QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE: TAKE NOTE OF ANSWERS

Senator WATERS (Queensland—Leader of the Australian Greens) (15:23): I move: That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister for Women to the question I asked today. We've all watched in horror as headline after headline about sexual assaults has hit the media in recent weeks. Most shocking of all is just how many of them were amongst teenagers.

These headlines, paired with research from Monash Uni, have given us new insight into the dangerous attitudes that young men still hold around consent. Last week, the Nationals leader suggested that 'feminisation' of the teaching curriculum is what's driving boys to the toxic corners of the internet. When the Nationals leader talks about what's happening in schools, he ignores that teachers have reported an escalation in sexist and misogynistic behaviour directed towards them by students, colleagues and, in some cases, parents and carers.

The influence of the manosphere is affecting teachers and students every day. It's gotten so bad that recent Monash research found that one-third of teachers are considering leaving the profession, and one-third of female students feel unsafe at school. Teaching consent and respect is not the problem.

It's more needed than ever. The Albanese government spent nearly $6 million to create a national respectful relationships education expert working group to develop a consent and respectful relationships education framework. After a long delay, the national framework was delivered earlier this year.

Last week, the Minister for Education announced another review of consent education programs, to see why they're not turning sexual violence rates around. Experts involved in the original review made many recommendations about how to make sure that the content was meeting kids where they're at, talking about things that are happening to them in language that makes sense to them, being explicit about sex and consent.

I hope the government is listening to those voices. What is the point of gathering experts to help you design a program if you are not listening to them? It is important to get consent education right.

We can't be squeamish or placate those who might be offended by content that actually makes kids safer. We've also got to listen to experts and lived experience advocates on sexual violence. The commissioner's report acknowledges that sexual violence reporting is low because institutions continue to fail survivors.

We can't say that women need to report to police and then fail to invest in a justice system that protects them when they do report. Last sitting, the government released a response to an inquiry that I was part of three years ago into sexual consent laws. That inquiry recommended that the government act on the recommendations made by the Australian Law Reform Commission to improve justice system responses to sexual violence.

There is so much to fix—consistently offering options for women to give evidence by video, providing access to independent lawyers, preventing counselling records being accessed by perpetrators and ending the use of non-disclosure agreements. The ALRC's recommendations have now been sitting with government for 18 months, and we are yet to see a comprehensive response.

We need action. And we cannot keep ignoring that the crisis response sector is at breaking point. The government must step up.

Of course we should be working on prevention and early intervention and envisaging a future actually free from violence, but, in the meantime, we cannot let women and children experiencing violence fall through the cracks. DVNSW has consistently called for a 50 per cent increase in funding to meet demand. Referrals to services across New South Wales have increased by more than 20 per cent, while the frontline workforce has been reduced.

In Victoria, Safe and Equal estimates that a 62 per cent funding increase is needed to fully meet demand in Victoria. In Queensland, the state government has recently cut funding to prevention services, in all of their wisdom, and then it threatened services that complained about it. Clearly, they're no fan of women, under the conservative state government.

It takes long-term secure funding to end violence, and until governments stump up the cash nothing is going to get any better. As ever, I want to express my gratitude for the deeply committed staff in this sector who work tirelessly across prevention, response and recovery to end gender based violence and to build a better future for women and children. This is vital work.

It is hard work. It is saving lives. The Greens thank everyone in these roles, and we will keep fighting to get the funding that you've been calling for and that you deserve, to help every woman and child that needs it.

Question agreed to.