9th Dec 2020, 3:51 PM – Senate Motions - Domestic and Family Violence - Fund services

The majority voted in favour of a motion introduced by Queensland Senator Larissa Waters (Greens). Motions like these don't make any legal changes on their own, but are politically influential because they represent the will of the Senate.

Motion text

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) 10 December 2020 is the last day of the United Nations' 16 Days of Activism, recognising violence against women as one of the world's most persistent violations of human rights,

(ii) the 2020 theme, 'Fund, Respond, Prevent, Collect', calls for funding for frontline family and domestic violence (FDV) services, investment in prevention programs, and data collection regarding the scale of the crisis, and

(iii) in Australia:

(A) 50 women have been killed by violence in 2020,

(B) no national government toll reports women killed by violence in real time,

(C) 1 in 3 women have experienced physical violence and, on average, one woman is murdered every week by her current or former partner,

(D) women are nearly three times more likely than men to experience intimate partner violence and 2.5 times more likely to be hospitalised from FDV,

(E) young women, women with disabilities, and First Nations women are more likely to experience violence, and

(F) demand for FDV services has risen significantly during COVID-19; and

(b) calls on the Government to:

(i) recognise violence against women as a national security crisis, and

(ii) fully fund FDV and prevention services so all those seeking safety can get the help they need.