Fair Agenda

Amongst all the big headline announcements in last week's budget, there were also some important announcements on issues the Fair Agenda community has been campaigning on.

We wanted to make sure you'd seen the changes Fair Agenda members have helped make possible, so here's a quick wrap: 

1. Some progress on funding domestic violence response

On Fair Agenda’s early analysis this budget includes about $50 million of funding to step up and improve efforts to address domestic and family violence.

It’s not the scale of funding needed to address the significant number of women who are being left without adequate access to the services they need to be safe. But this funding will make a big difference to some.

Fair Agenda members like you have helped keep this funding issue on the political agenda over the past two years. So thank you to all those who took part in the campaign - you helped make this possible.

There’s still a lot more that needs to be done -- Victoria has shown the kind of leadership we need on this issue, with its announcement of $1.9 billion of funding to address domestic violence just last week. So we will still need to keep working together to keep the pressure up on the federal and other state governments until no woman is left without the services she needs to be safe.

Thank you to the 42 Fair Agenda members who have already chipped into help spread Rebeca and Liana’s video message. Thanks to you we’re getting their message - calling on the Federal Government to step up in this area - in front of thousands of people in eight key electorates around the country this week.

2. Cuts to working parents’ time to care dropped from budget

Fair Agenda members have been campaigning to stop the cuts to paid parental leave since for the past two years. Last week we had another victory, with the Treasurer announcing that these cuts have been removed from the budget.

This is a really important reprieve for tens of thousands of working women who are expecting a baby in the coming months, for whom these cuts have been looming as a constant threat.

The proposed cuts would have hit workers like nurses, ambos, retail workers and teachers hard. They would have overwhelming hurt women, and essentially punished anyone who has ever negotiated for decent parental leave provisions in their employment agreements (even if they’d done so in place of increased pay).[1]

This change is great news.

But if the Government have shown us anything over the past two years, it’s that they don’t give up these cuts easily. And the Government have notably failed to confirmed they’re abandoning the policy. In fact, when asked directly about this issue last week Minister Christian Porter said that "For the present, it doesn't seem like anyone is willing to [negotiate on these cuts], so that leaves us with not a whole lot of room to manoeuvre.... It evidently won't be an immediate priority."[2]

So – this fight may not be over.

The sustained attacks from the Government show how important Fair Agenda's campaigning over the past two years has been. Right now, Fair Agenda's work to secure an election commitment from the Nick Xenophon Team - and to hold them to account for that promise - are the key ingredient stopping these cuts going ahead.

So thank you to all those Fair Agenda members who have made calls, sent emails, met with their Senators, helped secure election commitments, and funded research to help stop these cuts from hurting 79,000 families so far.

3. Good news on cross-examination reform!

Last week there was also a very positive announcement around our campaign to reform the Family Court rule that means survivors of domestic violence can be forced to endure direct cross-examination by their abusers in court.

The Attorney-General has announced that the Government will soon release amendments to the Family Law Act to address this issue. These amendments will be subject to public consultation, and we may need to do further campaigning to ensure they’re adopted – but this is a really big, and positive step forward.

Thanks to all the Fair Agenda members and survivor advocates who have helped speak out on this issue over the past year. In partnership with our friends at the Women’s Legal Services and Never Alone we have helped build the pressure needed to make this announcement possible.

Thank you to all the Fair Agenda members who took action in each of these campaigns -- you helped make this change happen.

When we come together, Fair Agenda members have the ability to shape national policy. And there's so much more we need to do for women's physical, economic and social security in our country. This change wouldn't have been possible without your support. So if you'd like to see more change on issues like these, we hope you'll consider chipping in here.

Thanks for all you do as a Fair Agenda member,

Renee and Tash for Fair Agenda

PS – You can see a more detailed breakdown of what’s in this budget for domestic violence here, and read a longer analysis of ways the budget will impact on women here.

PPS - You can watch and share Liana and Rebeca's message about the importance of funding family violence services here.

-References-

1. Analysis of the impact of the Government’s MYEFO Cuts to Paid Parental Leave, Women and Work Group: University of Sydney, October 2016.

2. Federal budget 2017: Changes to Paid Parental Leave scheme off the table, ABC News, 12 May 2017.