Fair Agenda Blog
As peak and practitioner bodies charged with preventing and responding to violence against women and children we do not accept the legitimacy of the Government’s new select committee inquiry into Family Law. We are alarmed that it is proceeding against the unanimous advice of experts in the domestic and family violence sector.
This Inquiry is not only unnecessary, it is dangerous. We know what is needed to improve the system. The decision to further delay implementing these urgently needed changes is absolutely unconscionable. Women’s and children’s lives are on the line. They cannot wait another year for action.
The use of domestic and family violence is having a devastating impact in our communities - 8 women are hospitalised at the hands of a current or ex-partner every day, with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women 32 times more likely to be hospitalised than non-Indigenous women. Right now many of the people trying to escape this violence and abuse are forced through the family law system.
This system is consistently failing them. It is manifestly unfit for purpose - it is failing to identify harm, actively discouraging people from disclosing violence, and forcing children into contact with abusive parents. In many cases it is facilitating further violence and harm. This situation is so dire that more than one in three children post-separation report feeling “not at all safe” in their care arrangements.
Cases before the courts are often complex, and every case is different. Our government needs to ensure the court has all the information and expertise it requires to determine what’s best for a child’s safety and wellbeing, particularly in the context of family violence and child abuse.
Immediate action is required to stop putting victim-survivors of violence and abuse at risk, starting with:
1. Making sure courts identify safety risks that should be considered in any court decision, by implementing consistent screening and risk assessment process to protect children and parents at risk of violence;
2. Ensuring the courts have access to all relevant information by establishing a national information sharing framework to ensure information from state jurisdictions can be considered where relevant, and the courts are supported to make informed decisions that prioritise child safety and wellbeing;
3. Ensuring victim-survivors of family violence are supported and don’t have to go through the court process alone - by providing social and legal supports for all parties to family law matters involving family violence or child abuse;
4. Prioritising matters where people are at high-risk - by creating a specialist case management stream for family violence matters involving children and parents at serious risk of harm, and
5. Requiring those who influence court proceedings to have competency in identifying and responding to domestic and family violence in diverse family contexts - by implementing an accreditation framework for all court officials and family law practitioners and professionals, starting with court report writers and supervised contact centre workers.
Beyond these initial urgent safety changes, the system needs comprehensive reform in accordance with expert advice including the domestic and family violence sector.
We emphasise that the achievement of any substantive improvement in the safety of the family law system will require the Federal Government ending the under- resourcing which puts victims of family violence and child abuse at unacceptable risk.
Peak and practitioner bodies stand ready to co-design and help implement reforms that are focused on improving the safety of the system. But we refuse to be complicit in the harm created by this new inquiry.
Given the nature of this inquiry, the manner in which it has been set up, and the composition and expressed positions of those leading it, we are aware that many victims/survivors do not feel safe to participate.
We remain extremely concerned that any victim-survivors who do wish to ensure their experiences are considered by this process will be unable to do so safely. In any inquiry like this where victim-survivors’ testimonies must be central, essential safeguards and supports must be put in place to make the process safe for them to participate.
Such safeguards should include domestic and family violence and cultural competency training for committee members, options to give evidence anonymously and remotely including via audio visual link, provision of all Inquiry materials in the full range of accessible formats, including Easy English, funded access to counselling and legal services, and media protocols around reporting.
Finally, we note that as representatives of the organisations working on the frontline responding to women and children impacted by domestic and family violence, our primary objective will always be the safety of those who rely on our services. Some organisations in our sector will engage with the inquiry under the principle of minimising harm for victim-survivors and ensuring evidence is circulated to counter misinformation. For many organisations their focus will be on responding to the unprecedented levels of demand for safety support, and therefore they will not be in a position to divert vital resources to this dangerous
inquiry.
