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2017-2018 Federal Budget: Analysis

Budget measures to address violence against women

AWAVA has expressed concern that the Government’s commitment to address violence against women has not resulted in any substantial additional funding.[1] The 2017-2018 Budget is not taking any substantive measure to reduce gender inequality, which is recognised as a cause of violence against women. Diverse groups of women such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait women, women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and women with a disability are not receiving any additional funding to meet their needs despite the outcomes of the evaluation of the Second Action Plan of the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children.

 

While we welcome some budget announcements on family law and homelessness services, we remain concerned that without substantial investment and collaboration, we will not be able to prevent or properly respond to violence against women. The funding announced only forms a basic platform for what is needed: a genuine and shared effort to resource services so that they can meet all the needs of the diverse groups of women who are attempting to build lives free of violence.

 

Measures restricting income support, access to pensions and tertiary education also have the potential to undermine the enabling environment for women, as financial independence and access to education are key to women’s safety and well-being.

 

We also need a more well-developed and consultative approach to addressing housing affordability, which disproportionately impacts on women.

 

The Victorian government has allocated $1.9 billion to preventing and responding to family violence in just one state. By contrast, the 2017-18 Australian Government budget includes only around $50 million of “new money” on initiatives relating to violence against women. Announced additional funding does not follow the recommendation obtained from the evaluation of the Second Action Plan namely any funding for Perpetrator intervention programs or better engagement and addressing the needs of diverse groups of women like Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and culturally and linguistically diverse communities.

 

It is unclear whether any funding will be made available for the future development of policy and programs that focus on addressing the particular needs of women and their children who have been exposed to sexual violence as per evaluation outcomes.

 

AWAVA reiterates its call for rigorous, transparent reporting of all Commonwealth spending relating to violence against women, across the different portfolios, to enable monitoring by civil society and as a platform for collaborative efforts. Consultation with the federally-funded National Women’s Alliances is another important means by which the Australian Government can help advance gender equality. CPI increases are still not accounted for in the funding of the National Women’s Alliances, resulting in a cut in real terms of approximately $29,000 per Alliance over the four years from July 2016 to June 2020 (assuming a CPI of 2.5%pa). This again limits the ability of National Women’s Alliances to provide input to government on behalf of the diverse range of women and women’s organisations, and to represent this diversity in decision making and policy outcomes.

 

Read the full version here  

 

 

[1] AWAVA, ‘Violence against women:  Some Budget positives but big gaps remain’, media release 10 May 2017 http://awava.org.au/2017/05/10/announcement/2017-18-budget

 

 

 

 

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Sexual violence: Law reform and access to justice

In Australia, sexual violence is recognised as a serious crime and an extreme violation of human rights in which the Australian Government has an obligation to exercise ‘due diligence’ in establishing effective measures to prevent, investigate and prosecute such cases of violence.

 

The criminal justice system remains the primary institution for responding to sexual violence offences and over the years there has been increased awareness that survivors/victims experiences of the criminal justice system must improve if they are to pursue and access justice for these crimes. As such, reforms have been made to sexual assault law and policy to redress some of shortcomings of the system to improve the situation of sexual assault survivors in the criminal justice system and to increase the low reporting rates and poor practices that lead to the unnecessary attrition of sexual assault cases.

[1]

 

However, despite some advances, research indicates that these reforms have not translated into significant change at an operational level and shortcomings of the system continue to undermine and restrict survivors/victims ability to access protection, redress and justice for these crimes.[2] In many instances, institutional biases against survivors/victims of violence persists and survivors/victims are often re-traumatised and placed at a heightened risk of further violence when seeking protection through the criminal justice process. In addition, reporting rates remain low, attrition rates are high and low conviction rates persist. [3]

 

In response to the limitations of legal reform, Daly (2011) has argued for consideration of a variety of responses to sexual assault within and outside the legal system, ranging from the conventional to the innovative, in order to improve both criminal justice system efficacy and victims/survivors’ experiences following sexual assault. While we agree with Daly’s aim and scope, this issues paper has a more limited intention: to contextualise the challenges for improving victims’/survivors’ experiences and system efficacy, to survey specific issues already identified by advocates and for which reform or policy options are fairly well-developed, and to update readers on recent developments.

