GEELONG-based organisations have welcomed the findings of a Parliamentary inquiry into family, domestic and sexual violence but have stressed the importance of funding measures that will prevent the violence before it happens.<\/p>\n
The bipartisan House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs started the inquiry in June 2020 and published its report earlier this month.<\/p>\n
The committee made 88 recommendations to inform the development of the next National Plan to reduce violence against women and their children, due to start in mid-2022.<\/p>\n
Women\u2019s Health and Wellbeing Barwon South West chief executive officer Emma Mahony said the federal government should, as a first step, fully fund the existing National Plan.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have the right plan in place,\u201d Ms Mahony said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government also has Our Watch, which is federally funded and has a large amount of funding from Victoria, it is world-leading on the development of what causes this violence and how to prevent it; fully fund that.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we need is long-term, secure funding.<\/p>\n
\u201cGender inequality is the soil that this violence grows in, and it\u2019s long-term, sustained investment in primary prevention that will not only change the attitudes and the behaviours but also the workplace expectations, the roles and opportunities of men and women in workplaces, and create workplaces based on respect and equality rather than what we\u2019re seeing in federal Parliament at the moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout the investment in primary prevention, we\u2019ll never get there \u2013 it\u2019s like the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff. We can\u2019t just keep waiting until women are in violent relationships until we respond.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Sexual Assault & Family Violence Centre chief executive officer Helen Bolton said the report outlined a \u201ctremendous suite of recommendations\u201d that highlighted a national, integrated whole-of-service-system response to preventing and responding to family violence.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe commend the report\u2019s focus on a whole-of-system response to family, domestic and sexual violence, and commitment to preventing this violence before it occurs,\u201d Ms Bolton said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPrimary prevention is the cornerstone of preventing violence and we are pleased to see this report highlight the importance of prevention.\u201d<\/p>\n
Several allegations of sexual assault and harassment in federal Parliament have sparked a surge of national community activism such as the recent March4Justice rallies, which included events in Torquay and Geelong.<\/p>\n
Ms Mahony said it was amazing to see women and men taking to the streets to say no to violence, but more needed to be done.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m 47 years old, I\u2019ve never seen this in my lifetime; it is incredible. But candidly, it hasn\u2019t equalled action \u2013 yet,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we need is decision-makers, organisations across the private sector and leaders to say \u2018This matters, I am taking action\u2019. And it\u2019s not just Scott Morrison, we all have a role to play in this.\u201d<\/p>\n