As the housing crisis continues, family and domestic violence is the main reason women and children leave their homes and become homeless. The government is investing $308 million in housing solutions to help them escape, but critics say more needs to be done. It comes as the Second Action Plan to end domestic, family and sexual violence is being developed, in collaboration with a sector under significant strain.
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TRANSCRIPT
“It is absolutely clear that Australian governments need to step up and do more about the crisis of domestic violence that affects women and children right around our country.”
This morning, as police in Brisbane charged a man with domestic-violence-related murder, Housing Minister Clare O'Neil was in Canberra to highlight a $16.8 million investment she says will deliver 19 homes for women and children escaping violence.
The crisis and transitional accommodation had already been flagged as part of a broader $308 million investment expected to deliver 448 homes across the country.
“Australian women tell us that one of the main reasons they do not leave a violent relationship is because they do not have stable housing to go to, and that should not be happening in a country like Australia.”
Ms O’Neil says the investment will help protect 22,000 women and children, with around 30 per cent going to dwellings that are already built, and potentially providing help within weeks.
The remaining 70 per cent of funds will be poured into a pipeline of housing under construction but not yet complete.
Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek says the housing will give women real options to leave.
“Too often, people ask why didn't she leave? When we see a victim of domestic violence that's suffered the worst consequences. What we really should be asking is where would she go? What help would be available? We know that a lot of mothers experiencing domestic violence don't leave the family home because they don't want to make their kids homeless. They don't want to be sleeping in a car.”
On Friday last week, Ms Plibersek attended a meeting of state and territory ministers responsible for women’s safety, including federal minister for women, Katy Gallagher.
It included discussion on the links between alcohol and gender-based violence, as well as consultation on new standards for men’s behaviour change programs.
Ahead of that meeting, Greens leader Larissa Waters had called for housing to be on the agenda, saying more investment was needed.
She says nearly 12,000 women and children seeking short-term accommodation miss out each year.
“That is women and children who will have to return to violent homes because there's nowhere else for them to sleep. Now that is an indictment on the priorities of this government, who can find money for nuclear submarines, who can find money to build homes for US troops, but they can't find money to build homes for women fleeing violence.”
The ministerial meeting came in the context of consultation on a Second Action Plan designed to support the government’s goal of ending family violence in a generation.
National Commissioner for Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence, Micaela Cronin, says it’s focused on prevention, early intervention, response, recovery and healing.
“At the commencement of the consultation, government identified a number of priority areas. One of them was recognising that people who are directly affected by family, domestic and sexual violence absolutely need to be our number one priority and their safety has to be ensured. We also then need to make sure that we're really focusing on children and young people as having needs in their own right that we need to be responding to. There’s a recognition that we haven't been doing that sufficiently well to date.”
Commissioner Cronin says there are also real challenges around sexual violence.
“And it's one of the areas in the national plan that we are not seeing progress. In fact, we're seeing things getting worse and we've really got to prioritise efforts on that.”
As well as programs aimed at ending men’s use of violence, which she’s discussed with survivors and service providers across the country.
“One of the really consistent themes is that we have very long waiting lists for programs. We have very long waiting lists for programs for men's behaviour change, and that we're often missing the moment. When somebody is motivated to change their behaviour and puts their hand up and asks for help, we need to be able to respond, right then, and have things available for them. And we often are not able to do that. So we absolutely need to see significant investment in that program work.”
Phillip Ripper is the chief executive of No to Violence.
It’s the peak body for organisations working to end men's use of family violence.
He supports the development of national standards, but agrees more funding is needed to tackle violence at its source.
“We're calling on governments from across Australia to invest directly in ending men's use of family violence by engaging men who are at risk of using family violence, to disrupt pathways into using family violence. That's young men and boys who are at risk. We need to do so much more as a nation to stop those children moving into adults who become the next generation of family violence users. And we need to invest so much more in creating off-ramps.”
Ahead of the ministerial meeting, a coalition of 14 organisations published an open letter accusing governments of creating an untenable situation through underfunding.
The statement said many women and children remain unable to access support in times of crisis, while facing ongoing and escalating harm as they languish on wait lists.
One peak body that signed the open letter is First Nations Advocates Against Family Violence, where Kerry Staines is the CEO.
“We know that there's a massive need. There's also funds that are going to mainstream service providers to service our community. We are the most underfunded sector in terms of providing direct support to mob, and we know mob likes to come to mob. They're often talked about a choice, but there's really is no choice until it's appropriately funded, the community controlled sector.”
She welcomed funding in the federal budget for ‘Our Ways, Strong Ways, Our Voices’.
It’s the first standalone plan for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and children.
But the Wakka Wakka / Mandandanji woman says there’s still a long way to go.
“Look, I think the action plan is a great start, but as we know, if it's not followed by specific investment on what we see are community driven solutions, then we're not going to gain any ground.”
Australian Femicide Watch says 45 women and 19 children have been killed so far this year.
