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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
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Motions

International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women

Mr ODENWALDER (Elizabeth) (10:55): By leave, on behalf of the member for Reynell I move:

That this house—

(a) notes that Sunday 25 November marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women;

(b) notes the unacceptable, shocking and persistent prevalence of violence against women across the globe; and

(c) resolves to do all that it can to address gender inequality, to empower women and girls and to prevent violence against women.

I am happy to move this on behalf of the member for Reynell. I look forward to her contribution and thank her for bringing this important motion to the house. I am proud to have been part of a government which, over the last 16 years, has done so much in the area of domestic violence. I know the current government is doing all it can to continue that work, and I do not for a minute want to denigrate that.

It goes without saying that domestic violence and family violence are completely reprehensible. It has taken some time—over the last 10, 20 or 30 years—for our major services to really recognise the prevalence of domestic violence and to stop it from being a hidden problem, a problem, as the name suggests, that is domestic rather than a problem of society and a problem of primarily men's violence against women.

It has also taken some time for the police to come on board. Their attitude towards victims of domestic violence and complaints of domestic violence has certainly changed since I was a member of the police force. As I understand it, the police now take claims of domestic violence extremely seriously. They are investigated to the nth degree, and police do all they can not only to look after victims but also to prosecute offenders. There was some recent legislation, which I am probably not allowed to refer to—

Members interjecting:

Mr ODENWALDER: Excellent; it is all good stuff. In recent weeks, we have seen some enhancements of some of this stuff but, primarily in terms of policing at least, the extension of the intervention orders regime into the policing role and into the realm of interim intervention orders has made a dramatic difference.

I also think things like video evidence will make a dramatic difference to the way perpetrators are dealt with. It is very important that we have this video evidence and it is very important that police, in the face of victims who, for whatever legitimate reason, shy away from going through with a prosecution, can continue that work. They can continue to have evidence, which means that they or the DPP can bring a prosecution without the direct assistance of the victim.

That is important, of course, because (a) the perpetrator needs to be punished and (b) we need adequate records for the purposes of the new Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme. I congratulate the government on bringing that forward, and I congratulate the member for Elder on her work, as well as the Attorney. It is something that our government was talking about, that the previous premier spoke about. I spoke about it to the previous premier several times, and towards the end I think both parties had a bipartisan position on it and I am very proud and happy to see the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme up and running.

I look forward to seeing how it works, and I look forward to seeing how it works in conjunction with MAPS—another excellent police initiative during the period of the last government—in terms of bringing together services primarily for victims but also with the greater goal of punishing perpetrators and, hopefully, over time lessening the prevalence of domestic violence.

I want to congratulate the government without reserve on their recent bill that focuses on domestic violence. It has some excellent measures, most of which were canvassed in the past parliament but are seeing fruition now. As I said the other day, I think the strangulation element of that bill is an important addition. It is one that I certainly had not considered seriously in the last parliament, but I think it is a very important addition.

I wish the government well in the future. I hope that we can come to bipartisan positions generally on combating domestic violence. I think we all recognise the importance of not only looking after the victims of course but, as I said, properly punishing the perpetrators and properly recording the activities of the perpetrators for the purposes of the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme and protecting future potential victims. I commend the motion to the house.

Mrs POWER (Elder) (11:00): Violence against women and girls is one of the most widespread, persistent and devastating human rights violations in our world today, including Australia. Whilst Australia may be known as the great or lucky country, it is not immune from it. Violence against women and girls manifests itself in physical, sexual and psychological forms such as intimate partner violence, sexual violence and harassment, human trafficking, female genital mutilation, and child marriage. According to Our Watch, on average one woman a week is murdered by her current or former partner, one in three Australian women has experienced physical violence since the age of 15, one in five Australia women has experienced sexual violence, and one in six Australian women has experienced physical or sexual violence by a current or former partner.

From 25 November through to 10 December, which is Human Rights Day, the UN has marked a 16-day campaign to galvanise action to end violence against women and girls around the world. The 16 days of activism provide a focal point for work relating to gender-based violence, which we know is most often experienced by women and girls and most often perpetrated by men who are family members or intimate partners of their victims.

This is so important. Violence and abuse thrives only in silence and so we must all continue to shine a light on this issue, ensuring it remains front and centre. For us as a government, this issue is indeed front and centre. We are absolutely committed to achieving tangible and significant outcomes that work to prevent violence against women and girls and domestic and family violence.

Sometimes I think it is really difficult for anyone to actually grasp the scope of how immense this issue is in our society. To have had seven women recently murdered in an eight-day period in October is horrific. I think terrorism or intimate violence, as domestic violence is sometimes described, is indeed a more accurate and confronting label for this confronting issue. It is also particularly frightening when we consider the frequent under-reporting that exists, not simply because that means we do not have an accurate picture of the level and breadth of violence against women and girls but because it means there are women out there who constantly live in fear of being abused in their own homes, whether that is physically, verbally or emotionally.

Of course, violence does not only occur in homes; it also happens in public places, educational institutions, organisations and workplaces. That is why we must put in place a range of interventions, from educating the public to intervening early in violent situations when there are warning signs through to providing crisis response for those who are currently experiencing violence.

It is my absolute pleasure to share with you what we are doing as a government to address the issue of domestic, family and sexual violence. We took a range of commitments to the March 2018 state election that related specifically to domestic and family violence and we are delivering on all of them. Commitments we have delivered on include a funded peak body for domestic violence services.

The South Australian Coalition of Women's Domestic Violence Services is currently an unfunded peak body for South Australian domestic violence services, but as a peak body they will now receive funding of $624,000 over four years. This will enable the South Australian Coalition of Women's Domestic Violence Services to coordinate its activities across South Australia, provide advice to government, support its members through sharing information and experience, and work with the community to prevent violence against women and girls.

We have also established a 24-hour crisis hotline. Currently, the South Australian Domestic Violence Crisis Line operates during business hours only. This line has been in operation for almost 30 years and I find it unbelievable that the line has not been funded to operate 24/7 before now. We know that domestic violence does not only occur during business hours, so the new Liberal government has provided $1.6 million over four years to Women's Safety Services to enable the crisis hotline to expand its services from business hours to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

This initiative will help hundreds more women living in a violent or abusive relationship to access immediate and specialist support from experts trained in the field. We are expecting it to be operational by the end of November this year. The Marshall Liberal government has also recently announced funding of $150,000 for a personal protection app which we are delivering in consultation with the women's safety sector.

We have allocated $4 million for 40 new beds in crisis accommodation, $5 million for no-interest loans for women's shelters, and we are also looking at data collection and communication methods to ensure that information is more accessible to front-line workers. We have also made a commitment to hold a domestic violence round table, which we wanted to do within the first 30 days of forming government, and we certainly did. Because that first round table was such a success, we have gone out to the regions and continue to hold regional round tables so that we can work with those specific communities to address their needs.

We are also working, led by the Attorney-General, on our other commitments including targeted rehabilitation for perpetrators, reviewing police guidelines, improving disclosure and keeping victims informed. Work is progressing well, but these are complex issues and it is important that we get it right. One of two other key initiatives that we are delivering on is our Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme, which commenced in October as a 12-month trial. SAPOL has the lead role in this work in partnership with women's specialist domestic violence services. Already there have been multiple applications under this scheme. I hope we have many more and that the scheme works as it is intended, reducing the risk of violence against women in this state.

Our other key commitment is in the area of legislative reform, which we debated in this house last week, and it is well underway. These reforms further strengthen domestic and family violence laws and are important in sending a clear message to the community that we do not tolerate such violence against women and girls. In addition, a new framework for the prevention of domestic, family and sexual violence is currently being developed. The framework includes our election commitments as well as a host of other actions. The framework will be action focused and reflect the diverse needs of different population groups. It is expected to be finalised before the end of 2018, so not too long to go.

