to a close, it is more important than ever that we reaffirm this commitment.
As we approach the end of 2024, we reflect on the many women who have lost their lives this year due to family and domestic violence who will not be here to celebrate Christmas with their children, friends and family.
It is again a sobering reminder that our commitment to women's safety must continue until our country is free from violence against women and children.
It is a commitment I know you share with me, but I also know the work you are doing every day is genuinely saving lives.
It is preventing violence from occurring and working to break the cycle for our young people and children.
It's work which is worthy of well-deserved recognition, respect and celebration.
Events like this give us the opportunity to recognise, respect and celebrate the work you are doing, but also to exchange ideas, perspectives and solutions and raise the voices of victim-survivors.
I hope you find this year's conference useful, and I look forward to hearing more about your discussions you have and continuing our partnership to create the change we all want to see.
Thank you.