Signed,
Domestic Violence NSW
Domestic Violence Victoria
Domestic Violence Resource Centre Victoria
Women’s Community Health Network WA
WESNET - The Women’s Services Network
National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women’s Alliance
Harmony Alliance: Migrant and Refugee Women for Change
Women With Disabilities Australia (WWDA)
National Council of Single Mothers and their Children
National Child Protection Alliance
Women's Legal Services Australia
Women's Safety NSW
Coalition of Women’s Domestic Violence Services of SA
Women's Council for Domestic & Family Violence Services - WA
Women’s Health NSW
No to Violence
Doctors Against Violence Towards Women - Public Page
National Family Violence Prevention Legal Services Forum
National Association of Community Legal Centres Australia
People with Disability Australia
In Touch Multicultural Centre Against Family Violence
Carrie’s Place Domestic Violence and Homelessness Services
West Connect Domestic Violence Services
Wirrawee Gunyah
Wilmah
Jessie Street
Penrith Women’s Refuge
North Coast Women’s Domesticin Violence Court Advocacy Service
Yarredi Services Inc
Women's Community Shelters
Northern Rivers Women and Children's Services Inc
Penrith Women's Health Centre
Sydney Women’s Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service
Warrina Domestic and Family Violence Specialist Services
Central Coast Women’s Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service
Women’s Centre for Health and Wellbeing Albury Wodonga
Central West Women’s Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service
Linking Communities Network Ltd
Parramatta Women's Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service
Women’s Centre for Health Matters ACT
Sydney Women’s Counselling Centre
Hunter Women’s Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service
Sisters Inside Inc
Marie Stopes International Australia
Association of Women Educators
Women's Legal Service Queensland
Women's Legal Service NSW
NSW Older Women’s Network
Sexual Assault Support Service (Tas)
CASA Forum - Victorian Centres Against Sexual Assault
safe steps Family Violence Response Centre
Project Respect
Sera’s Women’s Shelter
Women’s Centre Far North Queensland
Australasian Centre for Human Rights and Health
Emma House Domestic Violence Services
Engender Equality
Mitcham Family Violence Education and Support Service
Jenny’s Place Inc
Nova for Women and Children
Newcastle Staying Home Leaving Violence
Annie North Women’s Refuge
Port Stephens Family and Neighbourhood Services
99 Steps - CALD specific DFV service in Logan/Beenleigh
Women’s Information, Support & Housing in the North
Women’s Information and Referral Exchange
Centre Against Violence
Eastern Domestic Violence Service
Safe Futures Foundation
Bethany Community Support
Emerge Women & Children’s Support Network
Northern Specialist Family Violence Service, Berry Street.
Leichhardt Women’s community health centre
Women’s Health & Resources Foundation
Kara House Inc.
WRISC Family Violence Support Inc.
Centre for Non-Violence
WAYSS Housing and Support Services
Georgina Martina Inc.
Northern Sydney Women’s Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Services
Blue Mountains Women’s Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Services
South Coast Women’s Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Services
Mallee Sexual Assault Unit Inc.
Mallee Domestic Violence Services
Western Specialist Family Violence Service, Berry Street
Southern Sydney Women’s Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service
Far South Coast Women’s Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service
Mid Coast Women’s Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service
South Eastern Women’s Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service
Macarthur Women’s Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service
Women’s Health West
Orana House Inc
Cairns Regional Domestic Violence Service
North Queensland Domestic Violence Resource Service
Lucy Saw Centre
Macarthur Women’s Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service
North West Sydney Women’s Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service
YWCA Canberra
Elizabeth Morgan House
Starick
Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand
Good Samaritan Inn
Quantum Support Services Inc
Salvation Army Family and Domestic Violence Services Western Australia
The Salvation Army Australia
NSW now has laws that provide for safe, legal and compassionate access to abortion care!
This historic win only happened because of the months, years and decades of advocacy by thousands of people - and Fair Agenda members have been a vital part of it. Thank you to all of our members for ll the incredible ways you’ve contributed to this campaign.
