Ministerial Statement

Violence Against Women

The Hon. K.A. HILDYARD (Reynell—Minister for Child Protection, Minister for Women and the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing) (15:02): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. K.A. HILDYARD: From 25 November, International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, through to 10 December, Human Rights Day, communities around the world acknowledge the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence and join together to call for the prevention and elimination of violence against women.

This year's 16 days started with our community mourning the deaths of four women in South Australia in the space of one week, allegedly at the hands of a partner or former partner. I offer my love and deep condolences to the loved ones of these women—women who are mothers, daughters, friends, sisters, neighbours. Their deaths are unacceptable. Their loss and the prevalence of violence against women elicit in all of us both grief and anger.

The deaths of these women were preventable. Indeed, the ongoing prevalence of violence against women is preventable. And it must be prevented—because we do not want to mourn any women, because more than one woman per week in Australia is killed as a result of domestic violence, because women facing intersectional barriers are even more likely to experience domestic violence.

Our government is determined to help advance change that means men do not harm women, that shifts the gender inequality and harmful attitudes toward women that precipitate disrespect and violence and that prevents violence against women in all its forms. Our government is committed to working alongside our entire community in these efforts, alongside women's organisations, other service providers and stakeholders, and, crucially, alongside women experiencing violence, to help prevent and help eradicate domestic and family violence.

In December, the Premier and I will convene a meeting with key sector leaders, relevant ministers and agencies to discuss what immediate actions can be taken across government, with the sector and our community. As a government, our commitments span a range of legislative measures, preventative actions and policies, and options for recovery to empower women to heal and walk new, safer pathways.

Our government has passed legislative reform, including making the experience of domestic violence a ground of discrimination in the Equal Opportunity Act and enshrining 15 days' paid domestic violence leave for workers engaged in the state industrial system. Other initiatives include reviewing legislation around consent to sexual activity. We have introduced legislation to require electronic monitoring as a condition of bail for those charged with serious breaches of domestic violence intervention orders.

We have restored funding to Catherine House and to the Domestic Violence Court Assistance Service after this funding was cut. We have provided $1 million toward establishing a southern and northern domestic violence prevention and recovery hub to co-locate services to assist women to access integral information and support. Paid staff members are now employed in the 10 regional safety hubs across the state.

Just last month, our funded program to raise awareness about gender inequality and its link to disrespect and violence toward women began to roll out in sporting clubs, and early in 2024 we will introduce legislation to criminalise coercive control. To prevent coercive control, we need more people in our community aware of it, those who experience it to feel empowered to seek help, and those who perpetrate it to stop.

Our government has led work to strengthen our community discourse and understanding and help to progress this really important change through the See the Signs campaign launched earlier this year. During the campaign period, this reached almost a combined two million impressions across different forms of social media, and spurred countless, necessary conversations across our community.

We also know, however, that more has to be done and that one person, government, or the sector, cannot advance change alone. We must all commit to playing our part in calling out disrespectful behaviours, in shifting gender inequality which, in its every expression—whether that is in a lack of career opportunities, pay inequity, a lack of access to sporting or other facilities—sends a message that women are not equal, and in supporting women facing situations of violence to recover and to heal.

These 16 days of activism and beyond, I encourage all in this place, and every South Australian, to speak and to act to prevent violence against women. I urge people to push through discomfort and call behaviours out. I urge people to be involved. Whatever a person's role, sphere of influence, postcode, profession, your voice, your actions can make a difference.

Our government applauds all who speak up and act and we encourage those who have not yet used their voices to do so. We will continue to work on actions that can be taken in the short and the medium term and will work with colleagues across government, the sector, and with our community to tackle the horrific scourge of domestic, family and sexual violence.