 

This document builds on AWAVA’s work on access to justice and deals mainly with sexual assaults involving adults (not children). It is recognised, however, that sexual abuse of children is a related but distinct topic requiring sensitive, well-informed attention from services and policy-makers. It is also acknowledged that human trafficking into the sex industry constitutes a form of sexual violence and that access to justice for survivors/victims of trafficking is extremely limited. Although relevant to the matters discussed here, the specific legal and social issues involved in human trafficking are largely beyond the scope of this paper.

 

The paper is structured as follows: first, the paper surveys background issues relating to sexual assault and the limitations of the criminal justice system, before identifying the reasons for limited reporting to formal authorities. Following this the paper discusses data and reporting mechanisms, and makes some proposal for improvements. The paper then turns to specific reforms that could improve the justice system in relation to sexual assault, focusing on the protection of sexual assault communications, presumption of joint trial, and judicial training. The paper concludes with sections discussing the justice needs of particular groups of people and in particular settings, highlighting recommendations relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, women with disability, people in migration detention, sexual assault and harassment at university, and technology facilitated abuse and online safety.

 

Download the full issues paper here  

 

 

[1] Clark, H. (2010) ‘What is the criminal justice system willing to offer?’ Understanding sexual assault victim/survivors’ criminal justice needs’, Family Matters 58, pp. 28–37; Daly, K (2011) ‘Conventional and innovative justice responses to sexual violence’, ACSSA Issues 12, [Australian Centre for the Study of Sexual Assault] https://aifs.gov.au/publications/conventional-and-innovative-justice-responses-sexual-violence

[2] Australian Law Reform Commission [ALRC] (2010) Family Violence – A National Legal Response (ALRC Report 114) http://www.alrc.gov.au/publications/family-violence-national-legal-response-alrc-report-114

[3] Daly, K. and Bouhours, B. (2010) ‘Rape and Attrition in Legal Process: A Comparative Analysis of five countries’, Crime and Justice 39(1), pp. 565–650.

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Violence against women:  Some Budget positives but big gaps remain

10 May 2017

Violence against women:  Some Budget positives but big gaps remain

The Australian Women Against Violence Alliance (AWAVA) has welcomed some budget announcements on family law and homelessness services, but remains concerned that without substantial investment and collaboration, we will not be able to prevent or properly respond to violence against women.

 

“AWAVA is relieved that homelessness services will continue to be funded, including refuges and shelters for women and children facing violence, and that these services can look forward to funding certainty under a new national agreement,” AWAVA Program Manager Merrindahl Andrew said.

 

“Yet the funding announced last night only forms a basic platform for what is needed: a genuine and shared effort to resource services so that they can meet all the needs of the diverse groups of women who are attempting to build lives free of violence.”

 

“Measures restricting income support and tertiary education also have the potential to undermine the enabling environment for women, as financial independence and access to education are key to women’s safety and well-being. We also need a more well-developed and consultative approach to addressing housing affordability, which disproportionately impacts on women.”

 

In 2013, 46% of domestic violence service providers reported being unable to meet demand for services, and 59% of domestic violence services reported having to limit service levels to try and meet demand (COAG Advisory Panel on Violence against Women, Final Report 2016). Since then, demand has continued to rise, while (with a few exceptions) funding nation-wide has not.

 

Having to limit service levels to try to meet demand means that services such as refuges and shelters are less able to respond to the diversity of women’s needs, restricting their capacity to expand programs for groups including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and women with disabilities. Stabilising funding is only the beginning of what must be a much more ambitious commitment.

 

The Victorian government has allocated $1.9 billion to preventing and responding to family violence in just one state. By contrast, the 2017-18 Australian Government budget includes only around $50 million of “new money” on initiatives relating to violence against women.

