MATTERS OF PUBLIC IMPORTANCE

Ms SHARKIE (Mayo) (15:37): Australia witnesses shocking attacks on women, some of whom have been tragically killed, within and outside of their homes. I'd like to acknowledge the survivors, those whose lives have been impacted by family and domestic violence and in particular the children who have witnessed behaviours and actions that they should never have seen that have scarred their childhood.

I also want to acknowledge those who are no longer with us who have had their lives taken by violence. The Australian Bureau of Statistics report that family and domestic violence offender numbers rose eight per cent in the years 2023-24 to 2024-25, and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare's figures from 2024-25 show that on average one woman was killed every 11 days and one man was killed every 26 days by an intimate partner.

Australian discussion on the cause of violence against women focuses on gender inequality and the power imbalance. Drivers that have been identified include dominant masculinity, emphasising aggression, dominance and control and the condoning of violence against women. The following distinct gendered drivers of violence have been identified: condoning of violence against women, men's control of decision-making, men limiting women's independence in public and private life, rigid gender stereotypes, dominant forms of masculinity and male peer relations and cultures of masculinity that emphasise aggression, dominance and control.

We also know from the statistics that newly arrived migrants in Australia, people from CALD backgrounds and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women experience family violence at far greater rates. I also want to draw attention to the factors recognised as exacerbating violence against women and intimate partner violence including the use of alcohol and illicit drugs and gambling.

In 2021-22, almost half of the women who experienced sexual assault in the past decade indicated that alcohol or other substance use had contributed. That data is from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. The Centre for Alcohol Policy Research has found that crisis support services for domestic violence experienced a 30 to 40 per cent surge in demand and distress calls during the NRL State of Origin series.

Victoria Police reported 20 per cent increase in family violence incidents during the AFL grand finals. It's surely not a coincidence that these events provide a nexus of increased alcohol use and gambling with huge increases in domestic and family violence. While the Australian Institute of Family Studies found that gambling does not cause intimate partner violence, it held that, like alcohol, gambling and associated financial losses can intensify the frequency and severity of intimate partner violence against women.

Economic abuse is prevalent among women experiencing gambling related intimate partner violence. The National Gambling Prevalence Study 2024 found that one in five people whose partners gambled weekly or more had experienced intimate partner violence from that partner in the last year, and one in 10 people whose partner gambled less than once weekly had experienced violence from them.

One in 15 people whose partners had not gambled in the last year experienced some violence. There's definitely a correlation here. Given this association, we must do much better in this place with respect to gambling harm, and recognise that there is that nexus between gambling harm and family and domestic violence, and I would state that both football codes need to do far, far better in advocating against family and domestic violence, and in promoting and respecting women.

With the recent allegations with respect to the Sydney Swans, I think that is a very timely message to give to both of the codes. Family violence is a scourge, and its scars, particularly for the victims and their children, run deep and are generational. We must do better—all of us as a nation.