THE HON. TONY ABBOTT MP, PRIME MINISTER

SENATOR THE HON. MICHAELIA CASH, MINISTER ASSISTING THE PRIME MINISTER FOR WOMEN

NATIONAL AWARENESS CAMPAIGN TO REDUCE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND CHILDREN

4 March 2015

The Commonwealth Government will develop a new national awareness campaign focused on reducing violence against women and their children.

We need to lift community understanding of the prevalence of this epidemic in our society and encourage all Australians to raise their voices to say that verbal intimidation and physical violence against women and children is never ever acceptable.

Importantly, we must also ensure that any women or child who may be suffering understands that this is not acceptable and support is available. 

This is a national problem that we need to address – in every household, street, suburb and town across our nation – we need to end this tragic and deadly epidemic.

The Commonwealth Government will work with state and territory governments to deliver a $30 million dollar jointly funded national awareness campaign.

Every week in Australia a woman is killed by a current or former partner and one in three women over the age of 15 experience physical violence in their lifetime.

The national awareness campaign is one of the initiatives the Commonwealth will work with state and territory governments on as part of the 2015 COAG agenda to reduce violence against women and children.

Building on the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children, the Commonwealth will also be seeking the agreement of all states and territories to prioritise the implementation of a national Domestic Violence Order (DVO) scheme.

Under the scheme, if a protection order is issued in one state, it will apply in all states. Work on a national DVO scheme commenced in 2014 and it must be a priority for COAG.

Development of national standards for how we intervene against perpetrators and hold them accountable will be a priority.

COAG will also consider the enactment of a national approach to dealing with online safety and the misuse of technology, so we can protect women against newer forms of abuse.

Victorian Police Commissioner Mr Ken Lay APM, and the 2015 Australian of the Year, Ms Rosie Batty, are members of the Advisory Panel to COAG on reducing violence against women and children. Additional members of the Advisory Panel will be announced shortly.

All governments are determined to eliminate violence against women. Continued collaboration between the Commonwealth and the states and territories is crucial in achieving that objective.

We must ensure that everyone in Australia knows that violence against women is just that – violence – it is a crime, it is wrong, it should not be tolerated and must be stopped.