There is indeed an unprecedented community momentum behind the call for Australia to be a place free from domestic, family and sexual violence. We now have the opportunity to build on the work that has been done and the work that is currently underway. Clearly, no one government or group can address this problem alone, but by working together as a community united in our common cause for genuine change, I believe we can create a state where women feel safe in their homes and on the streets and where children can grow and develop in safe, secure environments.

Together we can continue to challenge the ideas and behaviours that allow domestic and family violence to occur and together we can create the cultural change in our state that is needed to end violence against women and girls. Together we can make our homes and our streets the safe places they should be. Freedom from violence is everyone's right and everyone's responsibility, so I commend the motion to the house.

Mr BELL (Mount Gambier) (11:09): I rise in support of this motion and commend the member for Reynell for introducing it. On 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women also marks the start of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence campaign. This global movement was originally started by activists at the Women's Global Leadership Institute in 1991 and is now coordinated by the Centre for Women's Global Leadership. The campaign is designed to unite organisations and communities across the world to increase awareness of and advocate and share knowledge on this important issue. The colour orange, which is the theme colour for this campaign, represents a brighter future for all women and girls, free from violence.

In my electorate of Mount Gambier, there will be a different event for each day of that time frame, whether it is a community breakfast or networking or morning tea events. One of the main principles of this campaign is recognising that everyone in society has a role to play in ending violence against women and girls. Domestic violence not only has a devastating impact upon victims and families but has a tremendous impact on entire communities. I would like to take this opportunity to talk about the positive work that is going on in this space in my electorate of Mount Gambier and in the surrounding Limestone Coast region. Before I do that, I have to begin by talking about a tragedy.

In 2007, South Australia was shocked by the senseless murder of Glenys Heyward, a Mount Gambier mother who was murdered by her former partner after enduring years of abuse at his hands. The repercussions of that crime highlighted the isolation that women living in regional areas face when dealing with family violence and highlighted the gaps in the state system. Statistics show that women in regional areas are more likely to experience domestic and family violence and that they face different pressures to those living in metropolitan areas. Their isolation makes them less likely to seek intervention and help.

As an aside, it was brought home to me that, particularly for women who are on farms where there are licensed or sometimes unlicensed firearms, the presence of firearms increases the risk, as well as the isolation, of those suffering from domestic violence in remote and regional settings. I think this is a very important point to make, along with the lack of services. Again, their isolation makes them less likely to seek intervention and help.

The year before Glenys's death, Susie Smith began working with the Limestone Coast Domestic Violence Service. If you are fighting for something, Susie is someone you want in your corner. She is a passionate advocate for proactive change. In her words, we need to be loud and proud on this issue, not silent. Every month, the Limestone Coast Family Violence Action Group meets. Around the table with Susie are Sonya Mezinec from the Victim Support Service (she has just been re-elected as a councillor in Mount Gambier—congratulations, Sonya); Jane Smith, a victim liaison officer from SAPOL; Brooke Wilson from ac.care; Craig Wood from Centacare; and Nik Tilley from the Limestone Coast Domestic Violence Service.

The group raises awareness of and provides education about the harms of family violence and also works together to facilitate the prevention of family violence by discussing individual cases and how each organisation is assisting. This collaboration, and information sharing between local services, is critical. The group's work feeds through to the Limestone Coast Violence Against Women Collaboration, which is a strategic group of key operational staff who meet a few times a year to discuss initiatives, monitor service gaps in the region and identify where funding can be best allocated. Susie said that, in the 12 years since the tragic Glenys Heyward case, she has seen sweeping changes in the way domestic violence is tackled and addressed in South Australia. She said, 'We can now have faith in the system.'

When a woman approaches the Limestone Coast DV Service in a crisis situation, her case manager can put her in touch with a range of support systems and networks designed to help her, not only in the short term but, crucially, also in the long term. In short, there are frameworks to support her, including the Family Safety Framework, an integrated service response to high-risk cases of domestic violence that was introduced statewide in 2013.

In 2015, the domestic violence serial offender database was introduced so government and non-government agencies can share information about serial offenders. The database and the framework were the outcome of coronial inquests into murders in this state. Now the opportunities for safer and more sustainable outcomes are greater for those dealing with family violence. Susie is very pleased that the Marshall Liberal government is consulting and working with groups in the sector to direct funding to where it is needed most.

Susie and I believe that this government understands implicitly that the issue of domestic violence in the Limestone Coast has to be tackled differently than in Adelaide or, in fact, other regional areas, such as Coober Pedy. I join Susie in commending the Minister for Human Services, the Hon. Michelle Lensink, and Assistant Minister for Domestic and Family Violence Prevention, Carolyn Power, for listening to regional spokespeople in the DV roundtable series conducted in the South-East not that long ago.

I congratulate the Marshall Liberal government on its significant funding investment to tackle this issue, including expanding the Women's Safety Services SA crisis hotline and the development of a personal protection app. Last week, I spoke in support of the Statutes Amendment (Domestic Violence) Bill, which amends legislation to support victims, broaden definitions and expand police and court powers.

In the memorial garden at the back of the Limestone Coast Domestic Violence Service office is a bench with a plaque with Glenys' name on it, and Susie says that as the service does its day-to-day business Glenys is always in their minds. The women she is able to help escape the cycle of family violence bring her back into the office every day, just as much as the women who, unfortunately, have slipped through the cracks.

Everyone in society has a role to play in the elimination of violence against women, but it is people like Susie Smith who can inform and guide the state government on how to best tackle domestic violence, both now and into the future. I encourage all people in the community to participate in the 16-day campaign.

The Hon. R. SANDERSON (Adelaide—Minister for Child Protection) (11:17): I thank the member for Reynell for her motion on what is a serious blight on society and one that significantly impacts my portfolio as Minister for Child Protection. On 25 November 1960, three sisters—Patria, Minerva and Maria-Teresa Mirabal—of the Dominican Republic were murdered. The sisters were engaged in political activism and opposed the regime of the then president. On the day that they were killed, they were travelling in a vehicle to see two of their husbands, who were incarcerated. The vehicle was stopped by henchmen, linked to the president, who strangled and clubbed the sisters to death before driving their vehicle off the road in order to make their murders appear an accident.

As a tribute and honour to the Mirabal sisters, in December 1999 the United Nations General Assembly designated 25 November as International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Violence against women is despicable, indefensible and repugnant. Sadly, it is a truth to which society often turns a blind eye. It does not discriminate based on age, race or culture. Violence against women occurs against the poorest and richest, the famous, the unemployed, the professionals. The statistics are shocking.

In Australia, violence against women is recognised as being widespread, with enormous individual, community and social costs. On average, one woman a week is murdered by her current or former partner, 37 per cent of women have experienced physical abuse since the age of 15, while close to one in five has experienced sexual violence. One in six Australian women has experienced physical or sexual violence by a current or former partner.

Emotional abuse cannot be underestimated. One in four Australian women has experienced emotional abuse by a current or former partner. Women are more than twice as likely as men to have experienced fear or anxiety due to violence and are four times more likely to be hospitalised following violence. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women report experiencing violence at three times the rate of non-Indigenous women and are 32 times more likely to be hospitalised due to family violence.

The impact of violence against women ripples wider than the immediate victim. Even if the violence is not seen or heard, the stress of the violence can lead to problems with children's emotions, behaviour, brain development and learning. Violence can result in an unpredictable home life for children, causing anxiety, developmental and behavioural difficulties and increased aggression. Children can carry guilt, stress and worry for people they love being hurt or upset. Parents who are stressed and worried have less energy for warm, loving relationships with children. Children suffer and can experience mistrust, shame, anger, low self-esteem, self-blame and fear, and physical symptoms of stress, including stomach-aches, sleeping problems and toileting issues, such as bedwetting.

