PM announces new $5k payment

The federal government will invest $925m over five years to help women escape violent relationships and introduce new legislation to ban deep fake pornography under a suite of measures to combat high rates of gendered violence.

Anthony Albanese convened an urgent national cabinet meeting on Wednesday after declaring violence against women a “national emergency” following the killings of 27 women across Australia this year.

Following crisis talks, the Prime Minister announced the permanent establishment of the Leaving Violence Payment to assist people experiencing intimate partner violence with the financial costs of leaving a violent situation.

“Those eligible will be able to access up to $5000 in financial support along with referral services, risk assessments, and safety planning,” Mr Albanese said.

“This commitment builds on measures put in place by our government to help address financial barriers to escaping violence.”

PM announces new $5k payment

Australia will also introduce legislation banning the creation and distribution of deep fake pornography and the sharing of sexually explicit material using technology such as artificial intelligence.

Citing growing concerns about the role of violent online content in normalising gendered violence, Communications Minister Michelle Rowland announced $6.5m in the budget for a pilot of “age-assurance technologies” to reduce children’s exposure to harmful material.

She announced a review, which will be done in collaboration with experts, with states and territories to examine options to reduce exposure to violent pornography.

“I’m well aware as a parent myself of two young girls there is a weight that parents are feeling about how to help their children navigate the online environment,” Ms Rowland said.

“Reducing this exposure to harmful and degrading pornography will better protect the women and children of Australia and we will have more to say about our plans to strengthen online safety.”

The government will also bring forward legislation in early August to outlaw the release of private information online with an intent to cause harm, known as doxxing.

Mr Albanese said while the possibility of stricter bail conditions for violent offenders was a point of discussion during Wednesday’s meeting, any changes to bail laws would be led by states and territories.

“What I heard from the premiers and chief ministers is the commitment to best practice, to examine what works, and they will work in a co-ordinated way to look at how they can deal with issues like our laws,” he said.

On average in Australia, a woman is killed by an intimate partner every four days, while one in three women has experienced physical violence since the age of 15.

Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commissioner Micaela Cronin said she was pleased to have a unified conversation about the “appalling” spate of deaths of women killed by their current or ex-partners.

“Like many of you, I wake up every day and pick up my phone worried about what news I’m going to see and the impact that that will have on communities, but we also know that that’s just the tip of the iceberg,” she said.

Opening the one-hour virtual discussion, Mr Albanese told state and territory leaders too many women across the country were dying from acts of violence and said the statistic of one woman killed every four days was “completely unacceptable”.

“Too many children are growing up with trauma and too many children are growing up without their mums, and too many stories are ending in the same heartbreaking way. If we want to change this, then all of us have to take responsibility,” he said.

Mr Albanese said for many the issue of domestic violence was “deeply personal” and vowed to take immediate steps to address long-term cultural change.

“We are committed to dealing with these issues, and today we want to reach some important outcomes building on the work that governments have done to date but doing more because we know that not enough has been done,” he said.

Domestic violence survivor and advocate Rosie Batty welcomed an extension to emergency financial support but raised concerns in relation to barriers around eligibility and access.

She said women are at the highest of risk of violence and homicide when they leave a violent relationship, and urged for more federal and state resources towards recovery and healing.

“I appreciate this is an important request that the government has listened to, but what I would enforce is I hope this payment is easily accessible and provided without the victim having to prove or to go through an extensive screening process that ultimately re-traumatises them,” Ms Batty said.

“Ultimately, leaving a violent relationship is a long recovery. We need to realise that the violence doesn’t necessarily stop just because you leave.”

Greens spokesperson for women Larissa Waters said the announcement was a “disgraceful” missed opportunity.

“Today’s announcement merely makes an existing program that has been plagued with maladministration and delay, permanent,” Senator Waters said.

“To add insult to injury, the funding for leaving violence announced today won’t even flow until July 2025.”

According to data released in a response to a question raised in senate estimates earlier this year, more than half of the over 50,000 Australians who applied for the escaping violence payment had their applications rejected between July and September 2023.

The one-off payment, which can be accessed through social service provider Uniting, is issued in the form of up to $1,500 in cash with the rest on a pre-paid card for goods and services.

To be eligible, an individual must be aged 18 years and have left or have a plan to leave an intimate partner violent relationship. Applicants must be an Australian citizen or temporary visa holder and be able to prove they are experiencing or at risk of financial stress.

They must also have experienced a change in living arrangement in the past 12 weeks.

If you or someone you know is experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, domestic, family or sexual violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732, text 0458 737 732 or visit 1800RESPECT.org.au