Wednesday, 13 May 2026

 Sonja TERPSTRA (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (17:48): I rise to make a contribution on the progress made in Victoria in preventing violence against women and family violence. Respect Victoria’s tabled 2025 report, Maintain the Momentum, details the strong progress that our state, led by the Allan Labor government, has made. As a government, we will continue to make this a top priority and ensure that we are putting words into tangible actions. Structural change is paramount, and we cannot afford to be incremental in tackling this important issue. The Allan Labor government has invested an estimated $130 million in primary prevention programs and initiatives over the reporting period, which is the 2022–24 period, and that was more than any other state and territory. This is not just short-term, fragmented funding but the building of a stronger foundation for an evidence-based prevention program.

In 2024 Victoria created Australia’s first Parliamentary Secretary for Men’s Behaviour Change and now in April this year has created a ministerial portfolio, the Minister for Men and Boys, a cabinet-level role focused on changing behaviours and views and tackling the manosphere. This is an acknowledgement built into the architecture of government itself that men are not just a problem to be managed but are essential to the solution. We need to change the conditions that produce violence in the first place.

The Allan Labor government has not only shown its commitment through funding and appointments but has also made significant legislative reforms. The introduction of affirmative consent laws, the criminalisation of non-fatal strangulation and the continued implementation of the Gender Equality Act 2020 are all examples of government actively reshaping the conditions that drive violence – not just responding after the fact.

The Royal Commission into Family Violence, the first of its kind in Australia, handed down 227 recommendations, and this reporting period saw every single recommendation being accepted and implemented by this government. The creation of Respect Victoria was spurred on by the royal commission, and it is the only statutory authority in Australia dedicated to the prevention of violence against women and families. It advises our government on where to invest, develops the statewide theory of change, runs social change campaigns, builds the evidence base and provides the policy architecture that makes a difference to the women and families of this state.

Then of course there is the Respect Ballarat program, formerly the Ballarat community saturation model, which is a key program driven by Respect Victoria. I want to spend some time here, because this initiative deserves to be recognised. In 2024 Ballarat experienced something devastating: the deaths of Samantha Murphy, Rebecca Young and Hannah McGuire shocked the community, and that community responded with grief, anger and a demand for action. Thousands marched and this government listened. It has invested $9.8 million in delivering a nation-leading community model that is designed to prevent gendered violence. What makes Respect Ballarat different is its scale and integration. It does not deliver one program to one group in one venue, but it brings together sporting clubs, schools, workplaces, health services, councils and community organisations. They are all coordinated and they all reinforce each other, all working towards the same goal. As Sally Hasler from Women’s Health Victoria put it, the Ballarat model:

… makes it real for people that don’t necessarily understand how advocacy, communications campaigns and research all link together.

The cultural shift is measurable too. The Walk Against Family Violence drew a record 8500 Victorians in 2024, up from 5000 participants the year before. Respect Victoria reached an average of 1.65 million Victorians through social change campaigns. Up to 73 per cent of people who saw a Respect Victoria campaign took some form of action arising from it.

The momentum we are talking about today is real and it is built on funding decisions, legislative reforms, workplace development, groundbreaking research and communities that are mobilising for change in greater numbers than ever before. This is what leadership looks like: not just words, but action and investment. The work is not finished, and of course there is always more to do. Too many women are being murdered, too many loved ones have been taken from families and too many women live in fear of violence. But the momentum exists in Victoria. We should be proud of what we have done, but we will keep on going.