National Council to Reduce Violence Against Women and their Children
As an election commitment, the Government established the National Council to Reduce Violence Against Women and their Children in May 2008 to:
- provide expert advice to Government on ways of reducing the incidence and impact of domestic and family violence and sexual assault on women and their children;
- deliver a draft National Plan to Reduce Violence against Womenand their Children; provide leadership and guidance to achieve the implementation of key elements of the Government’s election commitments to improve women’s safety.
Eleven Council members were selected for their extensive knowledge, expertise and networks in the fields of domestic and family violence and sexual assault.
During 2008 the National Council consulted with a broad range of stakeholders including members of the public, victims and survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, government and non-government organisations to build the evidence that will underpin the National Plan.
The Council invited additional specialists to provide advice to provide advice for the development of the Plan. The Hon Judy Jackson, former Tasmanian Attorney-General, provided specialist legal advice. Directors of the Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse (DVCH), the Australian Centre for the Study of Sexual Assault (ACSSA), and the Australian Government Office for Women also provided expert support to the National Council as non-voting members.
Other Election commitments to improve women’s safety
- Advocacy and education activities promoting non-violent relationships with women throughout regional and rural communities.
- Government has already invested an additional $250,000 per year for four years (from 07-08) to support
White Ribbon Ambassadors (http://www.whiteribbonday.org.au/) expand their reach and influence into regional and rural communities.
- Engaging with Australia’s youth, particularly teenage boys, to promote attitudes and behaviours that enable them to maintain respectful relationships.
- Government has already invested an additional $250,000 per year for four years (from 07-08) to support White Ribbon Ambassadors expand their reach and influence into regional and rural communities.
- Investing in research focused on domestic violence-related homicides to inform interventions that will protect women and their children from violence.
- Government has boosted Australian Institute of Criminology funding to enhance the National Homicide Monitoring Program. (http://www.aic.gov.au/research/projects/0001.html) Work is progressing to identify individual and situational risk factors associated with domestic related homicides and identify early intervention and preventative strategies for high risk individuals and communities, including Indigenous communities.
- Undertaking research to identify models and programs that are most effective in working with perpetrators of violence, to reduce their violence and its impacts on women and their children.
- The Australian Domestic and Family Violence Clearinghouse (DVCH) (http://www.austdvclearinghouse.unsw.edu.au/) has been funded to undertake new primary research on the effectiveness of financial support options for women fleeing domestic violence.
- The Australian Centre for the Study of Sexual Assault (ACSSA) (http://www.aifs.gov.au/acssa/) has been funded to undertake new primary research on victims’ perceptions of perpetrators’ tactics in ‘grooming’ women.
- The National Council is also designing a program of research and targeted consultation to establish the efficacy of practice models used to work with perpetrators and reduce their violence against women.
Additional commitments
Government is also:
- Building evidence to inform the development of housing and allied support responses for women and their children fleeing domestic and family violence;
- Funding the Women’s Services Network (WESNET) (http://www.wesnet.org.au/) to build the capacity of service providers to support victims of domestic and family violence within an early intervention and prevention model;
- Funding the National Association of Services Against Sexual Violence (NASASV) (http://www.nasasv.org.au/) to develop a National Sexual Assault Prevention Education Framework;
- Funding a National Survey of Community Attitudes to Violence to be undertaken in partnership with VicHealth, the Australian Institute of Criminology and the Social Research Centre to provide a benchmark by which to measure changes in community attitudes;
- Providing funding over four years to extend the reach of White Ribbon Day (http://www.whiteribbonday.org.au/) activities into rural and regional communities, particularly into high schools, to influence the change the attitudes and behaviours that perpetuate violence against women in Australian society.