LINDA BURNEY MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS
MEMBER FOR BARTON

SENATOR JENNY MCALLISTER
SHADOW CABINET SECRETARY
SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR COMMUNITIES AND THE PREVENTION OF FAMILY VIOLENCE
LABOR SENATOR FOR NEW SOUTH WALES
 

FIRST NATIONS VOICES NEED TO BE HEARD ON WOMEN’S SAFETY

 
Labor is joining calls from the sector for a separate national plan for First Nations people to end violence against women and family violence. 
 
According to Our Watch, First Nations women are 11 times more likely to die as a result of an assault, than non-Indigenous women. 
 
First Nations women are hospitalised for family violence at 32 times the rate of non-Indigenous women.
 
First Nations communities experience unique challenges in this space, and we cannot simply apply a western lens to addressing those challenges. 
 
For example, measures that separate families are not necessarily the answer – for a people for whom family and community is so important; and who have been subjected to centuries of government policies that have sought to tear communities and families apart. 
 
A whole of community approach is what matters most in the First Nations context. 
 
We need a response that is of sufficient scale, ambition and is properly resourced to make a difference. 
 
You’ve got to really question the Government’s commitment to listening to First Nations communities. This is the same government that reversed decades of self-determination in the provision of legal services to Indigenous Australians by abolishing the standalone, specific purpose funding program for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services.
 
TUESDAY, 7 SEPTEMBER 2021