PRIME MINISTER:
… Co-hosting this very important summit. It is first of its kind. It addresses this scourge, this violence against women and children, which tears at families, which tears at our way, at the fabric of our society, which tears at our conscience.
It is good to see that there is strong progress being made. Every presentation you have seen this morning shows the way in which we are working together. The Australian Government, Commonwealth Government, of course, is making a vital contribution, working together with the other jurisdictions.
So, I'm pleased to launch today, with my state and territory colleagues, our Third Action Plan for our national strategy to reduce violence against women and their children. It sets an ambitious agenda for the next three years, to reduce and address the impact of violence, building on the last six years of work that we have already undertaken.
Now, we will be backing the Third Action Plan with a $100 million commitment, which includes $20 million for the prevention and early intervention programs, to break the cycle of domestic and family violence.
$25 million for services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians experiencing family violence.
$15 million to improve and expand national domestic and family violence services.
And $30 million for frontline legal services to support women experiencing this violence.
That, of course, is in addition to the $100 million women's safety package I announced a year ago, which has Senator Cash observed, was the first policy announcement I made as Prime Minister. Of course, in addition to that, we have the $30 million advertising campaigning, which you saw, such compelling advertisements. Again, there is so much government advertising and communication, it's a great credit to the Minister and, of course, to all of the jurisdictions who worked together to produce such an effective campaign, that is achieving that cultural change.
Now, there is so much more work to be done. We are looking forward to listening, to taking advantage of the expertise and the experience of this summit, full of passionate, committed, resilient women and men, who all like us, are determined to see an end to this violence and to see all women respected, living free from this scourge, this shame, of violence against women and their children.
PREMIER PALASZCZUK:
Thank you, Prime Minister. On behalf of the people of Queensland, can I welcome everyone to our state for the very first summit of this kind, targeting the prevention of family and domestic violence.
As the Prime Minister said, this is an incredibly important issue. It's one that has touched my life and I'm quite sure that it's touched a lot of people's lives, because it is so real and so raw out in our communities.
As a nation we are doing more and more to address this issue. I think through the educational campaigns that have been raised at a national level, we are raising that awareness. What that means is more women are now reporting domestic and family violence. Our courts are responding. Our governments are responding. What has been unique about today is that we've actually been able to showcase some of the key initiatives that are happening in other states, in different jurisdictions, and hopefully we can learn from one another and adopt the best practice across our nation.
So, I welcome the premiers, the ministers and of course the Prime Minister here to Queensland. As the Prime Minister said, this is fundamentally about respectful relationships as well. Respect needs to start at our homes and in our schools. As leaders in our community, we need to work with the organisations that are delivering fundamental services out to our communities right across our nation. I believe this is a fantastic first step. We have over 190 people here today. I thank each and every one of them for coming to Queensland to share your unique experiences with us. We thank you for all the work that you do. Thank you, everyone, for coming today, together I believe that we can make real change and bring about real difference to people's lives.
PRIME MINISTER:
Do we have some questions?
JOURNALIST:
Can I ask you a question on another matter?
PRIME MINISTER:
Do you mind if we focus important issues we are addressing today. Yes, please.
JOURNALIST:
You met with Bravehearts.
PRIME MINISTER:
I did.
JOURNALIST:
[Inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER:
Hetty raised that matter with me. There is body of work being undertaken at the moment that the Government is reviewing, in terms of the operations of the Family Court. I believe we have enough material and work in hand to address the issues that have been raised.
The important thing is for us as a Government, indeed, for all of us as governments, is to act where we see the problem. Where we see the clear issues and problems, to seek to address them. There is already, as I said, a body of work that the Attorney and the Government is addressing right now.
JOURNALIST:
You have spoken about [inaudible]. How are the Indigenous communities [inaudible].
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, there have been a series of meetings right across Australia between officials of my Department, as you know we have the Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Nigel Scullion, who's obviously been engaged in those, as have other ministers and officials. I have met with Aboriginal leaders and indeed experts in this area myself. I had discussions on this very issue, this very issue, very recently here in Queensland.
So, I can assure you it's something we are definitely working with our first Australians on this. It's an issue of the keenest focus. I want to acknowledge all of the contributions that were made, particularly, if I may say, by Liza Harvey and, indeed, by Dale from the Northern Territory, addressing these issues particularly today.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister, are there any cross-border legal discrepancies, possible legal discrepancies that need to be addressed? For example, on restraining orders?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, those issues are being addressed. I'm not sure if any of my colleagues would like to comment on those, but this mutual recognition - it is very important. The greater harmony , the higher the degree of harmonisation we can have, the better. Again, as Dale was saying earlier, a woman should not be in a position where she has a different level of support or protection simply by crossing over a state or territory border.
Would anyone else like to comment on that? The questions are being asked of me but I don't want to monopolise the answers. Would anyone else want to comment?
