One woman every week in Australia is murdered at the hands of a current or former partner—mothers, daughters, sisters, friends, co-workers. In fact, violence is the leading preventable cause of death, illness and disability for women aged 15 to 44 in Australia. Violence against women is so bad in this country that police are called to a domestic violence incident every two minutes. This is a national shame. It is a deep seated cultural problem in Australia, and the pandemic has exacerbated many of these issues. The support services that support women are overwhelmed by doing the very best they can without the resources they need. This government hasn't funded family violence services to give women the help they need to leave and stay safe. This means Australian women and children are trapped in violent situations. Across the country at this very moment women fleeing violence are being turned away from services because there aren't enough workers to help them.

Women's safety should be a national priority, and Labor is committed to addressing this. A Labor government will fund 500 new community sector workers to support women in crisis and will create the position of a family, domestic and sexual violence commissioner to act as a strong voice for victims-survivors and to provide accountability and coordination for violence prevention. Labor will invest $100 million in crisis accommodation and build 4,000 new homes for women and children fleeing violence and older women on low incomes who are at risk of homelessness, because all Australian women should feel safe.