Here’s a recap of how Fair Agenda members helped make history in NSW…
Last year, as we celebrated Queensland’s historic vote to decriminalise abortion - Fair Agenda made sure media knew that it was time for New South Wales to follow suit. We made sure the issue was in the headlines (again), and helped maintain the steady drumbeat of calls for reform.
Then, in the lead up to the state election, Fair Agenda teamed up with partners to coordinate a powerful open letter calling on the parliament to recognise the right to safe and legal abortion access.
When MPs from across the political spectrum announced they would introduce the Reproductive Health Care Reform Bill to decriminalise abortion, we helped mobilise huge support!
Together, thousands of us sent emails of support to MPs – urging them to vote yes to reform, and thanking those who had pledged to support this desperately needed reform. Then Fair Agenda members chipped in much needed funds to help reach thousands more voters with information about the importance of supporting this reform.
As the heated debate began, and many voters began to engage with this issue for the first time, Fair Agenda worked with medical experts to highlight the desperate need for reform, and the harm the current laws cause to women, particularly in rural and remote areas.
Then, to demonstrate the scale of expert support for the legislation before parliament, Fair Agenda joined with more than 70 organisations to publish a joint statement in support of the legislation.
On key days before MPs headed into parliament to cast their votes, Fair Agenda members joined hundreds of other groups and activists outside parliament to show their support for reform.
And when MPs who oppose the reform announced that they planned to introduce amendments that would create barriers to timely access to care - within hours more than 500 of us had flooded MPs with email messages urging them to oppose amendments.
And when the bill was due to be considered by committee, we mobilised again to send hundreds of pro-choice submissions in support of the legislation. But, the fight wasn’t over yet.
When anti-choice forces from across parliament used their influence to delay the scheduled vote, and extended this fight for reform by a further three weeks, dozens of Fair Agenda members gave generously to help keep up the pressure, and fight dozens of amendments we knew would be used to try and increase barriers to abortion care access.
Together, Fair Agenda and the NSW Pro-Choice Alliance released powerful polling showing the overwhelming support for reform, amongst NSW voters, and Liberal party members, and opposition to religious interference in reform.
Then, on the weekend before this final vote, Fair Agenda members joined a thousand other pro-choice protestors at the “Trust Women” pro-choice rally, and members chipped in to help us fill the crowd with visible pro-choice messages, helping show our support loud and clear.
Thank you to everyone who has helped make this historic change possible.
But the fight isn't over yet
Unfortunately, our fight for reproductive healthcare access doesn't end here:
- In just a few weeks South Australia is expected to begin debating laws to decriminalise abortion too - and you can bet opponents there will be planning to copy the tactics that were used to delay reform here,
- Western Australia is still fighting to protect patients from harassment at abortion clinics, where anti-choice people routinely abuse patients, even going so far as trying to trick them into eating so they can’t get their procedure, and
- We’re now fighting proposed federal “religious discrimination” laws that could enable more doctors and pharmacists to deny women access to contraceptives and the morning after pill around the nation.
Our opponents aren't done. We’ll be up against this powerful and well-resourced opposition again and again in coming months, and we know they'll throw everything they have at limiting our reproductive healthcare options.
We're facing tough fights on multiple fronts, and to have any chance of winning them all we're going to need your help. Can you chip in to help keep up the fight against anti-choice forces?
The Attorney-General announced new “religious freedom” laws last week, and we should all be sitting up and taking notice, because they could have major consequences for women around the country.
As a woman of faith who has experienced the impacts of Islamaphobia, I know the importance of protecting people from discrimination on the basis of their religion.
But that’s not the extent of this proposed legislation. This legislation goes much further.
After weeks of closed door meetings with faith leaders, the Morrison Government has released draft legislation that would provide new privileges to people of faith, and override existing protections from discrimination for others.
While the detailed analysis that will be needed to understand the full implications of this legislation is still being undertaken, it’s already pretty clear that in its current form this bill could allow a person to use their religious beliefs as a cover for sexism and prejudice.
