Grace Tame, Brittany Higgins, Rosie Batty and Dr Anne Summers are among a group of prominent Australian women raising concerns about the federal government’s Draft National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children 2022-2032.
In an open letter released on Wednesday, 45 prominent women expressed disappointment in the Draft National Plan because it doesn’t include a clear strategy for ending violence against women and children with specific targets or accountability mechanisms.
“We, the undersigned, demand specific targets and a clear path to achieving them, together with a credible accountability mechanism,” the open letter states.
“In the absence of targets, we do not believe the draft is credible and believe it should be withdrawn and rewritten to reflect these concerns.”
The open letter notes that more than a decade after the launch of Australia’s first National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and Their Children, rates of violence, including domestic and family violence, have barely shifted and in some cases, have increased.
“The draft Plan claims to serve as a ‘blueprint for change’ that sets out ‘our collective ambitions, priorities and targets for how we will work to end violence against women and children over the next ten years’. It does not,” reads the letter.
Journalist and commentator Kristine Ziwica, a lead organiser of the open letter, told Women’s Agenda it was disturbing that the government’s new draft plan does not directly acknowledge that the first national plan failed to meet its single measure for success, set in 2010.
That measure for success was to see “a significant and sustained reduction in violence against women and their children during the next 12 years, from 2010 to 2022”.
Ziwica noted that the draft plan also does not tell Australians how it will create a future free from violence against women and children.
“Where is it? Where is the strategy and where are the key elements that help us move from platitudes to action?” Ziwica said.
If you agree with us please add your name to this submission. We need an actual Plan to end Violence against Women, not a collection of noble sentiments with no substance, no targets or tracks to achieve them. The federal Govt needs to withdraw this draft and start again. https://t.co/K68QJdrY7i
— Anne Summers (@SummersAnne) February 8, 2022
The open letter also points out that the federal government has not released the consultation reports undertaken by Monash University that underpin the draft plan.
“How can we know that the draft reflects the lived experiences of survivors, and the knowledge of experts? Ziwica said. “We need transparency.”
The draft plan also does not meet the wishes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, who have advocated for a standalone national plan (see the Change the Record open letter from October 2021). Ziwica said the suggested plan “is just a subset of the mainstream national plan”.
“It falls short and we reject it entirely,” the open letter states.
You can read the full letter and add your name to the submission here. See the initial list of prominent signatories to the open letter below.
