The Third Action Plan (2016-19) of the National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and their Children (2010-22) was released at the COAG summit last week.
FECCA welcomes the inclusion of actions focusing on migrant women, including:
- Ensuring that migration rules and eligibility requirements for support services do not disempower victims of violence or discourage them from leaving violent relationships
- developing appropriate visa arrangements for temporary residents who are experiencing violence
- revising eligibility requirements to enable more victims of violence to access support; and
- working with service providers to improve access of temporary residents to available support services.
- Supporting community-driven initiatives to prevent and respond to diverse and complex forms of violence against women and improve community awareness of these forms of violence
- providing leadership training to young people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds to drive attitudinal change in their communities; and
- building the capacity of community and faith leaders to reject, prevent and respond to violence.
- Enhancing services in the family law system for families experiencing, or at risk of experiencing violence, including integrating legal and social support services to better support groups that face additional barriers to accessing the family court system, such as women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
- Progressively designing, trialling and evaluating innovative models of perpetrators interventions across community and correctional settings to understand what works for different groups, including tailored initiatives to be targeted at culturally and linguistically diverse men.
The immigration status of women who experience family violence has a significant impact on their experience of that violence and their ability to leave a violent relationship. FECCA has advocated for amendments to migration law to assist women on temporary visas to be adequately supported when they experience family violence. Earlier this year, FECCA coordinated a letter signed by 135 organisations calling for access to crisis payments for this cohort of migrant women.
“Eliminating violence against women is a national priority, and we are pleased to see that the Third Action Plan recognises that specific actions need to be taken to reduce violence against women from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds”, said FECCA Chairperson Joe Caputo. “We look forward to working with the Government to progress this important agenda”.
If you or someone you know is experiencing family violence, call 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732 for 24/7 support. If you’re in immediate danger call 000.
Media Comments: FECCA Office – (02) 6282 5755, media@fecca.org.a