And complicated clauses look like they could provide new avenues for religious anti-choice conservatives to attack access to abortion care, with likely impacts on some state based laws that provide a woman with a right to referral for unbiased advice if her doctor’s personal religious views interfere with her access to reproductive healthcare.
For example, experts from the Human Rights Law Centre have indicated that in jurisdictions like South Australia and Western Australia, the proposed provisions could allow doctors to abandon their patients. And in New South Wales this bill would likely override a current policy directive issued by NSW Health requiring doctors with a conscientious objection to take every reasonable step to help a woman access the healthcare she needs. Yet another reason why it’s so important that NSW parliament passes abortion reform next month.
The Morrison Government’s proposed “religious discrimination” bill would also override existing state-based protections from intimidation, humiliation and ridicule on the basis of sex, marital status, breastfeeding, parenting or family responsibilites that currently operate in Tasmania.
If it’s approved by parliament in its current form, this legislation could put women, members of the LGBTIQ+ community, and people from minority faith communities in the firing line.
But this isn’t a debate about people of faith versus women or the LGBTIQ+ community. Because women and LGBTIQ+ people are also part of faith communities. And (unfortunately) women of faith, particularly women of colour, often do need protection from prejudice and discrimination based on their religion. Especially with the rise of white supremacy and Islamophobia.
This debate is about working towards a fairer and more inclusive society, where everyone is equally protected from harm. And if parliament passes this legislation in its current form it would be a big step in the wrong direction.
The good news is that there’s still time to stop that happening – and to influence this bill before it becomes law. Now that the draft legislation is finally public, the Government has declared that they will conduct a public consultation period – so it’s time for us all to speak up and demand that this bill protect people of faith, women and members of the LGBTIQ+ community equally.
Because our anti-discrimination laws should function as a shield to protect people from harm, not a sword to be wielded against others.
Get involved in the campaign here.
--
This piece was originally published as an opinion piece in Women's Agenda.
Dear Minister Payne,
Congratulations on your appointment as our new Minister for Women. As our collective champion, you have been given a mandate to advance the safety and financial security of all Australian women.
As a movement of more than 35,000 Australians working for a fair and equal future for women, Fair Agenda considers your new role one of the most vital in the country.
The first 100 days is a critical opportunity for your Government to set a roadmap for achieving a safer and more equal future for all women.
The Fair Agenda community urges you to use those critical first 100 days to act on these four urgent issues:
- All women should have the ability to live free from violence and fear.
Right now women in Australia are being murdered on a weekly basis, often by an intimate partner.
We need a system that supports every woman who needs to flee a violent abuser, and that recognises that men’s use of violence against women is a national crisis, and resources the necessary interventions accordingly.
Before the election your Government made some good progress with new funding for crisis response, accommodation and long-term prevention. But across the country thousands of women are still unable to access the services they desperately need; and men that are at risk of using violence are having to wait months for access to behaviour change programs.
We urge you to increase funding for these crucial services that prevent and address family violence so that no woman is left without the help she needs to be safe.
- All students should all be able to study and learn in safety.
Right now university students are being sexually assaulted every week. Many student survivors are having to wait months for their university to respond to urgent safety concerns, are unable to access counselling, and are being targeted if they speak out about their assault.
We urge you to work with the Education Minister to immediately establish an independent and expert-led Taskforce on campus sexual violence, to ensure universities and residential colleges are held to account for providing safe learning environments.
- We all deserve to go to work each day knowing we’ll be safe.
However in the past five years more than 1 in 3 women have been sexual harassed when they’re just trying to do their job. And right now there’s no real way for those who are affected to ensure their workplace makes any kind of systemic change for their future safety.
Your Government’s action in establishing the National Inquiry into Sexual Harassment in Australian Workplaces is a positive first step; but we are concerned that the Government is yet to commit to implementing the Inquiry recommendations.
We urge you to follow the expert’s advice and commit to implementing and resourcing the full recommendations of the National Inquiry.