Children grow up believing that the violence they are witnessing is a normal part of family life. They consider force and violence as mechanisms to achieve a desired outcome. They miss school to care for the person experiencing violence or do not perform well when in attendance. Both impact their educational development. They run away, turn to drugs and alcohol, become aggressive or themselves become a bully.

Frequently, where there is violence in the home, children are also abused and neglected. This can be due to a number of reasons, including women choosing to remain with violent partners, as they consider it too dangerous to leave. The effects of violence on the parenting capacity of their caregiver, as a result of mental or physical injury or substance misuse problems, emerge as a consequence. Domestic violence can result in mothers being emotionally distant, unavailable or unable to meet their children's needs, prioritising their partner's needs over the children in an attempt to minimise or prevent a violent outburst.

In August this year, I visited the Multi-Agency Protection Service (MAPS). There, I was shown examples of the work done by the participating agencies, including the Department for Child Protection, which reviews approximately 2,000 high-risk domestic violence reports in this state per year. It was alarming to learn that approximately 70 per cent of their case load had the Department for Child Protection involved. The very important work being undertaken by MAPS can be used by the Department for Child Protection to make applications in the Adelaide Youth Court for removal of a child where the environment presents a risk of harm.

The impact of violence on an unborn child also cannot be underestimated. The benefits of intervening early in vulnerable families identified in pregnancy are considerable. By extrapolating the sample data results across the entire cohort of children subject to an unborn child concern in 2014, it was determined that intervening before or during pregnancy had the potential to prevent 2,220 reports to child protection and 180 children entering out-of-home care before the age of two.

I am proud to be a member of a Liberal government that has a strong plan to address violence against women. Election commitments will be met through an $11.9 million injection over four years, delivered through the 2018-19 state budget to address family and domestic violence in South Australia. Initiatives, such as funding the Coalition of Women's Domestic Violence Services so it can be established as a peak body, access by NGOs to no-interest loans to fund capital projects to provide facilities for women escaping domestic violence and improving the personal protection app, are all underway.

The Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme, launched last month, allows a person at risk to seek information about a current or former partner's violent offending history and provides support to plan for their safety. As recently as last fortnight, the Ask for Angela program, working to combat violence and antisocial behaviour at venues across the state, was being rolled out. Statewide round tables with domestic violence providers have been held, resulting in real action, including funding for the Women's Safety Services crisis hotline to operate 24 hours a day, increasing the availability and quality of crisis accommodation and co-locating services in safety hubs across the state.

The Statutes Amendment (Domestic Violence) Bill 2018 creates an additional offence for strangulation, a presumption against bail in certain circumstances and expands the definition of abuse under the Intervention Orders (Prevention of Abuse) Act. I am proud to be part of a government that will work collaboratively and cooperatively to ensure that there is a community conversation in relation to violence against women, that there is no stigma attached, that women feel empowered to reach out and that the message is clear that violence against women is not acceptable and will not be tolerated. As former United Nations secretary Ban Ki-moon said:

…there is one universal truth, applicable to all countries, cultures and communities: violence against women is never acceptable, never excusable, never tolerable.

I thank the member and commend the motion to the house.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON (Ramsay) (11:25): I rise to speak in support of this motion, and I thank the member for Reynell for bringing it to parliament. This motion notes that Sunday 25 November marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and that we resolve to do what we can to address gender inequality, to empower women and girls and prevent violence against women.

Today, I would like to touch on the significant changes within South Australia over a period of time, looking at state government initiatives for violence against women. The one thing we know is that it is a serious, prevalent but preventable issue. When we look back at the history of this issue in South Australia, a key part of South Australia's Women's Policy was Achieving Women's Equality. We identified that we needed to improve women's safety and wellbeing, which was one of the three pillars of action of Achieving Women's Equality. Within that are concerns about the gender pay gap, and we heard just yesterday that it is at 21 per cent, so we know we have a long way to go in the area.

In late 2011, we launched 'The next phase of South Australia's women's safety strategy 2011-2022: a right to safety', which built on the reforms of the previous women's safety strategies to improve legislation and services and strengthen community understanding of the effects of violence against women. We had significant commitments leading up to the 2014 election and, in October 2014, the premier at the time released 'Taking a stand: responding to domestic violence', which outlined the South Australian government's response to the Coroner's recommendation regarding the death of Zahra Abrahimzadeh.

We also released the Domestic Violence Discussion Paper in October 2017, which at that time included a commitment to trial the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme. I recognise the work of the member for Elizabeth, who raised that idea and pursued that opportunity as a way to support people. I recognise the passing of the Statutes Amendment (Domestic Violence) Bill last week in parliament and the work of the Attorney-General and the minister for women in taking this to the next stage. We must continue, across policy and within legislation, to support women against violence.

We have heard some of the statistics here today and this means that we must continue to challenge and recognise what is within our culture and how that impacts us. The fact that one in three women aged over 18 years has experienced some form of violence since the age of 15 is a hard fact for us to realise as a culture. We have also seen work with the federal government at this time.

When we launched A Right to Safety 2011-2022, it outlined our commitment as a state to the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children. When I was minister for the status of women, we held regular hook-ups to discuss how that would progress. People may recall that we had a significant campaign with quite confronting advertising to eliminate forms of violence against women.

Specifically, it was to do with some of the attitudes that are quite ingrained; for example, 'Boys will be boys,' or, 'It's okay, don't make a fuss.' It reminded people to take a moment and think about what they were saying. When we say that these things are okay, what are we telling our girls? We are telling them that this is something they just have to accept.

I note that there was recently an additional round of commercials regarding these attitudes. These commercials are confronting. They challenge what we have heard from time to time—I certainly did while growing up—about accepting certain behaviours. While we still have a long way to go, I recognise the work of the state and federal governments in this space.

I want to highlight some of the initiatives under A Right to Safety, including the Family Safety Framework; the research and investigation of domestic violence-related deaths, through a senior research officer position at the Coroner's Court; Violence Against Women Collaborations; and workplace domestic violence policy. The Family Safety Framework ensures that families most at risk of violence are dealt with in a structured and systematic way. Predominantly, it is through agencies sharing information and taking responsibility for supporting families to navigate the system.

Family safety meetings are held at a local level, focusing on individual high-risk cases and utilising a common risk assessment, which is incredibly important. I assume that the Family Safety Framework continues to operate in 19 locations across South Australia. The role of Senior Research Officer (Domestic Violence) researches and investigates open and closed deaths related to domestic violence. This includes identifying domestic violence issues, relevant service systems and investigating the adequacy of responses. This advice forms part of the coronial brief and builds the capacity of the coronial inquest to explore and inquire into system responses to domestic violence and make recommendations for improvement with a preventative focus.

Violence Against Women Collaborations was established with multi-agency partnerships to focus on the development of regional primary prevention strategies to prevent violence against women. The Office for Women, in partnership with Housing SA, brought together local service providers to develop strategic regional responses to homelessness and violence against women. Fifteen collaborations were established and were operational across South Australia.

Workplaces are a key environment for preventative action to reduce violence against women and to support women affected by domestic violence. All South Australian government departments implemented a domestic violence workplace policy. Some of the other changes included the introduction of the Intervention Orders (Prevention of Abuse) Act 2009, which commenced in December 2011. The act provided South Australian police with the power to issue immediate intervention orders under some circumstances. This was a key change in South Australia to enable that to happen immediately.

