First of all, thank you all for agreeing to participate. I really appreciate that. This is a priority for the Government. Our mission as a Government is building a strong Australia, a fair Australia and one capable of meeting the challenges of the 21st century.
One of those challenges is not just a 21st century challenge, it is a 20th century challenge. In fact, it has been around for a long, long time. And it is violence against women and violence against children.
And the reason we are here today is to make a difference. And the Government is determined to do that.
Prior to the election we made a commitment to establish this National Council. Today we honour that commitment. This Council begins its work. And I thank each and every one of you for willing to stick your hand up in what is a very difficult area of public policy and a very difficult area of community work - but one where we are absolutely determined to make a difference, absolutely determined to make a difference.
Many of you have already made exceptional contributions in helping survivors of violence and I am especially proud the Council includes Rachel Kayrooz from my own electorate in Brisbane. Rachel and her young daughter Faith have overcome a harrowing ordeal of violence and Rachel is an inspiration in starting the organisation of ‘Shout! Speak Out', to raise awareness of domestic violence in healthy relationships.
So, thank you Rachel. I really appreciate it.
The nation, in my view, the nation and the community, must adopt a zero tolerance attitude to violence against women and violence against children. No ifs, no buts, no maybes. That's where we have to be as a nation, that's where we have to be as a community.
If you look at the statistics on domestic violence, it still presents us with some horrific reading.
The Bureau of Stats research from '05 indicates that six per cent of women, that is one in eighteen women, have been survivors of violence in the previous 12 months.
Six per cent of women, one in 18, survivors of violence in the previous 12 months.
The nation cannot continue to tolerate that. The nation has to make a difference. We have to get that number down. And, what we are talking about through this Council, the practical measures through which that can have a real and lasting effect.
Governments alone can't solve the problem. At the policy level, we wish to engage this Council on what is our overriding benchmark for policy decision making. What works. What makes a difference. We are not interested in that which sounds good. We are not interested in that which looks good. We are interested in that which actually works and gets these figures down. That's what we're interested in.
And that is why it is really important that you have come together as a Council - as survivors, those who have supported survivors, those who represent the interests of survivors, those who can change community attitudes in our schools and our sporting clubs, in local communities and through the national media, and policy makers and advocates.
The Government's approach to tackling violence against women is also part of a broader framework of social inclusion. And very simply it is this. If you have a social inclusion agenda to build healthy communities, if it works effectively, and you have maximal participation in the nation's social and economic opportunities, it usually generates a healthier web of relationships, it usually generates a healthier web of relationships
That's why the Government is committed to building social inclusion across its policies in Government, in education, in income support, in healthcare and in community services.
Violence is not just limited to disadvantaged groups, it occurs across all income groups and cultural groups. And that is why in opposition I committed ourselves to a National Plan to reduce violence against women and children. And your work in this Council is going to be very important in putting that together.
Four specific things that we are working on already.
One, the Respectful Relationships campaign across our schools, across our secondary schools. An education campaign particularly targeted at boys. Important to build that in the minds of young boys as they become adults.
Second, White Ribbon Day. Providing $1 million to boost White Ribbon Day education activities in rural and regional communities.
Third, working with perpetrators, conducting research into international best practice models for working with perpetrators of violence.
Fourth, reviewing the actual legislation itself with States and Territories to ensure tougher and more nationally consistent laws, and best practice, in relation to reducing violence against women and kids.
And fifth, homicide monitoring. Providing half a million dollars to boost the Australian Institute of Criminology's National Homicide Monitoring Program to investigate domestic violence related homicides to inform future interventions.
These are important practical areas of work, but this is where our work simply begins.
The function of this Council is to add to that work and to add to it in areas of evidence based policy, which take us in the direction of bringing those appalling figures down. That's what we want to do.
Of course, the other element which is relevant to violence against women, violence against children, is this - homelessness. Tanya and I share a great passion in this area, what do we do about homelessness.
Recently there was a national conference of those involved in this sector in Adelaide, and Heather Nancarrow was present there and thank you for your work Heather in helping the Government put together its Green Paper on homelessness. That will move towards a White Paper by years' end. But plainly, domestic and family violence is the single greatest reason why people seek help from our homelessness services.
So these things are related. It's not just changing the attitudinal behaviour on the part of men. That is core business, and that is where so much of these activities are directed. It is also about dealing with the immediate emergency services which assist women in these circumstances, and children, and one of those core areas of services is in fact services for the homeless.
That's why for us this is doubly important, getting homelessness right.
The fact that today, in 2008, we can have 100,000 Australians as classified in the census data as homeless, is in my view, obscene. That should not be the case in a country as wealthy as ours.
So these areas of policy are interconnected.
We've got to work on prevention, and that's where so much of the action lies.
We've got to work on response, and that is helping women and children in these circumstances, including in the critical area of homelessness.
But I conclude where I began.
It is only possible if you've got effective buy in from the community represented by persons such as yourselves.
Not only do you bring extra expertise to the table, because in Government our expertise is always limited, you also bring to the table acknowledge and familiarity about what happens on the ground. What works at the point of where the rubber hits the road, where it actually is being implemented out there in the homeless shelter, in the domestic violence shelter or at the point of delivery of critical health and care services for women and children in these circumstances.
So, thank you for coming, thank you for being here. We can guarantee you, consistent with the tradition of this Government, to work very hard.
But you know something, it's actually for a good purpose. The purpose is really good public policy. It rests in some very decent Australian values. Values of fairness. And if we can't provide fairness to women and children who are under the threat of violence, then, frankly we need to be trying a lot harder.
So thanks for being on board.