- We know that young children require care as they grow, and this unpaid work is disproportionately provided by women.
Right now under ParentsNext, parents are forced to comply with demeaning conditions or risk having their parenting payments cancelled. The program disproportionately harms single mums and First Nations families; and one in five parents on the program have already had their payments suspended. Mums on the program say they’re being humiliated, and face financial insecurity on a fortnight-to-fortnight basis.
We urge you to work with colleagues to bring an immediate end to ParentsNext.
As you shape your vision for your new role, we hope you’ll use your position to act as a champion for women’s safety, security and autonomy in Australia.
We would welcome the opportunity to meet with you to discuss these issues. And our movement will be here to show that the community support these changes.
Yours sincerely,
Renee Carr
Executive Director | Fair Agenda
on behalf of Fair Agenda
The questions
Section 1) Funding to address family violence
These questions are being asked in partnership with a number of domestic and family violence peak bodies, including: Domestic Violence NSW, Domestic Violence Victoria, National Family Violence Prevention Legal Services Forum, National Association of Community Legal Centres and No To Violence.
Q1. Inadequate and unpredictable funding for family and domestic violence services limits the capacity of organisations to respond to the urgent and ongoing needs of people experiencing family violence.
1A. Would your party support the implementation of guaranteed, long-term funding and a ten year plan for workforce capability and development framework for services that work to prevent gender-based violence, support women and children, and intervene with perpetrators?
1B. Do you commit to ensuring funding for domestic and family violence related services is allocated to service providers with specialist expertise in the gendered nature and dynamics of domestic and family violence and its impact on victim survivors?
Q2. Inadequate and unpredictable funding for family and domestic violence services limits the capacity of specialist agencies to respond to the urgent and ongoing needs of those affected. How much extra funding will your Party provide to specialist agencies to meet unmet demand?
Q3. Family Violence Prevention Legal Services provide specialist and culturally safe services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, but are currently limited to just 14 locations.
3A. These services have not received the standard CPI level increase on their direct funding since 2013, the equivalent of a $9 million real loss of funding. Would you reinstate this funding?
3B. Would your Party commit to providing long term increased funding to properly resource the capacity of the current Family Violence Prevention Legal Services, and to increase geographic coverage of FVPLS including to urban, rural and remote areas - estimated at an additional $28 million annually?
3C. Will your party commit to long-term, ongoing funding for the National FVPLS Forum?
Q4. Community Legal Centres provide vital free legal advice to hundreds of thousands of people across Australia every year, including people experiencing family violence.
4A. Community legal centres continue to face funding uncertainty and are insufficiently funded to meet rising demand for services. In 2014 the Productivity Commission recommended that an immediate injection of at least $120 million per year of additional federal funding was required by the legal assistance sector to meet demand. This would mean at least $14.4 million additional federal government funding per year for Community Legal Centres alone. Will your party commit to at least $14.4 million additional core funding per year for community legal centres?
4B. A number of community legal centres have specialist family violence units and health justice partnerships. A recent evaluation of these units and partnerships highlighted the significant difference they make in the lives of women experiencing family violence. Would your Party support and provide funding for national roll-out of these units and partnerships?
Q5. Would your Party provide additional federal funding to expand perpetrator responses and interventions, including men’s behaviour change programs, case management, fathering programs and other specialist interventions, estimated by No To Violence to require an additional $88.2 million of federal funding annually?
Q6. Our Watch is the National Foundation for the Prevention of Violence Against Women and their Children. It oversees and leads the implementation of the national strategy to prevent violence against women. Does your Party support the provision of long term, core funding of Our Watch of $5 million annually?
Q7. Does your party commit to develop a new National Plan to Prevent Violence Against Women and their Children after 2022 based on consultation with the specialist sexual, domestic and family violence sector and incorporating learnings from the evaluation of the current plan?
