The Liberal Government is strongly committed to making Tasmania a safer place and ensuring women and children are protected from family violence and sexual assault.
Today I joined the Prime Minister and Ministers from each state and territory in Sydney to commit to the next stage of actions under the National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and their Children 2010-2022.
Violence against women and their children is a serious crime that is shockingly widespread in Australia.
Around one in three women have experienced physical violence, one in four experience emotional abuse by a partner, and almost one in five have experienced sexual violence since the age of 15. Worse still, across the nation one woman a week dies at the hands of a partner or ex-partner.
Central to our efforts to tackling these crimes is primary prevention; the need to stop family violence and sexual assault before it occurs.
In our efforts to tackle the unacceptable crimes of family violence and sexual assault the five key themes which Australian Governments will work towards for the Second Action Plan 2013-16 are:
• Driving whole of community action to prevent violence;
• Understanding diverse experiences of violence;
• Supporting innovative services and integrated systems;
• Improving perpetrator interventions; and
• Continuing to build the evidence base.
The Second Action Plan also tracks the progress since the commencement of the National Plan in 2010, including the launch of Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS).
The Liberal Government has made a substantial commitment to tackling violence, and sexual abuse for all Tasmanians, including:
• Additional funding of $124,000 for delivery of sexual assault services in the north of the state, over the next two years;
• Legislating for minimum mandatory sentences for those convicted of serious sexual offences against children;
• Strengthening the legislative provisions that deal with the crime of bullying and cyber bullying;
• Protecting children from sexual assault by providing $800,000 to Bravehearts to deliver their child safety awareness program; and
• Contributing $100,000 over a three year period to ANROWS to research the driving factors behind violence and sexual assault so that we can better tailor our response.
While there is still significant work to be done in tackling family violence and sexual assault in Tasmania, through government, the community sector and the wider community working together, we can make real and lasting changes to the lives of the too many Tasmanians who are impacted by family violence and sexual assault.
Jacquie Petrusma, Minister for Human Services Minister for Women
