At No to Violence’s special Federal Election Forum on Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence, our audience of over 500 people were invited to submit questions for the four panellists to answer.
Audience members were also given the option of voting for their preferred previously-submitted questions to be put to the panel. Following the Forum, the three most popular questions were supplied to the panellists and their teams with a request to respond by Wednesday 30 April.
Senator Larissa Waters, spokesperson on women for the Australian Greens, was the first to respond. Here are her responses:
Question 1:
I am an Aboriginal woman/victim-survivor, currently working in a crisis response space; responding to L17 reports and referrals [the interface between Victorian Police reports and service system].
A major factor contributing to ongoing family violence is the lack of housing. All housing supports are at maximum capacity and are struggling to keep up with demand. Victim-survivors are returning to violent relationships as there is “no other option”. Refuges have wait times and specific criteria.
What is the plan for housing for people experiencing/using family violence that do not meet the “at serious risk requiring immediate protection/intervention” [category as determined by Victorian Police]?
Answer:
Women should not have to choose between violence and homelessness, but that’s the reality when the refuges are full and there is no long-term affordable housing.
Thank you for being one of the frontline response services helping survivors, you and your organisation deserve full funding. The Greens have costed our pledge to fully fund frontline response services, including First Nations led services, with $1 billion each year over the 12-year life of the National Plan to End Violence Against Women and their Children. This means that shelters, legal services, healing and trauma support services would all have the funding they need to help everyone who needs it. Our $15bil plan would also resource men’s behaviour change programs and prevention programs to try to tackle the increasing use of men’s violence.
We also want to see more women and children kept in their homes where it is safe to do so, and the perpetrator be the one that is removed. We’ve committed $250 million annually to expand the existing small program that does that (‘Staying Home Leaving Violence’) right across Australia, and $1 million for each state and territory to raise awareness of the program within Police, Local, and Magistrate Courts.
The Greens also have a range of housing policies to address the housing crisis for all, including ending investor tax breaks that have inflated property prices, capping rents, a massive build of public housing just like the government did after WW2, and establishing a public property developer to build homes for people not private profit, at prices people can afford to rent and buy.
Question 2:
There have been no new commitments from any major party this election campaign – it is noticeably absent from all election events and conversations. We have just had a cluster of deaths this week and heading into easter we know rates of violence will not only increase but likely there will be more deaths.
Why is the fear of backlash [to commitments to end violence] more important than the risk to women?
Answer:
It is outrageous that neither major party has highlighted family, domestic or sexual violence during the federal election campaign, despite more than one woman every week in Australia being killed by men’s violence.
In November last year, the Greens announced our $15 billion costed election policy package to address the national FDSV crisis, hoping the major parties would copy our homework. Unfortunately, that has not happened.
The Greens have committed to fully funding for frontline services with $12 billion over 12 years, doubling the Escaping Violence Payment, and establishing a national real-time toll of women killed by violence, to name a few of our policies.
Labor’s proposed reform this week to stop perpetrators weaponising the tax system is a welcome but small gesture in the face of a devastating crisis. Meanwhile, the Liberal’s idea of supporting women was walking back their own attack on flexible work arrangements, then a belated tiny commitment of 90 million once again focussing on crime and not prevention or support.
The Greens won’t stop working until women and children are safe.
Question 3:
There has been significant focus on men and boys, “to engage them”
What does engagement [of men and boys] really mean to you? In this “engagement” does this include trans-men, gay men, boys with disability, refugee men, young men who live in very remote Australia?
Answer:
Engaging all men and boys is imperative to transforming our culture of gendered violence.
Around 95% of all victims of violence, irrespective of their gender, experience violence from a male perpetrator (ABS 2015 Personal Safety Survey data).
Men and boys are part of the problem and it’s critical they are also part of the solution.
Unfortunately, online misogyny is getting worse. We need to combat this toxicity and teach in all parts of our communities that kindness and respect are traits of healthy masculinity.
The Greens $15 billion costed plan to fully fund frontline family, domestic and sexual violence services include funding for men’s behaviour change programs and consent and respectful relationships education, because prevention and education are critical to changing the culture of gendered violence.
Senator Kerrynne Liddle, Shadow Minister for Child Protection and the Prevention of Family Violence (Liberal/National Party) has also provided her responses:
Question 1: What is the plan for housing for people experiencing/using family violence that do not meet the “at serious risk requiring immediate protection/intervention” [category as determined by Victorian Police]?
ANSWER:
The category mentioned falls under the Victorian Government’s MARAM victim-survivor practice guide: Responsibility 8: Comprehensive Risk Management and Safety Planning | vic.gov.au
This is managed by the state government; therefore any changes would need to be made by the state.
As violence continues to rise, the need for emergency housing increases. We also know there is a growing need for emergency accommodation for women and children. We know that housing affordability and accessibility – especially in regional, remote and rural area is raised often by the sector.