JOURNALIST:
On a similar line, how close are we to national uniform laws to combat revenge porn?
PRIME MINISTER:
This is something that we are addressing as well. There are several jurisdictions that have laws on revenge porn. There is of course Federal legislation in place which deals with harassing and menacing conduct online. But we certainly would welcome a uniform approach across the country. We should have zero tolerance for this type of behaviour. Do you want do address that?
PREMIER ANDREWS:
On a similar matter, in terms of trying to coordinate our responses, not just the laws that we write, it's the way our current systems operate. So we have got a number of pretty well separate child protection systems and we know the family violence drives so much of that important work. So, we need to better link those together. We need to link all of our Federal Courts, so the Federal Court, the Family Court, together with all of the courts across states and territories. A proper connectivity, sharing information, sharing records, having line of sight, so when a decision is made, you have got all the facts you need, to make sure that the safety of the woman in question and her children is the primary focus and that you are not making - because you just don't have the information - decisions that could put someone in harm’s way.
More effective, more efficient, changing lives, saving lives. You have got to have the information being shared. So, yes, we need common laws, but we also need common practice. We need common leadership and that's why I spoke today and I think we're - there is a fair degree of support for us to continue the discussion around standardised leave in the national employment standards, our courts working bettering to, child protection working better together, but also using one of the great platforms in the world, in terms of the universal provision of health care, Medicare, to better provide for those who are dealing with family violence. All of these issues, they come directly from the question you have asked.
JOURNALIST:
Prime Minister just on the support for Indigenous communities, there is a delegation here today from the Northern Territory wanting more funding to address the chronic rates of family violence up there [inaudible] support [inaudible]?
PRIME MINISTER:
Absolutely. Absolutely. I could not stress more how important this issue is. “No more” is the message. There must be no more of this family violence.
That's why we are all working in a concerted way to address it. We recognise it is a very complex challenge. Just in the space of the last few questions, you can see the range of challenges we face, from the very raw and personal issues in the criminal justice system, to the Family Court, to misuse and abuse of technology.
So, certainly we are, I believe there is a complete unity ticket across politics and across jurisdictions on this. I think this issue is beyond politics, frankly. It's beyond partisan politics, it is something we are all committed to addressing. The challenge is, of course, finding the policies and the methods that are most effective, and that's why it's been so useful.
What a great thing it is, what a great thing it is that here we are - leaders of governments, with so many other issues and distractions and challenges and priorities - here we are assembled in this place today, focused on this one issue. All recognising that each and every jurisdiction and each and every one of the 190 people gathered here today has a contribution and an insight that is valued and respected because we will all learn from each other's experience.
Look at the way in which the pioneering work, the joined-up information-sharing work in South Australia has been taken up by Tasmania, as Will Hodgeman described. The Victorian Premier said to me when Jay Weatherill was presenting - you leaned across - I hope you don't mind me saying this - you leaned across and said: “This is the best initiative. It is outstanding”. So you can see that all rivalry aside, whether it's territories or State of Origin, Premier Baird, whatever it is, we are absolutely on a unity ticket in addressing this challenge. It is great that we're sharing our experiences in such a constructive way.
PREMIER BAIRD:
I also think it’s important on that point from the Prime Minister, we also have to be honest as well, and part of the plan that we have committed to, there is an acknowledgement, particularly specifically to the question, in terms of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, that there is so much work to do. Part of the impetus today is to acknowledge where things have worked well, but also where we still have a lot to do. The other part is responding to children who are living with domestic violence.
You know, there is so much more we have to do, so many long-term connections. Even to the point of youth suicide and others, we have to do more and while it is incredibly important that we're all here today - I have already paid tribute to Premier Palaszczuk - we also have to acknowledge that this is a journey, and this is not just “let's come here and do this”. There is so much more to do, and certainly every single person on this table and every single person in that room knows it. We need to acknowledge where it's not going well and where we have to work together to make sure it does.
JOURNALIST:
In terms of addressing current rates of [inaudible]?
PRIME MINISTER:
I can't give you a precise time line there but certainly the goal is to have as seamless cooperation between departments, within governments, and several - as I said earlier - the South Australian Premier described how that is operating and, of course, between jurisdictions.
But the goal is to work together. You see this graphically today. We are all here together in a common cause. We disagree on many things. Perhaps we are perceived to disagree on more things than we actually disagree on. There is actually quite a unity of purpose in COAG, I think. But on this issue, it is an absolute unity ticket. The critical agenda is to make sure we deploy the policies and the techniques that work and that is why it is important to share experience.
Because in this area, we have not paid the attention to this issue that we should have in years past. That's the truth. That's why we have the National Action Plan. That's why we're addressing it now. We are addressing it now. It is the clearest of focus, and we have that common purpose. Would you like the add to that?
OK. Thank you, all, very much.
ENDS