Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander disadvantage
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Action Plan
The national plan to end violence against women and children 2022-2032
In March 2023, The Salvation Army provided a submission to inform the development of a dedicated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Action Plan (Action Plan) under the National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children 2022-2032.
The Salvation Army operates family and domestic violence services in almost all states and territories in Australia. It is critical to us that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities have a say in and ownership of healing and support at all our services. The Salvation Army’s Red Shield Appeal 2023 report found that more than one in three Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women (35 per cent) said that the experience of family and domestic violence was one of their main challenges in the past 12 months.
The single most crucial gap in the proposed Action Plan Framework is that it does not address the importance of having access to safe and affordable homes for women escaping family and domestic violence. Housing policy is a critical area where the government can act and its importance in ensuring safety for victim-survivors must be reflected in the Action Plan in order to achieve real outcomes.
The overarching principles framing and guiding this submission are:
- There is a need to address unconscious bias and racism. We continue to see responses from both government and non-government services towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander victim-survivors that are not culturally safe.
- Responses in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities need to be community-led, culturally informed and accessible to victim-survivors with diverse needs. A place-based approach is needed where programs are designed to respond to the specific needs of one community.
The best way to improve outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander victim-survivors of family and domestic violence is to increase the stock of affordable and social housing. Without an increase in investment, victim-survivors will continue to be forced to choose between remaining in a violent relationship or entering homelessness.
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