Some serious challenges have been revealed in Australia's fight against gender-based violence.

The Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence (DFSV) Commission has released its first annual report (PDF), assessing Australia's progress under the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-2032. 

Presented by Commissioner Micaela Cronin at the National Press Club on Wednesday, the report offers a candid evaluation of current efforts and identifies key areas where improvement is necessary to meet the plan’s ambitious goals.

The report follows the release of the First Action Plan 2023-2027 and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Action Plan 2023-2024, which serve as central components in the national strategy to eliminate gender-based violence within a generation. 

However, as Commissioner Cronin said in her address, the road ahead is fraught with challenges, and significant work remains to be done.

One of the report’s most urgent findings is the severe strain on services and systems intended to support victims of domestic, family, and sexual violence. 

Despite increasing government funding over the years, the demand for these services continues to outpace their capacity. 

“While governments have recognised the scale and severity of the impact of domestic, family, and sexual violence with funding increasing over decades, I have heard consistently, across the country, that many services are unable to keep up with demand,” Cronin said. She said this imbalance poses a critical barrier to the success of the National Plan.

A central theme in Cronin’s address was the need for greater male involvement in the efforts to end gender-based violence. 

The report highlights the necessity of redefining masculinity and ensuring that men are actively engaged in conversations and initiatives aimed at reducing violence. 

“We need to be talking with and about men more,” Cronin said. 

“We are watching a generation grow up with access to online misogyny, pornography, hate speech in a way that we’ve never seen before. And we’re really struggling, as a community, with how to deal with that,” she said.

“We need men to be held accountable in ways that they are not being at the moment.”

The report also touched on the critical role of lived experiences in shaping effective policies. 

Cronin called for a co-design approach to policy development, one that places those with lived experience at the centre of the process. 

“The wisdom, courage, and compassion of lived experience advocates across the country - sharing their stories so that, in their words; ‘No one else has to experience what I have experienced’ - drives my passion to work towards the National Plan goal: to end gender-based violence,” she said.

The report also draws attention to the disproportionate impact of domestic, family, and sexual violence on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. 

It says that leadership from the First Nations National Plan Steering Committee will be crucial for guiding the systemic changes necessary to address these inequities. 

“What’s going to work in a remote Aboriginal community is very different from what’s going to work in Redfern, than what’s going to work in a capital city,” Cronin said. 

Looking forward, the report calls for the development of new data sources and measures to accurately track progress. 

Improved information sharing and governance are essential for ensuring that interventions are effective and responsive to the needs of diverse populations. 

In her address, Cronin also touched on the broader political and social response to gender-based violence. 

She pointed out the contrast between the intense focus on other security threats and the relatively muted attention to at least 42 women who have been killed by men in Australia this year. 

“There are no easy solutions, and governments must remain committed to tackling the issue. We must be stronger, clearer, and use less passive language as we work towards the National Plan’s goal to end gender-based violence,” Cronin said.


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