 

Most of the new spending is in the area of family law and family violence, where it is greatly needed.

 

“Along with its member organisation Women’s Legal Services Australia, AWAVA welcomes the commitment to introduce a legislative ban on direct cross-examination of victims/survivors of domestic violence in family law proceedings, and looks forward to learning more about the implementation of measures to achieve this aim. We also welcome the reversal of funding cuts for Community Legal Centres, and the additional investment in family consultants and domestic violence units,” Ms Andrew said.

 

AWAVA reiterates its call for rigorous, transparent reporting of all Commonwealth spending relating to violence against women, across the different portfolios, to enable monitoring by civil society and as a platform for collaborative efforts. Consultation with the federally-funded National Women’s Alliances is another important means by which the Australian Government can help advance gender equality.

 

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Jan- March 2017 Quarterly Update

Nov 2016- March 2017 Quarterly Update 

Click here to download the Quarterly Update

 

Welcome to AWAVA’s latest update. After a brief hiatus and holiday period we are a little later than planned with this one, making it more like half-yearly update! While updating you on our work, we also aim to give you some hand-on tools and materials for you to use in your work.

Our advocacy efforts are currently focussed on three main portfolios of work that relate to ending violence against women and children, which we recognise as a cause and consequence of gender inequality. These three areas are:

  1. The role of specialist women’s services in responding to and preventing violence against women and children
  2. Supporting the implementation of the National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and their Children 2010-2022
  3. Access to justice for women and children living with or at risk of violence

The role of specialist women’s services

AVAVA’s message continues to be clear: if you care about ending violence against women and children, you need to care about services. As awareness rises about government efforts to eliminate violence, demand for services has also continued to rise: a predicted and positive outcome, but one that must be met with a greater investment of funding.

The National Partnership on Affordable Housing (NPAH) remains a significant component of family and domestic violence spending; it is a key source of funding from the federal level for safe and appropriate housing for women and children and also provides significant resources to the domestic and family violence specialist services, which assist with key “wrap around” services, such as specialist women’s services. However, since 2015 the NPAH has been subject to yearly roll-over, which provides funding uncertainty for specialist services.

During the lead up to the COAG meeting on housing and homelessness in November 2016, AWAVA worked along-side members of the community to advocate for funding security for these services and called for the extension of the NPAH, which was to end in June 2017. The joint open letter signed by 209 organisations including AWAVA can be found here. AWAVA also wrote to State and Territory Premiers, Chief Ministers and Women’s Safety Ministers asking them to help those attempting to build their lives free from violence by urging the Commonwealth to take leadership and recommit to long-term, fully indexed extension of the NPAH.

AWAVA has also advocated directly to relevant Ministers and Senators about the important role NPAH plays in providing specialist services working to prevent and end violence against women and children, and continues to promote the findings and recommendations within our policy brief on the role of specialist women’s services.

On the 9th of December, the Commonwealth Government extended the NPAH for another year (to June 2018) while Commonwealth, State and Territory Governments continue to work on long-term homelessness reform. However, attention has now shifted to the larger overarching National Affordable Housing Agreement (NAHA), which funds domestic and family violence services and other homelessness as well as social housing. Indications from the Commonwealth Government that its contribution to NAHA is under active consideration for reform have raised concerns, given the importance to women of social housing and the critical need for accommodation and support services for victims/survivors of domestic violence.

AWAVA will continue to participate in discussions surrounding these reforms, and their interaction with the Third Action Plan of the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and Children, and will continue to advocate for adequate, secure and sustainable funding and protection for specialist services.

Supporting the implementation of the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children

COAG Summit

The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) National Summit on Reducing Violence against Women and their Children was held in Brisbane during the 27th and 28th of October 2016. The Summit brought together delegates, including Commonwealth, State and Territory Premiers, Chief Ministers and Women’s Safety Ministers and featured presentations about progress and best practice in the area of women and children’s safety in each state and territory and across Australia. AWAVA’s Chair Julie Oberin attended this event and we also made online submissions to a series of roundtable discussions on several topics. The roundtables identified a number of key insights and suggested actions – summaries can be found here.

