Parliament House Glows Orange for Anti-Violence Campaign

Today, the Albanese Labor Government renews its commitment to building a safer Australia - where every woman and child can live free from gender-based violence - as we mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and support the United Nations' global 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence.

In Australia, one in four women have experienced intimate partner violence since the age of 15.

And one in five women has experienced sexual violence.

To mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, Parliament House will be lit up orange - a powerful, visible reminder of the lives impacted by family and domestic and sexual violence - and to remember the women and children we have lost to men's violence.

The Albanese Government has invested more than any Australian government ever - more than $4 billion in frontline services, prevention initiatives, behaviour change and programs for children across government.

The Government has also:

• Made the Leaving Violence Program permanent, so women have the financial support they need to leave abusive relationships
• Introduced legislation to make sure our social security system can't be weaponised by perpetrators of abuse
• Funded programs that intervene earlier with men who want to change their behaviours
• Invested $1.2 billion for emergency and transitional housing to ensure women can reach safety
• Invested a record $3.9 billion in legal services - with an extra $800 million for family violence legal services
• Taken action to deal with high-risk perpetrators - investing over $82 million to detect, monitor and intervene with repeat offenders
• Supported the recovery of children who have experienced violence, investing $81 million for services like child specific counselling
• Legislated 10 days paid domestic violence leave, so workplaces support women to stay financially secure and connected
• Made it illegal to fire someone because of their experience of domestic or family violence
• Launched an inquiry into domestic, family and sexual violence related suicide
• Established the National Higher Education Code to prevent and respond to Gender-based Violence in universities
• Implemented all the recommendations of the Respect@Work report
• Legislated a positive duty for employers to protect staff and customers from sexual harassment and abuse

The Government, working with states and territories, have made significant progress but we know there is more work to do.

Violence against women is by no means inevitable and it's important to reflect today on action we can all take, not just to reduce the rate of violence, but to eliminate gender-based violence.