If elected, a federal Dutton Coalition Government will assist more victim-survivors escaping violence by:
- Expanding the Safe Places Emergency Accommodation Program, which provides grants to build, remodel or purchase new emergency accommodation for women and children experiencing family and domestic violence. This program aims to assist more victim-survivors and their families escaping violence by organisations and services utilising the grants to refurbish and renovate accommodation quickly to provide accommodation; and,
- Providing more flexibility in the emergency payments through the Leaving Violence Program, which was established by the former Coalition government in 2021. This move allows individualised financial support packages for victim survivors.
To address the broader housing crisis, a Dutton Coalition has committed to a $5 billion Housing Infrastructure Program to fund enabling infrastructure to get 500,000 homes built faster.
To find out more, go to: Our Plan to Address Family and Domestic Violence – Liberal Party of Australia
Question 2: Why is the fear of backlash [to commitments to end violence] more important than the risk to women?
ANSWER:
The Dutton Coalition firmly believes every Australian has a right to live free from harm, violence, abuse, neglect or exploitation. Women should be respected in their homes, their workplaces, their community, at school and online. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and Shadow Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence Senator Kerrynne Liddle believe Australians’ safety and security are the first responsibility of government.
The Coalition will always be committed to addressing this terrible scourge. In government, the former Coalition Government invested more than $3.5 billion in women’s safety. Our initiatives meant more frontline support, emergency accommodation and access to legal and health services for women and children in need. We have a strong track record on online safety and cracking down against image-based abuse.
The need for evidence-based, effective prevention and early intervention is critical to protect Australians, prevent them from becoming victim-survivors and take the pressure off an overwhelmed frontline sector. An elected Dutton Coalition Government will address key gaps in ending family, domestic and sexual violence and improve the outcomes of those escaping violence.
A few days after the forum, the Coalition announced more than $100 million in addition to the National Plan to End Violence against Women and their Children which includes but is not limited to: investment in technology for greater crisis helpline support; domestic violence awareness training; strengthening Commonwealth taxation, welfare and superannuation systems where practicable to eradicate financial abuse, coercive control and unfair outcomes following family and domestic violence and $20 million for a DV Trauma Recovery Centre in the NSW Central Coast region.
For more information COALITION TO FUND RESIDENTIAL TRAUMA CENTRE FOR VICTIM-SURVIVORS OF FAMILY AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE – Liberal Party of Australia
Question 3: What does engagement [of men and boys] really mean to you? In this “engagement” does this include trans-men, gay men, boys with disability, refugee men, young men who live in very remote Australia?
ANSWER:
Family and domestic violence doesn’t discriminate – nor do the Coalition Government’s policies. All men, women and children deserve to be safe – no matter where they live or who they are. Our policies are available to all Australians.
No matter where I go, frontline workers highlight the need for early intervention and prevention.
A Dutton Coalition Government will take strong action against perpetrators of family and domestic violence through specialist early and behavioural intervention programs and tougher monitoring measures. Will acknowledge also that teenage boys are also targeted by predators who seek to exploit them online and the Coalition has committed to doubling the funding of the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation to address the targeting of children and young men.
The Coalition also is brave enough to have the tough discussions about family violence, acknowledging primary prevention involves educating men and boys about healthy relationships. Violence is never okay – not ever.
Zoe Daniel MP, Independent Member for Goldstein provided the following responses:
Question 1: What is the plan for housing for people experiencing/using family violence that do not meet the “at serious risk requiring immediate Protection/intervention” [category as determined by Victorian Police]?
First of all, thank you for the work you do showing up for others who may have experienced similar violence to you every day. It is beyond unacceptable that the domestic, family and sexual violence workforces, many who are victim-survivors like you, are showing up to do lifesaving work and are forced to turn people away. This should not be happening. This workforce is critical and it is beyond time for the sector to receive funding which matches the scale and importance of the work being done.
Funding the sector properly must happen alongside increased access to public and social housing for those doing it tough. Without public and social housing it can be difficult for people to get back on their feet and recover and heal from violence. This is why I have, and will continue to, call for an increase to housing supply including social and community housing, particularly those experience homelessness as a result of family violence.
Question 2: Why is the fear of backlash [to commitments to end violence] more important than the risk to women?
Unfortunately, my office knows all too well the power of backlash to women in positions of power. Constant threats and intimidation can grind down your spirit. As parliamentarians, we owe it to our communities to rise above this hostility and deliver the solutions we need to end family violence. This is why I have worked to elevate domestic, family and sexual violence as key priorities since entering parliament. If re-elected, I promise to continue fighting for the changes we need to end violence, no matter how hard it may be.
Question 3: What does engagement [of men and boys] really mean to you? In this “engagement” does this include trans-men, gay men, boys with disability, refugee men, young men who live in very remote Australia?
Comprehensive work with men and boys is a priority for me. If we are failing to reach entire demographics or men and boys, we cannot say this work is comprehensive. I will continue to push for investment in primary prevention, early intervention and frontline specialist family violence services including men’s behaviour change programs so that we can reach men and boys before they use violence, when they experience it themselves and when they have perpetrated it. Violence is not inevitable, and I know men and boys can have healthy and fulfilling relationships when they are supported to do so.