Third Action Plan

The Summit also saw the release of the Third Action Plan of the National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and their Children. AWAVA welcomed the Third Action Plan, particularly the plan’s recognition of the role of specialist women’s services, which AWAVA advocated for throughout the development of the Third Action Plan. However, AWAVA like many other peak bodies and community groups continues to believe that a much larger investment of funding is required to genuinely address service needs and strengthen prevention efforts to end violence against women and children. AWAVA’s media release welcoming the Third Action Plan can be found here.

AWAVA will continue to communicate with and work alongside the Department of Social Services (DSS) to support and provide constructive feedback and recommendations to the implementation of the Third Action Plan. In particular, we look forward to being engaged in the working groups under the Third Action Plan and hearing more about the work of the National Plan Implementation Executive Group (IMPEG), which comprises representatives from the Commonwealth and State and Territory Governments who provide oversight of the National Plan implementation and evaluation.

1800RESPECT

Social Compass has been commissioned by the Department of Social Services to seek the views of a range of stakeholders as part of an evaluation of 1800RESPECT, the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service. Service providers and peak bodies were encouraged to take anonymous survey in March 2017. The survey and evaluation reports have not yet been publically released. 1800RESPECT released a media statement in February 2017 indicating an increase in the number of calls that were answered, following the introduction of the new First Response triage model in August 2016.

AWAVA continues to ask for further information about the functioning of 1800RESPECT (such as data about referrals) and the steps the service is taking to support women in overcoming barriers they face when accessing the services.  We will continue to advocate for collaboration with other women’s services, greater transparency and information sharing with community stakeholders.

Access to justice for women and children living with or at risk of violence

Tech-facilitated abuse and image based sexual abuse

AWAVA has previously called for the creation of a new offence in the Australian criminal code to criminalise the unauthorised sharing of intimate images (image-based sexual abuse and exploitation).  The Australian Government has expanded the role of the e-Safety Commissioner, appointing Julie Inman Grant to the role in November 2016. A new portal will be established later this year to enable women to report imaged based sexual abuse, and the Government has committed to releasing a discussion paper in the first half of 2017 to work towards the establishment of a civil penalties regime (instead of a criminal offence). AWAVA has worked with the e-Safety Commissioner on terminology, contributing to a shift from using the term ‘revenge porn’ to the term ‘image-based abuse’, and looks forward to continuing working with the Commissioner in the next phase of her office’s activities.

Country visit of the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women

In February 2017 the United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women, Dubravka Šimonović made her country visit to Australia. AWAVA took on an informal coordination role to help ensure that as many civil society organisation as possible could meet with the Special Rapporteur. The meetings were attended by a variety of organisations including women legal services, ethnic communities’ representatives, women with disability advocacy organisations, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders family violence prevention services.

Prior to the visit, AWAVA made a submission to the Special Rapporteur in which we highlighted strengths and weaknesses of the Australian Government’s legislative, policy and program responses to violence against women as well as the funding situation that puts women’s services in a state of uncertainty. As we stated in the submission, this is a critical gap in the Government’s otherwise positive approach to preventing and responding to violence against women, and steps to remedy this gap need to be prioritised. You can access the full text of the submission here.

You can also find the End of Mission Statement by Dubravka Šimonović by following this link.

 

Parliamentary Inquiry into a better family law system to support and protect those affected by family violence

The Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs is conducting an inquiry into how Australia’s family law system can better support and protect people affected by family violence. As well as supporting the work of our member organisation Women’s Services Australia, AWAVA is preparing our own submission, which is focused on funding needs and the role of specialist women’s services in the area of family law. More details to follow in the next update.

The Committee encourages people with experience of family violence and family law to complete an anonymous online questionnaire (open until 30 June). The Committee also invites members of the community to express interest (by 30 June) in making a short statement to the Committee by telephone. We would urge our friends and supporters to use these opportunities and provide their input. Please share this information with other people and organisations who may be interested.