Q8. Would your Party support investment to build the capacity of practitioners in community groups, government, organisations and key sectors to ensure they have expertise in the prevention of violence, and are able to expand the reach of current primary prevention activities?
Q9. Would your Party commit to reviewing the domestic and family violence system to identify the funding gaps that are within the Commonwealth’s area of responsibility?
9A. Does your Party commit to develop a national strategy for ensuring all people affected by domestic and family violence can access emergency, transitional, long-term and affordable housing, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, culturally and linguistically diverse and LGBTIQ people and people with a disability?
9B. How much additional funding would your Party commit to ensuring children and young people who are experiencing, or at risk of, domestic and family violence receive early and ongoing specialist support that is tailored to their unique and complex needs?
Section 2) ParentsNext
The Australian Human Rights Commission and Human Rights Law Centre have criticised the ParentsNext program as inconsistent with Australia's human rights obligations, saying it unjustifiably discriminates against women and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Q1. Will your party abandon the current ParentsNext program?
Q2. Will your party end the application of compliance frameworks that threaten parenting payments based on the completion of activities?
Q3. Will your party make the receipt of parenting payments unconditional for parents with children under six years (i.e. not impose activity requirements as a pre-condition to receiving the parenting payment)?
Q4. Will your party commit to work in genuine partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations to co-create voluntary programs that support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families to achieve their goals and promote self-determination?
Section 3) University sexual violence
This question is asked in partnership with End Rape on Campus Australia and the National Union of Students.
Q1. Sexual violence is the most significant safety issue on university campuses right now. Too many universities and residences are still failing to appropriately respond to, and prevent, sexual violence.
Will your party commit to establish an independent and expert-led Taskforce to track, assess and publicly report on university and residences’ measures to prevent and improve responses to sexual violence?
Section 4) Workplace sexual harassment
More than 100 groups recently launched the “Power to Prevent” roadmap to address workplace sexual harassment in Australia. These questions relate to your party’s commitment to the five areas of reforms called for by those organisations.
Q1. What are your party’s policies to ensure dedicated prevention efforts to address the underlying gendered drivers of sexual harassment?
1.A Will you invest in integrated strategies for primary prevention, aligned with the national framework, Change the Story – both within workplaces and across the broader community?, and build capacity of employers to prevent sexual harassment?
Q2. What are your party’s policies on providing stronger and clearer legal duties on employers to prevent sexual harassment at work, and to ensure regulators are more effectively able to tackle sexual harassment?
2.A Will you amend work health and safety regulations and Codes of Practice to create an enforceable framework to prevent and address sexual harassment?
2.B. Will you ensure Commonwealth work health and safety agencies are resourced and trained to effectively address sexual harassment?
2.C. Will you updated Commonwealth anti-discrimination laws to impose an enforceable positive duty on employers to prevent sexual harassment, supplemented by guidelines for compliance?
2.D. Will you grant the Commonwealth human rights commissions greater investigation powers, the power to enter into enforceable undertakings, and the power to issue compliance notices, to more effectively address sexual harassment?
Q3. What are your party’s policies to ensure access to fair, effective and efficient complaints processes?
3.A Will you amend the Fair Work Act to protect workers from sexual harassment with a stand-alone civil remedy provision to enable the Fair Work Commission to receive complaints and the Fair Work Ombudsman to tackle sexual harassment?
3.B Will you amend Commonwealth anti-discrimination legislation to extend the time limit for bringing a complaint to 6 years?
3.C Will you resource the Commonwealth human rights commission to reduce the current wait times for conciliation?
Q4. What are your parties’ policies to ensure access to appropriate advocacy and support for workers who experience sexual harassment, including access to information, counseling and legal services?
4.A Will you fund specialist support services to assist people who have experienced sexual harassment?
Q5. What are your party’s policies to ensure accessible reporting tools?
5.A Will you pilot an online reporting tool that assists people to report and address problem behaviour and seek support, and identify trends to assist with prevention and enforcement efforts?