3.1 Terms of Reference
The terms of reference for the ‘As Is’ jurisdictional analysis were determined by the National Council to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children (the Council) and the Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA). The analysis was commissioned to provide preliminary high-level research to support the development of Time for Action: The National Council’s Plan for Australia to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children (Plan of Action).
In undertaking the development of the analysis, KPMG liaised with the Chair and several members of the National Council and FaHCSIA to gain guidance and input. In these discussions, it was agreed that the recently published Amnesty International document entitled Setting the Standard: International Good Practice to Inform an Australian National Plan of Action to Eliminate Violence Against Women provided a sufficiently detailed international analysis and perspective and that no further research of interventions at the international level was required. The primary requirement was for an ‘As Is’ assessment of Australian jurisdictional profiles and trends.
3.2 Approach
Amnesty International’s Setting the Standard draws on the findings of the United Nations, other international organisations and other countries to establish principles and practices for a national plan.
These principles state that a national plan of action must be:
- structural - it not only needs to create structures that will harmonise efforts of government agencies in all Australian jurisdictions (an all-of-government response), it must take a socio-structural approach to violence against women. This means recognising the relationship between violence and the patriarchal traditions that have found expression in laws, institutions, attitudes and perceptions;
- strategic - an action plan needs to be long-term and holistic in its response. It must be built around targets and timeframes that are linked to accountability mechanisms (assigning responsibly to relevant agencies) and evaluation;
- sustained - recommendations must include substantial and continued funding and a leadership body that is stable and permanent161.
The underlying principles of an action plan should also include:
- prevention - violence against women and their children requires long-term strategies, such as education and public-awareness campaigns, to change community attitudes and help prevent violence in the first instance;
- provision - appropriate and targeted services should be available to all victims/survivors for their physical, mental and social wellbeing, as well as for their protection from further violence;
- prosecution - barriers to prosecution must be removed and any action plan should ensure that all forms of violence against women and their children are investigated, prosecuted and punished in accordance with the gravity of the crime and that victims/survivors receive appropriate remedies162.
3.3 Structure of this report
The remainder of this report is structured accordingly:
- Sections 3-12 provide summary tables of the ‘As Is’ jurisdictional analysis of the domestic, family and sexual violence initiatives, structures and protocols for each Australian jurisdiction. This is followed by a more in-depth profile of many of the strategies, policies and programs, legislation and services referred to in the summary tables.
- Section 13 provides a summary of the similarities, differences and gaps in jurisdictional approaches.
- Appendix A provides a list of acronyms used throughout this report.
- Appendix B provides a list of agencies consulted for confirmation of the ‘As Is’ analysis.