Submissions

Oct – Dec 2016

Jan – March 2017

Operations updates

Annual Face to Face meeting with the Advisory Group

In March 2017 AWAVA held its annual face to face meeting of the Advisory Group. We value the opportunity to hear from members around the country about their work. As a result of the meeting, we have developed an outline of AWAVA’s priorities for the next three years, which will focus on strategic engagement and representation, enhancing equal access to justice and accountability, promoting effective responses to improve women’s safety and recovery, primary prevention and institutional change and (in collaboration with the other National Women’s Alliances) development of an international agenda.

 Staff changes

We’ve had to say good bye to Megan Morris, who’s taking up a role overseas, and Teena Saulo, who is leaving to focus on her doctoral studies. We have welcomed Anahita Surya back in the capacity of Administration and Communications Assistant. We’ve also welcomed Tina Dixson who is replacing Megan in the capacity of Policy Officer.

Other activities

16 Days of Activism

The 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Campaign (16 Days of Activism) ran from the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on the 25 November through to Human Rights Day on the 10 December. It aims to raise awareness and galvanize action to end violence against women and girls around the world.

 

During the 16 Days of Activism, AWAVA ran a social media campaign focusing on the role of specialist women’s services in ending and responding to violence against women, linking this to the need to maintain NPAH (see above). The campaign on Facebook and Twitter focused on the importance of promoting and protecting specialist women’s services, including community controlled and women-centred services, in the efforts to end violence against women. We are thankful to everyone who joined, shared and responded campaign’s messages.

 

Commission on the Status of Women, 61st session in New York, March 2017 (CSW61)

AWAVA’s delegation to CSW61 was led by Julie Oberin (AWAVA and WESNET Chair) and included Dixie Link-Gordon, Ashlee Donohue, Pauline Woodbridge and Margaret Augerinos. A parallel event led by Ashlee and Dixie highlighted the contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women to ending violence against women. CSW is a valuable space in which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women can mobilise and connect with broader global and national networks. The National Women’s Alliances have a role in supporting this participation and we can build on the work at CSW61 to lead sound practices for representation. Other events in which AWAVA delegates presented and participated included events on women-led spaces as an element of economic empowerment and technology safety. Through joint submissions from the National Women’s Alliances, AWAVA contributed input on the Australian Government’s priorities for CSW61 before the meeting.

Future plans

The role of specialist women’s services brochure

In consultation with the Advisory Group, AWAVA is currently developing a 2-page brochure about the role of specialist women’s services in response to violence against women. This brochure can be used to raise awareness on the importance of specialist services as well as a supplementing material when applying for funding. Watch this space.

2017-2018 Federal Budget

On 9 May AWAVA will participate in the 2017-2018 Federal Budget Lock-up briefing for community stakeholders. This allows us to analyse the budget in relation to the government’s commitment on reducing violence against women. We will be releasing our response to the Budget shortly after it is publicly released.

We are currently seeking our friends and supporters’ contributions regarding specific areas of concern and/or any issues that need to be followed up or analysed in the Budget. Please send us your questions by COB 5 May to Tina at [email protected] .

 

Don’t forget, you can view our most recent updates and other relevant information in our Weekly News Round-ups and social media (follow us on Facebook and Twitter).

Contact us! If you have ideas or feedback about our work, please email [email protected] Visit our website at www.awava.org.au

Click here to download the Quarterly Update

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Prevalent and Preventable Conference-Easy English Report

In September 2016, Our Watch and AWAVA held a three day conference on preventing violence against women. With the help of SCOPE, we produced this Easy English version of the conference report.’
 To access please click on the links below:
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Women Take the Lead

 

In celebration of Queensland Women’s Week True is holding Women Take the Lead, a series of webinars that will cover various topics ranging from trans healthcare, inter sexuality, arts, leadership and the challenges faced by members of LGBTQI communities.

 

 

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