Federal politicians call for urgent action
Zali Steggall has pleaded with the Federal Government to act immediately to address the ‘national catastrophe’ of domestic violence across Australia.
The Warringah MP moved a motion on 12 February, seconded by fellow independent North Sydney MP Kylea Tink, asking Labor to urgently convene a crisis national cabinet.
The move comes following shocking statistics that on average, a woman is killed by an intimate partner every week in Australia. In addition, 5,606 women were hospitalised due to domestic violence from 2021 to 2022.
“Domestic and intimate partner violence is a national crisis and whilst impacting all genders, the casualties are overwhelmingly women,” Ms Steggall said in parliament. “Despite successive governments’ well-meaning efforts, little progress has been made in 30 years.
“What we are currently doing is not working and urgent change is required.”
NSW Police conducted a ‘high visibility’ operation targeting the state’s ‘most high-risk’ domestic violence offenders in the days prior to Ms Steggall’s motion. North Shore Police Area Command made six arrests, five charges and 55 apprehended domestic violence orders compliance checks.
Women and Children First in North Sydney are funded to help 208 women a year, but last year helped 836, Ms Steggall said.
Ms Tink added that ‘proven’ programs which helped stop women becoming homeless needed to be rolled out nationwide.
“How many more women need to die before the response to Australia’s domestic violence crisis matches the scale of the problem?”
The motion called for a national cabinet meeting of state, federal and territory ministers to review the ‘National plan to end violence against women and children 2022-2033’. Ms Steggall said: “We simply cannot wait till 2032 to realise whether or not it is working…Time is of the essence.”
In addition, the motion is calling for an increase in the capacity of specialist support services for women fleeing domestic violence and full funding of proven programs such as ‘Staying home leaving violence’.
If you need assistance, call Respect on 1800 737 732.