We know some of the issues covered in the Statutes Amendment (Domestic Violence) Bill took things to the next level after that as well. The Intervention Orders (Prevention of Abuse) Act also addressed the option for courts to require defendants to attend the Domestic Violence Abuse Prevention Program delivered by the Offenders Aid and Rehabilitation Service (OARS). The abuse prevention programs also include the Women’s Safety Contact Program run by Women's Safety Services SA, which aims to increase the safety of female protected persons.

One of the areas that I think stands out significantly for South Australia is the development of the Multi-Agency Protection Service (MAPS). South Australia Police partnered with what was then the department for communities and social inclusion, the department for education and child development, the department for health and ageing and the Department for Correctional Services. They developed and implemented MAPS, which co-locates staff, enabling people to share vital information faster and to identify victims and emerging patterns of behaviour before they escalate.

I had the opportunity to attend the COAG meeting where our premier at the time was a key speaker. We spoke about both the Multi-Agency Protection Service and the Family Safety Framework. Other states, showing great interest, came to see how MAPS worked and then replicated it in their own states. I am very proud of the work that we did. Most important I think for MAPS is the ability to look at emerging patterns of harm and then be able to assist people before they escalate.

Turning to other areas I would like to talk about 'Taking a stand: responding to domestic violence', a policy announced in 2014. There were three direct policy responses, including the Women's Domestic Violence Court Assistance Service, the Domestic Violence Response Review, formerly known as an early warning system, and White Ribbon accreditation.

All departments in South Australia have received their White Ribbon accreditation. That was a significant focus by the state government at the time because this was something where we knew we could help provide more understanding and awareness about how we could support people who may be experiencing domestic violence—how we can support them in the workplace but also in the wider community and to take seriously White Ribbon accreditation and its importance in South Australia.

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General) (11:36): I rise to support the motion and thank the member for presenting the same. Other speakers have outlined significant demand for us to be alert and active in remedying this scourge on our community, particularly women and children.

I want to acknowledge today and thank Lauren Novak, a journalist with The Advertiser, for her work not only in understanding this shameful behaviour in our community but in committing to provide real and impressive pieces of journalism in the publication of this important social issue. That is not say that other journalists are not interested in this topic, but I have to say that she has been a leading light in this regard, and I want to personally place on record our appreciation here in parliament for that.

I want to also say that, as we speak, a coronial investigation is being undertaken in relation to the murder of Graziella Daillér and the suicide of her then partner, Dion Muir. I can comfortably say that because I do not think there is any question about how they died. What is important about this coronial inquiry relating to this murder-suicide in May 2014 is that, when we receive the recommendations of the Coroner or a representative from his office in relation to the report that is expected, I want there to be a comprehensive list of recommendations that will be, again, a reminder to government—in this case a new government—as to what must occur.

It was not acceptable to me that I read, when I came into this parliament, the coronial inquest report of Mrs Heyward, murdered in similar circumstances by a partner where there had been repeated occasions of alert and alarm about the circumstances that she was living in. This was a murder that occurred in the Riverland. The coronial inquest set out a number of recommendations.

I do not want to have to read again the plight of the circumstances of Zahra Abrahimzadeh in the last evening before her death—murdered by her husband—and, again, the lengthy coronial inquiry about the failings in this case of authorities who had not acted. The former attorney-general (the former member for Croydon) and I were at the occasion that Mrs Abrahimzadeh was celebrating with the Persian community—their national day. Really, within minutes of the former attorney and I leaving that function, she was murdered. I commend her son particularly, but all her children, for the work that they have done in trying to bring this issue to the forefront of the attention of political leaders and the public generally.

These are repeated; these keep going on and on. We hear the responses: 'Yes, we have implemented this policy, we are going to do this and we are going to be more alert to these issues.' They are not addressing the problem, and that is that as a community, members of the police force, members of welfare agencies, health people, people who come across these circumstances—all of us—have a responsibility to deal with this issue. Mrs Daillér's murder is a long list.

She was 48 years of age. I recall when her daughters Natasha and Adelaide came to see me, with the support of their father, the former husband of the victim in this case, all keen to say, 'We need to have this properly investigated and we don't want our mother's life to be lost in vain.' I look forward to that report. I undertake to the people here in this parliament that, as a member of the new government, I will be doing everything possible to be alert to the deficiencies that will inevitably be disclosed in that matter and which need to be remedied.

I am confident that the domestic violence developments, including legislation which the new government has put in place and which I have appreciated other speakers' recognition of, will be very helpful and, frankly, would have been very helpful in the deaths I have just referred to if they had been implemented a long time ago. The strangulation offence is a pretty new concept in Australia and I think it will be important. Broadening the definition of 'abuse' can always be helpful, but we need to make sure that we act on all these other new areas, including dowry abuse and the like.

The police body-worn camera evidence of victims is a very important initiative in relation to evidence and protecting, where possible, the need for victims to have to give evidence, because I think we will see a significant level of guilty pleas entered in circumstances where this evidence has been recorded and is available for the prosecution. Tougher laws on the breaching of intervention orders are just common sense. With the support of other members of the parliament, we have seen those pass this parliament recently.

The Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme is now in its second month of operation and things are going well. I want to thank all those who are working hard on it, including members of SAPOL. As spoken about by the member for Elder, the Women's Safety Services now has a 24/7 crisis hotline, which is a really important initiative. I do not know why it has taken 30 years, but we have put it in place and extra money has been allocated for it to occur. It is just like saying to the Coroner, 'We know you need extra money to finish off these awful cases and to properly investigate them and give us the guidance that will come from your reports,' but we also need to make sure that the services for our current victims are available.

What else do we need to do? There are lots of things, but can I mention one today in the four minutes I have left. I was privileged not to grow up in a household where domestic violence was in existence. I had a marriage in which it was not present, and I do not wish it on anyone. Other members on all sides of our own parliament have not had that same happy experience.

That is not to say I have not gone through life without either representing people in this circumstance or, as a child, having people come to stay with us—usually a wife and children; many in those days when we used to have lots of kids—and looking after them in our home while things were sorted out, usually by the men, to deal with the perpetrator. All too often, these families would then reunite without support, and it was an ongoing concern and a tragedy for those who either lost their life or, in fact, suicided in a circumstance like that.

What do we do? I can tell you what we do. We make sure that we not only support women who are in this situation and make sure they have protection but say to our own sons, brothers and male friends that this is a responsibility for them.

I am usually pretty tough with my kids; I have only had sons, and I am lucky enough to have granddaughters. I have made it very clear that it is not just being cut out of the will if I find out about any misconduct. They also have a very clear understanding that if there is a circumstance where a member of their family was a victim of abuse at their hand, then do not come home to me: I will be supporting them. I think it is important. Sure, I have said to my kids, 'I will pay for one uni degree and I will pay for one marriage; the rest is up to you.' But I will say this: I will not tolerate that in my own family. I am confident that they have listened to me so far in life—that does not mean they always will.

I make this point: we have a responsibility as parents to make sure that we teach our women and young children to be resilient, to be able to demand that they have respectful relationships and have protection when they do not. We need to have a responsibility to educate our own families, particularly the males, in the benefits of having a respectful relationship with their partners in due course and, when they are in them, to give them support.

Everyone needs some help from time to time, and we know the responsibility we have in that regard. But we cannot allow this to happen in our own homes and in our own families. If we do that, in addition to continuing to support those who do not have someone to help them, then we will make a difference. I commend the motion to the house.

Ms HILDYARD (Reynell) (11:46): In rising to speak in support of this motion, can I start by thanking all those who have spoken so far. There have been wonderful speeches that clearly speak to the passion and determination that exist on both sides of this house to finally prevent and also end domestic violence. Can I also echo the member for Bragg's comments in relation to Lauren Novak. I agree that she should be commended for her passion and for her relentless commitment to continuing to raise the issue of domestic violence however she can through the media.

