SECTOR NEWS
Keep up to date on new policies, statements, submission opportunities, updates and any other important news or dates.
August 2023
Domestic and Family Violence Perpetrator Strategy Consultation
The Department of Justice and Attorney General is developing a Queensland domestic and family violence perpetrator strategy to strengthen responses to persons using violence. The strategy is being informed by findings of the Women’ s Safety and Justice Taskforce and DFV Death Review and Advisory Board, and will guide efforts to strengthen current approaches to responding to persons using violence.
The Consultation paper is seeking community input to inform the development of the strategy. The paper outlines the growing evidence relating to persons using violence and how best to respond to their behaviours while keeping victim-survivors safe. It supports discussion and reflection on the current interventions available to respond to persons using violence, and asks what else we can do to improve the system that holds people accountable for their actions while supporting them to change their abusive behaviours.
August 2023
First Action Plan 2023-2027
All Australian governments have agreed to concrete actions and measurable targets to end gender-based violence within a generation with the release of two Action Plans under the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-2032.
The First Action Plan (2023-2027) provides a roadmap for the first 5 year effort towards achieving the vision of the National Plan. It sets out the initial scope of activities, areas for action and responsibility with respect to outcomes, and outlining how we will make the commitments set out in the National Plan a reality.
The First Action Plan set targets to end violence, including a 25% annual reduction in female victims of intimate partner homicide. There are also targets to see more people across the community reject violence against women.
July 2023
Fair Agenda University Sexual Violence Campaign
Everyone deserves to learn in a safe environment. But right now universities are failing students when it comes to sexual violence prevention and response. In fact every single week 275 students are being sexually assaulted in a uni context.
Most universities are failing to take even basic steps, including: ensuring teaching staff don’t have a history of using sexual violence; and that student survivors don’t have to sit in the same classroom as the person who raped them.
Add your name to join Fair Agenda and End Rape on Campus in calling for an independent, expert-led oversight mechanism, like a Taskforce on University Sexual Violence.
July 2023
Growing with Change: Our Watch Resource
This report from Our Watch looks at why the development of an expert workforce is necessary to prevent violence against women. It seeks to understand the current national prevention workforce, the national policy context and considers how a strong national prevention workforce will be built and sustained into the future.
The success of Australia’s efforts to prevent violence against women depends in part on the size and strength of an expert, national primary prevention workforce and the capacity of this workforce to plan, implement, scale-up, monitor and evaluate primary prevention initiatives.
The paper identifies five key elements that should be considered as part of a national approach to increase the prevention workforce’s size, capability, coordination and sustainability into the future.
Our Watch will be holding a webinar to explore the insights from this paper later in the year.
July 2023
First Nations Gender Justice & Equality Institute
Have your say! TheWiyi Yani U Thangani National Summit need your expertise to inform the development of the Framework for Action and the First Nations Gender Justice and Equality Institute.
Following the landmark Wiyi Yani U Thangani Summit where we heard the dreams of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and girls for gender justice and equality, it is time for action.
The National Framework for Action will be an overarching roadmap, to provide structural support for the diverse work taking place across communities and regions in respect to First Nations gender justice and equality.
Provider your feedback through the short survey.
July 2023
What's Next for ParentsNext?
The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations is designing a new voluntary service that supports parents who care for young children. The service will replace ParentsNext (to be abolished from 1 July 2024).
The new service will be for parents who receive a parenting payment, to help them to plan for their future education and employment goals.
The Department have already started talking to stakeholders to inform the consultation approach, with formal consultations to open in July 2023.
Check out the consultation web page and subscribe to receive email updates about the consultations and the new service.
June 2023
Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council Review
The Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council has extended the time to provide preliminary feedback on its review on sentencing for rape and sexual assault offences and the aggravating factor domestic and family violence offences.
The review will consider how sexual assault and rape offences are sentenced in Queensland and the impact of changes made to the law in 2015 and 2016 affecting the sentencing of domestic violence offences in Queensland.
The Council invites written feedback addressing any or all aspects of the Terms of Reference.
Feedback received at this preliminary stage will assist the Council in identifying issues for further investigation over the next phase of the review and in developing our Consultation Papers.
The due date for submissions is now Friday 7th July.
Feedback can be provided by email at: submissions@sentencingcouncil.qld.gov.au.
June 2023
National Women's Safety Alliance Working Group
The National Women's Safety Alliance are now seeking expressions of interest to become a member of their newest working group on sexual violence.
The sexual violence working group will meet every six weeks via Teams, and will bring together voices from across the sector to collaborate with policymakers to help inform and expand the Government’s understanding of sexual violence affecting Australian women.
Members of the working group will support NWSA public consultations and evidence gathering, including by promoting consultations through their stakeholder networks to encourage participation and involvement, actively seeking representation from underrepresented women. This group will have a particular focus on sexual violence law reform.
The working group's full terms of reference are available on request.
If you would like to make an expression of interest, please email policy@nwsa.org.au. The EOI period closes on Monday, 31st July 2023.
June 2023
Draft National Strategy for the Care and Support Economy
The Draft National Strategy for the Care and Support Economy has been released. This strategy sets a road map of actions to a sustainable and productive care and support economy that delivers quality care with decent jobs.
The care and support economy is the provision of paid care and support care. The care and support economy has a two-fold impact on women’s economic equality – women make up the majority of workers in these sectors, and are more likely to provide unpaid care when formal services are not available.
The draft strategy focuses on paid care and support services in:
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aged care
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disability care and support
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veterans’ care
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early childhood education and care
Sitting beside the strategy will be a road map and a series of action plans. The action plans will be developed iteratively and will outline practical steps towards the strategy’s objectives.
June 2023
Senate Inquiry into Universal Access to Reproductive Healthcare
The Senate has released the report following the Inquiry into Universal Reproductive Health in Australia, titled "Ending the postcode lottery: Addressing barriers to sexual, maternity and reproductive healthcare in Australia". EVAWQ were lucky enough to contribute some key recommendations for the Queensland context, and MC member Daile Kelleher (CEO of Children by Choice) provided extensive advocacy for the Inquiry.
There are 36 recommendations to improved access, including Medicare, practitioners, affordability, birthing on country, public hospitals, intersectionality, and reproductive coercion.