The Albanese Labor Government has today announced the execution of new grant funding agreements with Our Watch. This gives effect to Labor's funding commitment of $100.4 million over five years to continue to support Our Watch's critical work addressing the drivers of violence against women and their children.
Our Watch - Australia's national primary prevention organisation - is being funded from 2022-23 to 2026-27 to deliver the Primary Prevention Activities Program under the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-2032.
Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth said that with this funding Our Watch will be able to deliver a suite of activities, working in conjunction with key stakeholders and organisations, to address drivers to ultimately prevent violence against women and children.
"The prevalence of family, domestic, and sexual violence in Australia is unacceptably high - nearly one in four women since the age of 15 have experienced intimate partner violence," Minister Rishworth said.
"Central to addressing this - and reaching our goal to end violence against women and children in one generation - is prevention. Our Watch paves the way as the national primary prevention organisation driving national change in attitudes and behaviours that progress to violence against women and their children.
"This funding will enable Our Watch to continue building evidence and providing vital national leadership on this issue, as well as delivering targeted activities in conjunction with other organisations to prevent gender-based violence in key communities and settings."
The funding will be used by Our Watch to:
- increase prevention activity in key settings such as sport, universities, TAFEs, VET institutions, media and other workplaces
- test innovative prevention approaches in new settings, such as online and early childhood education, and expand Primary Prevention Hub activities to increase training and professional development for frontline prevention workers
- enhance and expand campaigns such as The Line to educate on consent, safe-relationship habits and the impacts of pornography
- undertake increased prevention work with priority cohorts, including by expanding Our Watch's Changing the Picture model to support practitioners in remote and rural communities
- further engage men and boys by building on key learnings from Our Watch's Men in Focus
Assistant Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence Justine Elliot said this funding was critical to furthering primary prevention efforts.
"The work of Our Watch is central to helping deliver our National Plan," Assistant Minister Elliot said.
"By addressing those drivers of violence, we can change attitudes and behaviours to deliver a country free from violence against women and children."
Chief Executive Officer of Our Watch, Patty Kinnersly said the funding Our Watch has received under the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-2032 has reinforced our most powerful tool for ending violence against women - prevention.
"The new agreement will allow us to reach more people in more places across the nation by developing and sharing new primary prevention knowledge, policy, practice and campaigns, along with continuing our partnerships and collaboration to extend our reach and impact," Patty Kinnersly said.
"We know that violence against women is preventable, and we are committed to working alongside the government, communities, and other stakeholders to achieve lasting change and to build a society where all women are respected, empowered, and safe."
The National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-2032 is available from the Department of Social Services website.
