A State Government strategy to support Aboriginal family safety and combat domestic violence has been released for public comment.
The Aboriginal Family Safety Strategy has been developed following extensive community feedback, in recognition of the disproportionate impact of family violence in Aboriginal communities.
Aboriginal women and children experience family violence at disproportionately high rates, with Aboriginal women 32 times more likely than non-Aboriginal women to be hospitalised from family violence. The State Government is committed to reducing the incidents of family violence by working in partnership with Aboriginal people and empowering communities to drive change.
The cross-government initiative is one of the four key actions in the Closing the Gap Jurisdictional Implementation Plan for Western Australia, to address Outcome 13 - that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and households are safe.
It is also a key deliverable of Path to Safety - Western Australia's Strategy to Reduce Family and Domestic Violence 2020-2030.
The strategy acknowledges that family violence is not part of Aboriginal culture, and has an aim of ensuring that all Aboriginal people in WA live safe and healthy lives free of family violence and that we are all part of that solution.
Feedback on the draft strategy is now open until 5pm AWST on April 14, 2022. The draft strategy can be found online.
As stated by Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence Minister Simone McGurk:
"We know that Aboriginal families are disproportionately impacted by family and domestic violence, and the State Government is committed to turning this around.
"The Aboriginal Family Safety Strategy draft has been developed in close consultation with Aboriginal people and organisations to design a new approach that will keep children and families safe and allow them to heal.
"I would like to pay particular acknowledgement to Professor Vickie Hovane, who has led the development and writing of the draft strategy, which is now open for feedback and comment."
As stated by Aboriginal Affairs Minister Dr Tony Buti:
"This is a prime example of Government working in partnership with Aboriginal Western Australians to address key priorities in Closing the Gap.
"The Aboriginal Family Safety Strategy is one part of our whole-of-government effort to work with Aboriginal people to foster social and economic empowerment.
"Critically, Aboriginal people and organisations have been at the centre of the design process for the strategy - a key pillar of WA's Aboriginal Empowerment Strategy."
