Indigenous women kill rates ‘key to discussion’
Anthony Albanese says the trend of Indigenous women being killed at more than seven times the rate of non-Indigenous women is one of the most dire parts of the gendered violence crisis.
Anthony Albanese says the trend of Indigenous women being killed at more than seven times the rate of non-Indigenous women is one of the most dire parts of the gendered violence crisis facing Australia and will be canvassed by premiers and chief ministers as part of an emergency national cabinet meeting held on Wednesday.
With federal and state governments to consider how to drive down the rates of gendered violence, the Prime Minister said the proliferation of damaging misogynistic content online and its role in exasperating harmful attitudes towards women was also “a debate we have to have”.
“With content that promotes violence of different forms, in some cases misogynistic violent approach towards women … We need to be conscious about what is online and about the impact it is having,” he said on Tuesday.
Opposition communications spokesman David Coleman said Mr Albanese’s concerns about online content needed to be accompanied by backing mandatory age verification “to stop children from accessing dangerous, violent and harmful material online”.
Mr Albanese pointed to fresh figures showing Indigenous women were 7.6 times more likely to die from homicide as non-Indigenous women, which he said would be a major part of his discussion on the “national crisis” on gendered violence with state leaders.
Ahead of Wednesday’s national cabinet – which will take place in the shadow of country-wide rallies and a day after another woman was killed – the crossbench wrote to Mr Albanese demanding the government “treat gender-based violence with the same urgency we show acts of terrorism”.
“The fact is that women, and children, are being terrorised across our nation. We cannot let this be yet another moment of marching in the streets that does not deliver change,” the letter, signed by 11 independents including Zoe Daniel, Monique Ryan and Helen Haines, said.
Some advocates cautioned against the letter’s calls for tougher laws when it came to bail and mandatory sentencing, with Australian Research Council fellow Emma Russell saying politicians trying to appear “tough on crime” in the wake of extreme violence often led to unprecedented rates of remand imprisonment, particularly for Indigenous Australians.
Commonwealth Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commissioner Micaela Cronin, who will address national cabinet, said over-representation of Indigenous women in gendered violence needed to be a key focus in tackling the national crisis.
Leaders of Aboriginal organisations alongside health advocates issued an open letter on Tuesday to call on the federal government to address alcohol’s role in domestic and family violence. “Commonsense measures to regulate alcohol need to be part of the package of actions introduced to prevent violence against women and children. These measures include … ensuring that alcohol is not sold by delivery and takeaway after 10pm (and) … regulating the density of alcohol outlets,” the letter said.
Labor was also urged by Community Legal Centres Australia and St Vincent’s to deliver a major funding boost to ensure legal and health services tackling gendered-violence were adequately resourced.
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