2016-04-20
With the launch today of the advertising campaign to tackle attitudes that allow domestic violence to fester, the Greens are calling for the Turnbull Government to urgently reverse its cuts to crisis services and boost funding.
Senator Larissa Waters, Australian Greens Deputy Leader and spokesperson for women, said:
"We absolutely need to raise awareness and change attitudes about domestic violence and gender equality but doing so without boosting funding to crisis services, which are currently having to turn women away, is dangerous.
"Women's refuges, legal services and call centres desperately need a long-term funding boost so that they don't have to keep turning away women who reach out for help.
"We must ensure that every woman who bravely reaches out for help is fully supported, and no woman faces the decision between homelessness or violence.
"The Turnbull Government still has not reversed Tony Abbott's cuts to new refuges or housing affordability programs.
"It also hasn't overturned Tony Abbott's 30 per cent funding cut to community legal centres, including women's legal services which help women escape violence, scheduled for 2017.
"The government must reverse these cruel cuts in the budget and boost long-term funding for domestic violence and specialist Aboriginal services, including at least $200 million for legal services as recommended by the Productivity Commission.
"Domestic violence prevention is incredibly important and will save lives over time, but we must also protect women and children who are currently trying to escape violence," Senator Waters said.
The Abbott/Turnbull government has:
- Scheduled a 30% funding cut of $34 million over three years for community legal centres under the National Partnership Agreement on Legal Assistance Services
- Abolished dedicated funding for Family Violence Prevention Legal Services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians and refused to provide funding certainty for all 14 FVPLS units around Australia.
- Cut $240 million from the Department of Social Services discretionary grants program, which funded services supporting victims and survivors of domestic violence
- Cut $44 million from the construction of new emergency accommodation under the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness
- Cut funding for long term affordable housing by axing the National Rental Affordability Scheme