Good Shepherd Response to National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children 2022-2032

There are few more urgent and significant tasks for government than eliminating men’s violence towards women and children. The next National Plan to end this violence can provide clear, concrete directions for generational change over the next decade.

The draft National Plan signifies progress in Australia’s response to family violence, by pursuing violence elimination and gender equality, and having a greater focus on violence prevention and recovery. However, the draft Plan lacks clear measures for addressing economic abuse and women’s economic insecurity, which are at the heart of gendered violence. The next National Plan should commit to these measures and better use the Australian Government’s major policy levers in areas such as social security, housing, workplace relations, and family law. Priority measures include:

• an ongoing financial support scheme, focused on embedding ‘Escaping Violence Payments’, increasing the cap to $10,000 and improving access
• building a supportive social security system that ensures women have sufficient resources to separate from abusive partners
• concrete commitments to increasing the supply of affordable, sustainable housing for women & children leaving abusive relationships
• workforce participation measures, including 10 days of paid family violence leave