Many members have spoken today to outline the facts that we know about violence against women, facts that are deeply unacceptable and deeply shocking. But they are facts that I think are also deeply motivating for each of us to think about how we can do more, how we can act more and how we can act wherever and however we can to prevent and end violence against women. They are a persistent and an urgent call to action, and they are also a call for all of us to keep speaking up however and wherever we can about this scourge that is violence against women.

Like many others in this place, I have a relentless and lifelong commitment to preventing and ending violence against women and children. As I have spoken about in this place before, when I first had the deep privilege of being elected to represent my community here in parliament and I was preparing for my inaugural speech, I was deeply hesitant to speak about my own childhood and my personal experiences of repeatedly witnessing domestic violence and all the emotions, the shame and the embarrassment, that the experience brings.

Despite this, I know that, even when it is uncomfortable, to end the cycle of violence we must speak up and out and, in doing so, encourage women who are experiencing violence to speak out, men who do not know what are appropriate behaviours in relationships to seek help and to show our daughters and our sons a different way of interacting. I absolutely echo the member for Bragg's sentiments in that regard in terms of our responsibility to engender conversation not just in our community but also in our own family. It is certainly something that I do with my own sons and that I know that many people in this place also take the responsibility to do.

As are a number of us in this place, I am a long-term advocate for survivors and, sadly, victims of domestic violence in our community. I have worked with some extraordinary domestic violence service workers. I have represented them in their workplaces and worked alongside them in a number of ways for many years. We all absolutely wish that their work did not have to continue, but we all know that currently it does, and I know that we are all committed to ensuring that work continues in the right way until we see an end to domestic violence. It is work that I will absolutely continue as shadow minister for the status of women and, of course, as the member for Reynell. It is work that we all have to commit to continuing.

The prevalence of domestic violence is absolutely devastating and unacceptable. Already this year, 58 women have been killed by men, and sadly we continue to hear about repeated instances of abuse causing psychological, mental and physical injury. We have to keep speaking up about that prevalence and acting on it. I fear that as a community, despite these shocking statistics that we all know too well, because there is such a prevalence of domestic violence, somehow the shock wears off or, as the member for King spoke about in the media the other day, somehow there is a mood amongst some people that perhaps it is something that we should stop talking about.

Well done to the member for King for standing up against those comments. Can I say that we must never, ever become immune to that prevalence; we cannot let that immunity happen. We have to keep speaking up and acting for as long as it takes to end violence against women. I know that, with the incredible people who work in this space in our community in so many different ways, and the incredible community members who lead work at a local level, we will keep speaking up and acting until domestic violence ends.

As has been spoken about, domestic violence can take many forms, including emotional, psychological, financial and verbal abuse. A significant component in the cause of any kind of abuse is a lack of awareness and education about what constitutes a respectful relationship and the abiding gender inequality that sadly persists in our community. Unfortunately, there is something that our community teaches our young men and women that leads them to believe that it is okay to control a person who they are with, or have been in a relationship with, through violence.

It was positive to see the government's promises in the domestic violence space during the election campaign, a number of which mirrored ours or added to work that we had already progressed as the former Labor government. I truly hope that those promises are effectively delivered in a timely manner, and I look forward to considering the various proposals that will come forward. My only concern is that, when reading through the government's policy, I really could not find any mention of the word 'prevention' nor any funds specifically committed to prevention.

Of course, it is crucial to continue to provide services to support and protect people currently experiencing domestic violence, but we have to keep working to address the root cause of the problem. We need to educate our peers and our children if we are ever to end domestic violence. We must teach our young men that violence is never an option, and we must teach them a more respectful and hopeful future. We must do whatever we can to end the terrible gender inequality which plagues our community and which lies at the heart of domestic violence and indeed at the heart of all violence against women.

We have to work together to shift the way men's and women's roles are perceived, and we have to address the other issues that prevent the advancement of the status of women. When I speak with survivors of domestic violence, I always encourage them to seek the support of professional services and professional workers. Of course, I always encourage their sense of self-worth and seek to empower them to live an independent life free from violence. There are services available, and we will all fight to keep them available until the day they are no longer needed, but it is a day that cannot come soon enough.

On that note, I want to echo in this house the comments of the member for Mount Gambier in relation to the need for strengthened services in regional areas. I will certainly fight alongside him to make sure that there are adequate resources for the Limestone Coast Domestic Violence Service. I will always fight alongside my dear friend Susie Smith—whom the member for Mount Gambier spoke about—who said that we should always fight for the right services loudly and proudly.

On this side of the house, we will also fight to ensure that resources are expended on prevention, shifting that terrible gender inequality and creating a more respectful future. This shift, this smashing of gender inequality, will also go to address the awful instances of violence against women beyond the home. As I spoke about in the house a couple of weeks ago, I attended and spoke at a community vigil three weeks ago at the Colonnades Shopping Centre, in my electorate of Reynell, to honour a woman who was killed there a few weeks before.

The vigil was organised by Melanie, and I take this opportunity to again thank her for her enormous passion to end violence and gender inequality and her willingness to work at such a difficult time to bring our community together following that horrific killing. She is passionate about a community free of all violence against women. Her preparedness to use her voice however she can to speak out against domestic violence and all violence against women is indeed inspiring. Melanie's voice and her stepping forward has already made a difference in our community and it will continue to make a difference.

Dr CLOSE (Port Adelaide—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (11:56): I thank the other side for their indulgence to allow me to speak prior to attending a meeting. I want to speak about this because time and again we hear of the violent death of a woman, usually at the hands of someone she considered a loved one, even at one time, and occasionally at the hands of a stranger, but almost always at the hands of a male. As saddened and shocked as we all always are, I for one am also angry. I am angry that women are being killed by men today.

As much as we have equality before the law, we do not have equality in the way in which we are treated. That is why we are still subject to male rage, to male power and to the exercise of control over us, and it must come to an end. Many of us have children, and we long for their adulthood not to be poisoned in the way in which all our adulthoods have been: by the truth of male rage directed against women.

There is an aphorism—and I do not know to whom to attribute this—that men are afraid that women will laugh at them and that women are afraid that men will kill them. I do not know if men are afraid that we will laugh at them. We are probably all a little afraid that someone will laugh at us, male or female, but I do know that deep truth of the fear that women carry around with him: the fear of the random stranger; the fear of what happened in Colonnades; the fear when I walk home from the train station and it is dark and I allow myself that thought, 'What if there is someone waiting there for me?'; and the fear that the person you are attracted to, who you want to spend your life with, might not be the trustworthy and loving person they may appear to be.

That fear sits inside women in a way that I suspect most men do not really understand. They can empathise, they can appreciate what we tell them, but I do not think it is possible for them to feel the comparative weakness that has been forced on us, in part by our biology but largely by society. Every person has to do something about this if we are to stop it. Every parent, of course, needs to tell their children the truth about what has happened and what must never happen in the future. More than that, as colleagues, as lawmakers and as citizens walking in the street, we cannot allow ourselves to let this pass us by.

We all see things that we know are not right. We all observe power relationships where one person does not appear to be able to exercise their power and their autonomy because they are subject to another person's. That is not always gendered—of course it is not—but all too often it is because all too often we have still allowed the relationship between men and women to be dominated by what men want, what men think is in their control and under their subjugation, and too little by the fact that women, as I say, are equal before the law, are equal human beings and are autonomous, with spirits and desires and anger of their own.

