Community Services Minister and Minister for Women, Karen Struthers and Attorney-General Cameron Dick have agreed to work towards a draft three-year national plan to reduce violence against women.
The Minister and the Attorney-General made the commitment at the first meeting of the Ministerial Council on a National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women & their Children in Sydney today.
Over the past five years there have been up to 60 domestic violence-related deaths in Queensland.
“We’ve simply got to turn those statistics around. We need to bring domestic violence out from behind closed doors and deal with it,” Ms Struthers said.
“We want every State and Territory to get behind a national plan. We need to work together. We owe it to our sons and daughters.”
Minister Struthers said statistics relating to domestic and family violence in Indigenous communities were most disturbing.
“Indigenous women are 35 times more likely to be hospitalised due to family violence than any other Australian women. We must address this as a top priority.”
Ms Struthers said the draft national plan would build on the Bligh Government’s recently-released five-year strategy to tackle domestic violence in Queensland.
“It’s a ground-breaking strategy and the first whole-of-government response to domestic and family violence in Queensland,” she said.
“It includes the new Death Review Panel – a team of experts who will investigate all domestic violence related deaths in Queensland over the past five years.
“We’re also conducting a review of the Domestic Violence and Family Violence Protection Act so that it truly reflects the needs of women and children today.
“As well, a 20-month trial is about to get underway in Rockhampton. We’re setting up a case-coordination team with police, Child Safety officers and a specialist domestic and family violence worker,” she said.
Minister Struthers said the Bligh Government was spending more than $170 million this financial year to tackle domestic violence in Queensland.
Attorney-General Cameron Dick said agencies and departments within Government and across all Australian jurisdictions need to work together to tackle this important issue.
“The initial step would involve a national registration system for all domestic violence orders, which is on the Standing Committee Attorneys-General agenda.
“This would assist in protecting victims of domestic violence across all states of Australia.
Mr Dick said Queensland is looking at taking a multi-agency response to the issue of domestic violence.
“Sexual assault and domestic and family violence are among the most pervasive forms of violence against women and children,” Mr Dick said.
“To address this issue we need a much broader Government response encompassing community services, legal services, child safety and Indigenous affairs.
In April this year the National Council to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children presented the Commonwealth Government with a report Time for Action which contains 117 recommendations for Government and identifies six core areas for improvement.
The strategies for action include:
·building strong, safe communities that are free from violence;
·from an early age children develop the skills to build and sustain respectful non-violent relationships;
·services support the holistic needs of women and their children in all their diversity;
·responses to violence are just;
·perpetrators stop their violence; and
·both government and service systems work together effectively.
The draft plan is expected to be provided to COAG by the end of the year.
Media Inquiries: Minister Struthers’ Office 3235 4286
Attorney-General’s Office 3239 3487
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