Statement – Women’s Safety Ministers

Safe Steps joins with other sector partners in imploring Women’s Safety Ministers to finalise the next National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children when they meet on 22 July.

In our submission and feedback to the National Plan, we outlined key issues for inclusion in the plan. These included:

• The criticality of access to safe and affordable housing, from crisis accommodation to long-term affordable housing
• An increase in and security of operational funding for specialist family violence services
• National consistency in the risk assessment and management for domestic and family violence
• An increase in accountability for people using violence
• Family-violence and trauma-informed practices for federal government services that work with victim-survivors of domestic and family violence including Services Australia
• Focus on the economic drivers and impacts of domestic and family violence on victim-survivors, including an increase in income support payments to a livable level
• Meaningful reform to the Family Court system and access to legal support
• Reform in cyber governance and practices to respond to cyber stalking and technology-facilitated abuse
• Changes to immigration laws and increased supports for women on temporary visas experiencing domestic and family violence
• Strengthening responses to children and young people as victim-survivors of domestic and family violence in their own right

In order to end violence against women and children, a whole-of-system, comprehensive plan is needed and the time to act is now.

For more information see Safe Steps Feedback on Consultation Draft NPEVAWC and Safe Steps Submission – National Action Plan