I pay tribute to the advocates who keep reminding us of this great truth. Katrine Hildyard, the member for Reynell, is one of them because she is brave enough to share her story with strangers in order to help people she does not know. I pay tribute to the people who have survived as children or as partners of someone who is violent because it takes real courage to admit what has happened to you, what you have seen and what you have been subject to but nonetheless be generous enough to be an advocate. That takes true courage, and I take my hat off to them.

How we speak about each other really matters. I have talked about this before in this chamber, largely from this side of the house, having been unleashed now as a member of the opposition and not confined largely to my portfolio. What people see when they come here, in how we speak to each other, matters. What we saw in Canberra, when former prime minister Abbott—he may have been opposition leader at the time—was prepared to stand next to a sign that said 'Ditch the witch', and when a former member of this chamber referred to the female prime minister as a 'dog', matters.

I do not bring this up to be partisan, because I absolutely accept that we are as one on this issue, but I bring it up to remind us of people who are no longer either in this chamber or in a leadership position in Canberra, to remind us that they can be powerful in the most negative way, and we need to be powerful in the most positive way we can be. We need to treat each other as human beings first and belonging to different groups second.

It is right and proper that we have disagreements on policy. It is what the public expects; it is what our system demands. It is not right and proper to treat each other as if we are not equals. That is all part of the continuum that leads a young girl to be in a relationship with someone to whom she is subject, either economically, physically or emotionally. I call on us to say, 'This is enough. This generation is the last one that has to deal with this; our children will not.' I commend the motion to this house.

Ms LUETHEN (King) (12:02): I rise to support the motion, which recognises that Sunday 25 November marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. I think it is absolutely fantastic that today in this chamber we have heard a huge amount of support on this motion from both sides.

I am passionate about speaking up about domestic and family violence because I believe with all my heart that it is preventable if together we take action to stop it at the start. Each time I doorknock in my electorate, I come across homes where I suspect disrespectful relationships or violence could be present, and I certainly come across disrespectful behaviours. Each time, I am concerned for the people living in fear in my electorate, and I am concerned for the children growing up in this environment.

The United Nations 2017 report on progress towards sustainable development goals highlights that in 2012 almost half of all women who were victims of intentional homicide worldwide were killed by an intimate partner or family member, compared with 6 per cent of male victims. In Australia, 37 per cent of women aged 18 years and over have experienced violence from the age of 15. Australian women are most likely to experience physical and sexual violence in their home at the hands of a male current or ex-partner. Violence against women is the leading risk factor contributing to the burden of disease—mental health, problems during pregnancy and birth, alcohol and illicit drug use, suicide, injuries and homicide—for Australian women aged between 18 and 44.

The Marshall Liberal government is committed to reducing violence against women through its ongoing support of the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010-2022 and the adoption and delivery of a range of commitments taken to the 2018 election that aim to reduce domestic and family violence in South Australia. I am so proud that I have so many colleagues and friends who are actively advocating to eliminate violence against men, women and children.

Today, I commend one of my friends, Jayneen Sanders, who is a mum of three and an educator who is creating awareness in the community on the topics of child protection, protective behaviours education and gender equality. Jay recently provided me with some of her research and thoughts on the relationship between gender equality and violence against women. Jay told me that the 2015 Royal Commission into Family Violence concluded that family violence is a gendered crime and that ending violence against women requires addressing gender equality in all its forms—in the workplace, schoolyards, on television screens and on sporting fields.

It is now frequently suggested that gender inequality and community attitudes towards women are contributing factors to domestic violence, violence against women and children. Children often become what is modelled to them, what they read in books and what we reinforce every day as norms. If a girl shows interest in what we typically deem a boy activity, such as playing with trucks in a sandpit, she may be deemed a tomboy. If a boy shows interest in what we typically deem a girl activity, such as playing with dolls or dancing or not wanting to play football or soccer, some of us become really worried for our sons.

We each need to ask ourselves if we are reinforcing gender stereotyping. Have you ever deliberately paid close attention to and looked out for the ways that we and other people talk about men's and women's roles and how we often unconsciously reinforce gender norms and stereotypes in our home, in our workplace and in our community? As a mum, I have become very aware of how toys are laid out in shops, with boys' sections and girls' sections, the boys' Lego and the girls' Lego, the blue and the pink packaging.

Certainly, local government was an eye-opener for me after working at Westpac, which is a leader in diversity initiatives and is steadfastly supporting women into senior positions. In local government, I was told by one elected member not to let the boys know I wanted to take their jobs away. I was asked to wear red lipstick for the first council meeting and I was told that I had a great figure, that I looked good in my black pants, and I was asked if I could wear the same outfit again next Friday. I share these comments because I would be extremely surprised if these same comments were made to my male local government colleagues.

Sometimes we play down disrespect towards girls and women and say things like, 'Oh, it's only a bit of fun'. This teaches girls and women that they should be flattered rather than upset when they are insulted. Alternatively, I have heard people suggest that a woman is not tough enough for the job or not up to the robust debate, if comments offend her. Recently, a University of South Australia student, Ashleigh Bone, completed a research report for me on women in politics, identifying the barriers, and in her report she wrote:

There have been many international studies and surveys that have revealed that around 60 percent of women in politics experience gendered discrimination at work by male colleagues.

On bullying and gendered discrimination she wrote:

Many articles related to Australia discussed Julia Gillard's treatment in federal Parliament during her run as Prime Minister. The main point that was used in these discussions of Gillard's treatment was the way in which women are often penalised for transgressing gender stereotypes and norms, for example, if a female politician is outspoken she is a 'bitch' and if she is compassionate she is 'too weak'.

I am very grateful to my colleagues in this house and this government, and my experience has been that I am treated as an equal and I am encouraged every day by my colleagues to speak up.

When we look to the media and the language used to communicate violent acts against women and children, there often appears to be a watering down of crimes against them. I am encouraged by the hashtag #FixedIt headlines by Jane Gilmore that she posts on Twitter. One of her recent examples was the headline, 'Vic man denied bail over alleged car rape'. Jane Gilmore changed this to, 'Vic man denied bail over allegedly raping a woman. The woman is not a car.'

With violence affecting so many women—an estimated one in four in Australia—we have to ask where the problem starts. As we have heard from advocates for eliminating violence against women, we have to stop violence and disrespect right at the start. Pleasingly, there has been a great deal of conversation focused more recently on an agreeance on the importance of primary prevention and early intervention.

It is often said that domestic and family violence rely heavily on one gender believing they have power over another and the cycle of violence starts with disrespect. Minister for Women, Kelly O'Dwyer, has said, 'While not all disrespect ends with violence, the cycle of violence certainly starts with disrespect.' Why is paying attention to disrespect so important? Trying to stop domestic and family violence with more resources at the crisis stage, such as our commitment to provide more beds in more shelters, is very important, but this solution is not sustainable.

The idea that we can stop it at the start is about changing our culture, changing the way we teach children to interact with each other and changing what children will grow up believing is normal. Changing attitudes, changing our language and behaviours early on is primary prevention, helping people recognise that if we practise and teach respectful relationships there is far less likelihood that things will end up in violence. This change requires us to recognise and construct new messages that we will share with our kids and adults that we do not tolerate, condone or excuse disrespect. It is not always going to be easy, but it is a conversation worth having and it is education worth teaching. This change will save lives.

Primary prevention activities in a range of places, including schools, workplaces and sporting organisations, are essential to addressing disrespect and gender stereotypes and imbalances. Our children form their beliefs from the world around them, what they hear, see and talk about, and from the stories, people and experiences that are an integral part of childhood. Today, we are unintentionally part of the problem. The good news is that we can all be part of the solution. In our everyday interactions, we can pull people up and pull ourselves up to stop disrespect and stop gender stereotyping. I thank the member very much for moving this motion.

