Federal government to appoint a Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence Commission - ABC News

A Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commission will be established by the Federal government to ensure "real and tangible" improvements are achieved under the next National Plan to end violence against women and children.

Key points:

• Under the plan there will be $22.4 million invested over five years
• The commission will be tasked with supporting development of policy to address violence against women and improving cooperation between the Commonwealth and states and territories
• The news was announced just before an embargo was due to lift from Labor pledging to appoint a commissioner on domestic, family and sexual violence

The government made the announcement late on Tuesday night, mere moments before an embargo was due to lift on Labor's pledge to appoint a domestic, family, and sexual violence commissioner to advocate on behalf of victims and survivors if it wins the next election.

Opposition leader Anthony Albanese is due to officially announce the policy on Wednesday morning, along with a commitment to fund 500 extra case workers, financial counsellors, and child support staff to take pressure off stretched crisis services providing support to women fleeing abusive relationships.

In a joint statement, Minister for Women Marise Payne and Minister for Women's Safety Anne Ruston said $22.4 million will be invested over five years to establish the new commission, which will have research and secretariat staff.

It will be tasked with supporting the development of policy to address violence against women, developing relationships with the sector and improving cooperation between the commonwealth and states and territories.

"The next National Plan will be an ambitious blueprint to end violence against women and children, but it must be more than words," Senator Payne said.

In a joint statement, Minister for Women Marise Payne and Minister for Women's Safety Anne Ruston said $22.4 million will be invested over five years to establish the new commission(ABC News: Nick Haggarty)

"The new Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commission will have responsibility for monitoring and reporting on accountability and evaluation frameworks against the next National Plan to ensure it delivers real and tangible actions that prevent violence, intervene early and better support victim-survivors."

The government is yet to release the new 10-year National Plan which will come into effect when the existing lapses in June next year.

The ABC understands a draft of the plan is expected to be released in coming weeks.

Labor has previously pledged to legislate 10 days paid domestic violence leave.(ABC News: Ian Cutmore)

While announcing its own plan to establish a commissioner, Labor accused the Coalition of failing to take women's safety seriously during its 8 years in government.

Under Labor's pledge, 250 of the additional community sector workers will be located in rural and regional communities to improve access to support services for women escaping domestic abuse outside of metropolitan areas.

"We have a crisis in this country, and we need to deal with it," Mr Albanese told the ABC ahead of the government's announcement.

"The pandemic unfortunately has seen a rise in domestic violence incidents, and we need to do far better."

Shelters, community organisation and specialist women's services will be able to employ extra case workers to help women navigate establishing a new life, financial counsellors to assist clients achieve financial independence, and support workers to help children with their trauma.

"We believe this is an important initiative that needs to be adopted as a matter of urgency," he said.

"Each and every day in Australia, there'll be women and children who are turned away from services, because there simply isn't the space available for them.

"They're having to choose between couch surfing or staying in a car or the worst circumstance of returning to a dangerous situation."

The first 200 workers will be funded in 2022-23 with the remainder progressively brought in over the following two years at a total cost of $153.4 million.

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Under Labor's vision, the commissioner would also track progress under the National Plan, and work with Commonwealth agencies, states and territory governments and community organisations to gather data on family, domestic and sexual violence to ensure investment is directed to where it's needed most.

"We want to provide accountability and transparency by measuring progress against the national plan and delivering a yearly report so that there's an ongoing commitment… that we deal with this scourge on our society," Mr Albanese said.

While unveiling the new commission, Senator Ruston also spruiked the Morrison government's $260 million National Partnership Agreement to boost the capacity of frontline services, announced as part of the May budget, and $130 million allocated during the pandemic.

"By designing the frontline support as a partnership with states and territories it ensures the funding is meeting local needs which differ across the country," she said.

"Rather than Canberra dictating how the money must be spent we are providing flexibility to those with the knowledge on the ground which has allowed the additional support to span frontline services, safe accommodation, perpetrator interventions, helplines, counselling services and training."

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2021-11-23 13:24:06Z
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