Institute of Public Administration Australia (ACT) Limited

One in three Australian women have experienced physical violence. One in four Australian women have experienced violence by an intimate partner. One in five Australian women have experienced sexual violence. These statistics merely touch the sides of a very serious and significant problem.

The Government is now in consultation stage for the 2022-2032 National Action Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and their Children. Drawing on experience and lessons learnt from the current National Plan, a wealth of expertise from across agencies, jurisdictions and sectors, and a contemporary post-COVID way of working, the new National Plan is shaping up to further close the gap on violence against women through a range of targeted women’s safety agenda initiatives.

This week we’re joined by the Co-chairs of the National Plan Advisory Group, Alison Frame, Deputy Secretary of the Social Policy Group at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, and Liz Hefren-Webb, Deputy Secretary of Families and Communities at the Department of Social Services. They discuss:

• Domestic violence in Australia.
• Focus of the 2022-2032 National Plan.
• Leveraging from the architectural changes to the Government machinery and responsiveness brought about by COVID.
• Bolstering outcomes through collaborations and cross-cutting agency strategies.