BREAKING: Malcolm Turnbull has just been voted the next leader of the Liberal Party, and will be the new Prime Minister of Australia. This change brings with it a critical opportunity - not just to change the number of women in Cabinet, but also the policy priorities of the government.
This year our national community has been rocked by horrific family violence attacks. Despite the rising rate at which women in our country are being killed, the Abbott-led government left women in danger -- failing to provide the additional funding needed to ensure all women access family violence services. Their decisions meant that thousands of women taking the brave step of trying to escape an abuser have been left with nowhere to turn, in a time they're at great risk.
A new Prime Minister can change that: but only if we push him to make it a priority.
Can you send him an email to [email protected] or tweet him at @TurnbullMalcolm to urge him to make full funding of family violence services a personal priority?
Click here for tips on what to include in your email
- Introduce yourself - Mention where you live and what you do. If you voted for the Coalition at the last election you might want to mention this.
- Explain the reason you're emailing - Let him know that you're emailing because you're very concerned that the Abbott-led government are leaving women in danger, by failing to provide adequate funding for the services needed to help women escape abusive relationships - and leaving many with nowhere to turn.
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Urge him to commit to fully fund the services needed to help women escape abuse, and to prevent abuse in the future. That means providing full funding for services like:
- Emergency accommodation - things like women's refuges, where inadequate funding from federal and state/territory governments is forcing them to turn away 2,800 women seeking shelter from domestic violence every year. These critical services need an additional $34 million of federal funding annually to meet even with current demand for crisis accommodation.
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Legal assistance - this includes services like Community Legal Centres (CLCs), where a third of the work is family violence related. Inadequate government funding means CLCs aren't able to help more than 150,000 people every year. At the same time Family Violence Prevention Legal Services - which provide specialist and culturally safe services for Aboriginal women are also unable to meet demand.
The legal assistance sector as a whole needs $120 million extra federal funding a year to meet demand. - Family and relationship services - need an additional $17.2 million to expand their work in supported family dispute resolution and parenting and safety programs.
- Men's behaviour change programs - who need an additional $8.5 million to strengthen their work.
- Primary prevention - needed to address the community attitudes that lead to violence. They need additional funding for a range of programs including early childhood interventions and respectful relationship education in schools.
- Thank him for his time.
Once you've sent your email, please forward us a copy at [email protected] so we can keep track of and share the powerful messages being sent!