Given the high prevalence of sexual and gender-based violence and its complexity, it is critical that services working with victims/survivors of violence are appropriately equipped to support them. The purpose of this brochure is to synthesise the unique and effective practice model derived from specialist women’s services to inform policy direction and practices of [...]
AWAVA strongly opposes the proposed amendments to the Social Security (Administration) Act 1999, in particular to establish the Cashless Debit Card (CDC) as an ongoing program. We recommend that the Australian Government: 1. Abandon the cashless debit cards legislation; 2. Establish a voluntary opt-in framework for welfare management; and 3. Apply an intersectional gender [...]
AWAVA has conducted a budget analysis in relation to budget measures aimed at prevention and responses to all forms of violence against women and their children. The bushfires and Covid-19 had brought on a number of social challenges for the people living in Australia. The stresses and the home confinement due to mandatory lockdown [...]
Following last Tuesday’s budget announcement, there is a growing consensus that the federal budget needs fundamental change. Seventeen organisations have come together to call for a new approach to budgeting which will bring women’s needs into sharper focus. “The Minister for Women, Marise Payne, has made it clear that she understands that women will [...]
Violence prevention advocates, sexual and reproductive health advocates and legal experts have today released a paper that underlines the importance of safe access zones as a key violence prevention measure in Australia. Safe access zones are allocated ‘bubbles’ of safety around facilities that provide abortion care that prohibit harassment and intimidation of patients and staff. [...]
Australian Women Against Violence Alliance has partnered with Marie Stopes Australia and the University of Queensland (UQ) Pro Bono Centre to produce a paper on Safe Access Zones in Australia. Safe access zones function in all jurisdictions in Australia with the exception of South Australia and Western Australia. With the move to legislate safe [...]
Throughout the last year, AWAVA has made 11 policy submissions and reports detailing the measures needed to reduce and end violence against women, all of which include relevant budget considerations detailed in this submission. Most of the recommendations contained in our pre-budget submission 2019-20 are yet to be implemented. Download our submission here [...]
Family, domestic and sexual violence (FDSV) are human rights violations that are gendered in their nature where the majority of the perpetrators are men and the majority of the victims/survivors are women. In this submission, AWAVA is presenting evidence-based recommendations to the National Inquiry and identifying policy directions for the development of the Second [...]
This Joint NGO Submission is endorsed, in whole or in part, by 202 NGOs across Australia, including AWAVA. The submission was coordinated by the Human Rights Law Centre, the Kingsford Legal Centre and the Caxton Legal Centre, working with an Advisory Group comprised of 16 NGOs, which provided expert guidance on the content and focus [...]
In this submission we discuss the increase in prevalence and intensity of several types of sexual and gender-based violence inflicted on women and their children during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as providing the analysis of the government response in relation to domestic and family violence. Download our submission here [...]