Ms STINSON (Badcoe) (12:13): I rise to support the motion of the member for Reynell and thank her for raising this important issue. More than that, I thank her for all her work on domestic violence over many decades. We have worked together on things over quite some years, so I really appreciate everything that she has done.

It was not so long ago that, as a court reporter, I would go to the news desk and pitch my stories, and it was not so long ago that I described a case before the courts to my news director. It was a case where a man had killed his ex-wife. I got the response, 'That's just another domestic. People aren't interested in that. It doesn't rate. What else have you got?' That was not an unusual response. I had had that response from news desks since I started reporting in a regional radio newsroom when I was 16. At that stage, I would ring the police and get the local crime report. I would be told by the cop at the end, after he had listed off all the car thefts and break-ins, that, 'All the rest of the jobs we have attended are just domestics.'

There are a lot of pretty callous things about newsrooms, but I have to say the response that I got in those days from them was really a reflection of the wider community's response at the time to domestic violence. Among news bosses, there was this feeling that domestic abuse cases were so common that they did not really meet the benchmark of news—they were not new. There was also the sentiment that these were private matters that were not for public consumption and that that was the feeling in the wider community, too. There are similar tensions that still exist around reporting familial child abuse and suicide, although these, too, are now being challenged, which is a good thing.

I remember fighting hard at the Ten newsroom to report on the murder of Zahra Abrahimzadeh. All murders are horrendous. All domestic violence is shocking, but this crime stood out. It stood out for me as a journalist and it stood out for people across our community pretty soon. Zahra's estranged husband was frustrated that his wife had left him. He terrorised her and her three children for many, many years and continued to antagonise them once she had made the very brave decision to leave.

Zahra and her children went into hiding while also trying to start again and establish a new safer life. It is a story so familiar to so many people fleeing domestic violence. His anger grew and grew. His frustration at the loss of control grew and grew and it culminated in his taking a knife and his will to kill to the Convention Centre on Persian New Year. He knew she would be there. Zahra was there with her daughter and, before the whole Persian community, he coldly walked up to her and stabbed her to death in front of hundreds of people—members of their own community and members of their family.

In the police videos taken immediately after the attack in the kitchen of the Convention Centre, it was clear he thought he was entitled to take Zahra's life. He was unapologetic. I remember watching that video over and over again. No matter how many times I watched it, the calmness, the calculation, the complete lack of remorse and the overwhelming idea that his wife was his property were shocking to me every single time. This is not a problem of the Persian community or other ethnic groups. It is a problem that affects every culture—our culture.

I am glad to say that by the time I left my life in newsrooms last year things had changed quite remarkably. Domestic violence had become an issue that newsrooms took seriously and that is because they know that our community cares about it, that it is a prolific crime, a scourge on our society and something that affects so many of us.

It is wonderful and, I have to say, a bit inspiring to know that, within about 10 or 15 years, there has really been quite a remarkable change in the attitudes not just of journalists and newsrooms but of all of us in the community of how we think about this crime. There is still a lot of work to do and the stigma is still crushing for many people. The fear of what could happen to them if they raise their voice about violence or if they leave a relationship is even worse, and that needs to change.

Women in particular have been raising the issue of violence against women and children for decades and they deserve our thanks and appreciation for their decades of work in scraping together the dollars for women's shelters and forcing policy change. From more recent times, though, I would also like to thank organisations such as the Victim Support Service, who I have of course had a lot to do with, and their Women's Domestic Violence Court Assistance Service; the Commissioner for Victims' Rights, both previous and current; the police; the Women's Legal Service; Catherine House; and many others.

I would also like to commend the Abrahimzadeh family—Arman, Atena and Anita—for the work they have done to raise awareness of the need for action. I note that others on the other side have also recognised the contribution that that family has made. They have done a wonderful job in a very, very personally stressful situation to lobby for change and actually achieve that change. They trusted me and others with their story and I am forever grateful for their insights, their advocacy and also their friendship.

I would also like to pay tribute to the White Ribbon movement and, in fact, the broader movement of men who are standing up against violence against women and children. I am pleased to have been an organiser of the very successful annual White Ribbon Breakfast. I have hosted the event for many years, along with Ron Kandelaars, who is a great advocate for men being part of the conversation and part of the solution. The involvement of men, to me, has been a turning point in the campaign and the shift in public awareness. This is not just a women's issue. It is a community safety issue and a crime.

There are so many men—men who have had female loved ones who have been victims, men with high profiles in our community and men who are leaders in our society—who are now standing up and are not just putting on a little white ribbon on White Ribbon Day but are having important conversations and influencing others every day of the year, and that is what is creating change as well. I encourage all men to take the time to understand domestic violence and its deep impacts, to ask the hard questions about domestic violence. Do not be ashamed to ask a few questions if you do not know and advocate loudly for gender equality and stopping domestic violence.

As some of you would know from my maiden speech, my father's life was impacted by domestic violence in his home, and it had lifelong effects. Some would also know of my mother's volunteering at women's shelters over many years, and that had an impact on me in terms of raising my awareness of it as an issue. I remember her coming home one day, and I asked her what it was like volunteering at the shelter that day. She told me about the breadth of people who would come in. She did not name the person, but I remember her telling me that it was not just people from disadvantaged backgrounds, that in fact the wife of our local bank manager had been in and was grappling with how to leave a violent relationship.

I think we all in this place now know that it is not simply a matter of disadvantage but an issue of power, and that can affect anyone's relationship. However, it does not take a personal experience to know that domestic violence is wrong and that we should all stand up against it. I commend the previous Labor government, the Weatherill government in particular, for the steps it took to address domestic violence, and many of my colleagues have detailed those measures. Indeed, I also commend the commitment of the new government and wish it well in everything it tries to do in this space.

I hope we never return to a place where domestic violence is a secret or seen as someone else's issue. I hope we continue to break down those barriers because only by doing that can we have a safer society for everyone. I look forward to again joining the many White Ribbon events this month—the breakfast, the march and other events—with my colleagues and those on the other side of the chamber, and I look forward to doing what I can in this place well beyond that. I thank the member for Reynell for her important motion, I thank members for their contributions and I commend the motion to the house.

Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (12:22): I rise to support the motion moved by the member for Reynell:

That this house—

(a) notes that Sunday 25 November marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women;

(b) notes the unacceptable, shocking and persistent prevalence of violence against women across the globe; and

(c) resolves to do all that it can to address gender inequality, to empower women and girls and to prevent violence against women.

Everything has been said and articulated so well in the house, but I would like to make a few comments. I want to say that I agree with everything the member for Port Adelaide said. The member for Port Adelaide and I are very distant politically, but I think we are friends across the divide—and not just because we both support Port Adelaide.

What she said was absolutely right: it is not right for men to bully and inflict violence on women. It is absolutely outrageous. It is absolutely gutless, and men who involve themselves in this are, in my mind, just the scum of the earth. To take something out, usually on a loved one—their wife or their partner—is absolutely disgraceful. Women should not have to be in fear. They should not have to make excuses that they have a sore shoulder or a sore arm, or say that the black eye they have is because they walked into a door.

I know they can be in very difficult situations because of the fear they live in, but these situations need to be outed. The perpetrators cannot get away with this. They think they are so empowered yet they are just the most evil scum of the earth and the most gutless people I could ever think of. It is gutless, it is absolutely gutless, not only inflicting the physical pain but, for instance, stopping their loved one, their wife or their partner, from being able to have their car keys or to have access to their phone just as a method of control. It is an absolute disgrace that these so-called big men think that doing this makes them a so-called big man.

I fully endorse this motion. I know it is tough for women involved in these situations, but they do not have to accept it. They need to call it out and they need to hold these men to account, even if they say that they love them. They need to call them to account because it is not right. As we have heard here today, there are far too many deaths and acts of violence against women. If you do not call it out, sadly, you could become one of those victims.

