Weekly Round-up**

Around the Country

• Australian of the Year, Rosie Batty, has launched her new campaign, Never Alone, which aims to address the epidemic of family violence.
• In the ACT, domestic violence experts have called for the creation of a specialised domestic violence court with a dedicated magistrate.
• In Queensland, the State Government Minister for Women, Shannon Fentimen, has announced her government’s decision to join Our Watch – a commonwealth funded national organisation responsible for raising awareness of violence against women and advancing prevention efforts.
• In NSW, Gosford will host the first annual Walk the Talk March on Sunday as part of Domestic Violence Awareness Week.
• According to Homelessness Australia, an extra $68 million in government funding is needed each year to ensure housing for victims of domestic violence.
• Domestic violence Survivor Lani Brennan has shared her story of domestic violence and encounters with the justice system.
  [TRIGGER WARNING: Descriptions of domestic violence, sexual assault]
• In the ACT, the family of Tara Costigan, who was allegedly killed by her former partner in February this year, launched the Tara Costigan Foundation on Sunday to tackle violence against women.
• University of Queensland Law Professor, Heather Douglas, will lead a team of researchers to develop a domestic violence legal response tool kit for judges across Australia.
• The Human Rights Law Centre has made a submission to Victoria’s Royal Commission into family violence, highlighting the need for an integrated approach that addresses violence against women at the individual and structural level.

Around the World

• In the UK, a UN report on the British Government’s approach to addressing violence against women has criticised the government for failing to deliver a coherent and consistent policy response.
• A global stakeholders’ planning meeting for UN Women’s Safe Cities Global Initiative was held in New Delhi on 10 June to discuss strategies to make urban spaces safe for women.
• In Lebanon, Journalist Megane Ghorbani writes about Lebanon’s domestic workers’ attempts to unionise and the challenges associated with unionisation in Lebanon’s current policy and legal environment.
• In India, members of The All India Dalit Mahila Adhikar Manch have been travelling through the state of Odisha to map the prevalence and nature of caste-based violence against women.

Research, Resources and Reports

• The Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education released its framework on alcohol-related family violence in Canberra on June 17.

Get Involved!

• Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety is calling for expressions of interest for its Practitioners Engagement Group. EOIs are due by 24 June, 2015.
• The Association for Women’s Rights in Development is calling for submissions for its 13^th International Forum on Women’s Rights and Development. Applications are due by June 26, 2015.
• Entries are now open for Our Watch’s awards for exemplary reporting to end violence against women. Entries close on July 8, 2015.
• Registrations are open for The Australian Stop Domestic Violence Conference, which is being facilitated by the Australian and New Zealand Mental Health Association in Canberra on 7-9 December, 2015.