A national plan to end violence against women and children is to be finalised following agreement between NSW, the Commonwealth and all other States and Territory Governments.
Australian Minister for Women, Senator Katy Gallagher and the Minister for Social Services, Amanda Rishworth, met with their State and Territory counterparts to discuss issues affecting women in Australia.
Senator Gallagher said the Governments gave broad support to the draft plan updated by the Commonwealth and agreed to work constructively for a final National Plan to be released by October.
“Today was a productive first meeting where Governments agreed on the next steps to advance our common priorities of gender equality, and the safety of women and children,” Senator Gallagher said.
“We know there is strong community support to end violence against women and finalising the National Plan is an important step in making that a reality,” she said.
“I look forward to working collaboratively with my State and Territory colleagues to improve outcomes for all women in Australia and advance our shared goal of gender equality.”
Ms Rishworth said she was impressed by the collaborative approach to tackling women’s safety issues.
“The National Plan is our national policy framework that describes how we will all work together towards ending violence against women and children over the next 10 years,” Ms Rishworth said.
“It is imperative that all Governments are working together to increase coordination of policy responses, build our evidence and data collecting capabilities and improve integration of systems and services,” she said.
“We want a whole-of-Government approach to getting real results in this space.”
Ms Rishworth said one woman died in Australia every 10 days at the hands of their current or former partner.
“That is unacceptable,” the Minister said.
“The National Plan will set out a strategy for the next decade with the aim of reducing that number.”