I just want to comment on what the previous government have done and what we continue to do in regard to the Multi-Agency Protection Service which is set up here in South Australia. It started back in 2014 and coordinates the efforts of police and various government and support agencies. About 400 high-risk cases are referred to this protection service. Certainly, as a former member of the Social Development Committee in a former parliament, I know we had a reference in regard to domestic violence. We had a look at and a good briefing on what the MAPS team does. Because staff are under one roof, they have direct coordination with the departments. It involves the police, state education and child development services, SA Health, Correctional Services and Housing SA.

I really want to commend the service that these people and other domestic violence services across this state provide to help stamp out this terrible activity, and these grisly crimes that happen because of it. I urge people, especially women, not to be silent. Stand up. Look after yourselves. It is okay to speak out. I commend the motion.

Dr HARVEY (Newland) (12:27): I rise today to wholeheartedly support the motion from the member for Reynell. Violence against women in our community is shocking in its prevalence and cancerous in the degrading impact it has on our society as a whole.

There have been a number of truly awful cases in recent years where women have been killed in random attacks where they are unknown to the perpetrator. These kinds of attacks often drive fear into many people about walking out alone or out late at night. There is something wrong about women having that fear, as though somehow, if an attack were to occur, it is their fault that they are out there on their own. That is clearly unacceptable. However, whilst those particular kinds of attacks are terrifying and horrific, they are actually quite unusual in general terms.

It is actually much more common for a woman to be attacked by someone known to them—in fact, someone who is very well known to them: a current or a former partner. On average, one woman is murdered a week by a current or former partner, and one in five women will experience physical or sexual violence from the age of 15. This is absolutely disgraceful and needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency. As many of us have often said in this place, all violence against anyone, irrespective of gender, is wrong, but the fact of the matter is that by far and away women are much more likely to be the victim of violence than men.

It is interesting. Recently my wife and I had a conversation at home with our daughter. She is early primary school age. It came up because I was organising a quiz night for a domestic violence shelter recently. She did not really understand what this was about. It was actually quite difficult to convey the fact that there are some people in our community—in fact, many—who are scared of their dads. That is a truly undermining factor for our society because we often see the family unit as the most basic and important unit of our society.

That is what we are really talking about here: violence, far and away, occurs in people's own homes, in our own streets and neighbourhoods, and quite often where we would not even know. When I say that it is a cancer on our society, I use that term very deliberately because, like cancer, it is hidden from view, it undermines from within, it spreads and ultimately undermines the fabric of our society as a whole. But I do believe there are some green shoots, and I say 'green shoots' in the sense that it is a little bit.

The fact that we are talking more about this is certainly a big step forward. There are some important things that the state government is doing around greater protections. Some of the important measures deal with the offence of strangulation, given that that is a high indicator of risk that someone will murder someone else, and a number of other issues around how evidence can be used in court and expanding the definition of abuse. Other important measures in the state budget will help with crisis accommodation, the crisis hotline and the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme and similar things. Of course, that particular measure is quite important nowadays given how common online dating is.

I also acknowledge the increasing community awareness of the issue of domestic violence. We are seeing a lot of organised events such as breakfasts. I was part of a fundraiser recently where we did not have to work hard at all to get a really strong turnout from the community or to get substantial donations from the community. It took very little work on our part, which I thought was quite heartening. The important thing to emphasise is that these are early green shoots and that is because, whilst there is a lot of good work going on, the fact of the matter is that violence against women is not going down. As we heard earlier, already 58 women have been murdered by men this year, so we cannot be satisfied with the work we are doing until violence against women is eliminated.

As others have said this morning, I would also like to stress that ultimately to deal with the issue of violence against women we need to deal with the cause and we need to deal with it at its source. It is about attitudes of men towards women. It is about the example that parents set for their children. It is about the way a father treats his daughter, the respect he provides for his daughter, the interest he takes in what his daughter is doing. The example a father sets for his son is also important in how he treats women, how he treats his mother, how he treats his sisters. That all matters.

The other important issue that needs to be addressed, and I think it needs to be addressed by society as a whole, is the incidence of sexual harassment within our community and the importance of calling that out, in particular the importance for men to call that out when they see it. I have seen some statistics, and I think some of these are probably a little rubbery, but they show that one in two women has been a victim of or experienced sexual harassment. To be honest, I suspect that is actually quite low compared to the reality. I think there are probably different definitions that people would have around sexual harassment.

What I would say is that any behaviour that is disrespectful, demeaning and creates a sense that a person has power over another is wrong and should be called out. Also, the fact of the matter is that whilst that behaviour is unacceptable, irrespective of the gender of the recipient, again, it is much more likely that it will happen to women.

In a previous speech here I talked about a number of examples of different cases that have been shared with me by people I know, whether it be a creepy old man giving someone their business card and asking them to keep it under their pillow or someone yelling out disgusting comments from a passing car about a woman's body when she is just minding her own business and walking along the side of the road, all those kinds of things.

For many women I know in my life, and have known throughout my previous careers, almost all of them have some kind of story like that. Most of us men do not have such stories, and I think we as men have a big role to play in calling it out when we see it and in setting the right example. Most men do not do that. Most men do not behave like that, but unfortunately a lot do, and it is up to us to do something about that.

To summarise, I think that this is a very important issue, as violence against women affects or has a big impact on half of our community. That is a significant issue. We need to continue to work hard to ultimately eliminate violence against women. It is something we all need to be involved with. We can lead it from this place. There are other organisations that can have a big role in helping to drive change, but ultimately all of us, right throughout society, need to be involved in this. I am certainly committed, and I know many in this place are, to ensuring that that happens.

Ms HILDYARD (Reynell) (12:35): I wholeheartedly place on record my thanks to everybody who has spoken in this debate. It has truly moved me and truly given me a sense of hope that together we really can make a difference. It has given me a great sense of hope about what we can do together in this parliament—and also about the leadership here in this parliament—and how that can be used in our community to finally prevent and end violence against women.

When I was speaking earlier, just before I ran out of time, I was referring to the vigil that was held at Colonnades to honour, mourn and pay respects to the woman who was tragically killed there a few weeks earlier. When I was speaking about that, I was also reflecting that, tragically, that was not the first vigil I have attended in the south to honour, mourn and pay respects to a woman who was killed in our community. Just three years before I also spoke at a vigil organised in Hackham West following the murder of Jackie Ohide by her then partner.

Those vigils were deeply upsetting and deeply moving, but when I think about the hope that I have had here today in terms of us working and acting together to end violence against women I also think about the hope that came from those vigils—not from the terrible, tragic killing, of course, but from the fact that, at the end of those vigils, every single person in our community who had attended, and every person who had hoped to attend, left those vigils with a deep and collective resolve to work together at a community level to make a difference in relation to this scourge that is violence against women.

Everybody who was at those vigils resolved to work out how they could feel more confident to go and check on their neighbours and their friends and to ask questions of family members and people they saw in shopping centres, hotels and wherever else they encountered treatment that was not appropriate and was offensive to women, and wherever they encountered disrespect.

Whilst speaking about these issues is deeply distressing for many of us and brings up a lot of anger and emotion about what we are dealing with, it is also always a call to action. I do feel hopeful from our debate today—from our discussion today and from everybody's words—that together, here in this place, we will all heed that call to action. I hope that, as community leaders in those communities that we have the privilege of representing, we will encourage and empower the voices and actions of our fellow community members to also heed that call to action and to do what they can at a local level to end violence against women. Again, thank you to everybody who has participated in this discussion today.

Motion carried.

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