Labor has announced a new policy aimed at combating domestic violence by cracking down on financial abuse carried out by perpetrators.
Today, Minister for Women Katy Gallagher revealed an extensive policy package aimed at supporting women, featuring $8.6 million allocated for “innovative” management of domestic violence offenders. This marks the first significant domestic violence announcement in the current federal election campaign.
The strategy includes initiatives such as electronic monitoring, the use of ankle bracelets for high-risk individuals, comprehensive behaviour change programs, and early intervention services targeted at young people.
Gallagher, who also serves as Labor’s finance minister, pledged that her party, if re-elected next week, will “take action to legislate practical changes in the superannuation, tax, and social security systems to prevent them from being misused by perpetrators.”
The measures include preventing perpetrators from using the tax and corporate systems to accumulate debts as a form of coercive control.
It also focuses on making perpetrators liable for social security debts incurred by a victim-survivor due to coercion or financial abuse.
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Another area being explored is how to stop perpetrators from accessing their victim’s superannuation after their death.
The government says the initiatives are “programs that will prevent violence, not just provide support after it escalates.”
As part of the announcement, Gallagher also said that a re-elected Labor government will deliver a $790 million women’s health package to “bring more choice, lower costs and [provide] better health care for women”.
Not-for-profit organisation No to Violence (NTV) welcomed the announcement but called for stronger action to address root causes and stop domestic violence before it begins.
“Increasing our focus on ending system abuse is welcome, however the promise of $8.6 million over a number of years doesn’t go far enough,” NTV chief executive Phillip Ripper said.
“This program is crucial, but there needs to be an enormous investment uplift in funding for innovative responses to people using violence.”
Ripper called on both the government and the opposition to commit to a targeted national strategy focused on domestic violence perpetrators, emphasising the need for innovative approaches and the importance of working with young men and boys “to break intergenerational cycles of violence”.
“To truly keep women safe, we need to stop violence at its source – that is, men using violence,” he said.
