We are hearing little from the Prime Minister or the Opposition Leader about addressing violence against women by their partners in their public statements and speeches and social media.  Is it a priority?

The government’s Women's Budget Statement 2025 leads with over 20 pages of investment in domestic violence and calls this scourge a priority.  Yet it isn’t being spoken about in the context of the election. 

The opposition has 2 lines about domestic violence in their election plan, but you need to scan it until the last page to find it.   

Now in the fourth week of the five-week campaign, the Coalition has flagged it will have something to say on the topic before polling day while the ALP has released its “commitment to women” announcement. Analysis by academics Kate Fitzgibbon and Hayley Boxall is that much of Labor’s announcement is about what the party has already done to address women’s safety, including funding already committed under the National Plan To End Violence Against Women and Children. The announcement concedes “there is much more to do” and highlights extra spending on financial abuse and perpetrator interventions specifically.

Maybe ask your local candidates whether the escalating numbers of dead women are a priority for them.