Labor will introduce into the parliament a private member’s bill to give Australian women access to 10 days of paid domestic violence leave.

Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. In Australia, on average one woman a week is murdered by her current or former partner.

Almost 20 months after it was first announced, the Morrison Government has finally released the names of the organisations to receive funding from the Safe Places Emergency Accommodation Program.

One month ago, Luke Howarth Assistant Minister for Housing and Homelessness promised to announce which organisations will get funding from the Safe Places Emergency Accommodation Program “definitely within the next month”. Not a single announcement has been made since. Just crickets.

We have known for some time that people on temporary visas in Australia who are experiencing domestic violence have insufficient access to services and support. The revelations on ABC’s 7.30 last night show just how bad this situation has become during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Liberal and Nationals senators today ignored substantial and compelling evidence and failed to back their own government’s legislation to provide better protection for Australians who take our small amount credit contracts and consumer leases.

Yesterday the Morrison Government finally announced how it would allocate the remaining more than half of the ‘initial’ $150 million in emergency funding it promised in March to respond to the increase in family violence during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Labor has today requested the Information Commissioner investigate deeply concerning reports that the personal information of more than 35,000 Australians has been scraped from social media accounts and other sources for potential use by foreign intelligence services.

For millions of Australians, home has been a sanctuary from the fear and threats of the outside world. But that hasn’t been the experience for all. For too many women the fear and the threats have come from inside the home.

It’s an honour to be appointed as the Shadow Assistant Minister for Communities and the Prevention of Family Violence.