The Hon. Scott Morrison MP
Prime Minister

Senator the Hon. Marise Payne
Minister for Foreign Affairs
Minister for Women

Senator the Hon. Michaelia Cash
Attorney-General
Minister for Industrial Relations

Senator the Hon. Anne Ruston
Minister for Social Services
Minister for Women’s Safety

Senator the Hon. Jane Hume
Minister for Superannuation, Financial Services and the Digital Economy
Minister for Women’s Economic Security

JOINT MEDIA RELEASE

Tuesday 11 May 2021

BUDGET DELIVERING FOR AUSTRALIAN WOMEN

The Morrison Government has announced a landmark package of around $3.4 billionin new measures to improve outcomes for women’s safety, economic security,health and wellbeing in the 2021–22 Budget.
This includes the Government investing $1.1 billion in funding for women’ssafety; $1.9 billion to support women’s economic security including $1.7billion to improve the affordability of child care for Australian families and$351.6 million in women’s health and wellbeing measures.

“Our approach to developing this Women’s Budget Statement has been informed byour values of respect, dignity, choice, equality of opportunity and justice –these are fundamental to the safety and economic security of women inAustralia,” Prime Minister Morrison said.

The package builds on the Government’s investment for women in Australia,including under the National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and theirChildren 2010-22 (the National Plan) and the 2018 and 2020 Women’s EconomicSecurity Statements.

Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Women, Senator the Hon MarisePayne, said the package covered three key pillars —women’s safety, economicsecurity; and women’s health and wellbeing.

“Everyone has a basic right to safety, equality and respect in our society, andwe all have a responsibility to address gender imbalances in Australia tocreate real change and genuine advances for women and girls,” Minister Paynesaid.

WOMEN’S SAFETY

Minister for Families and Social Services and Minister for Women’s Safety,Senator the Hon Anne Ruston, said this package represents the Commonwealth’sdown payment on the next National Plan which will commence in mid-2022, withfurther investment to follow after consultations including the National Women’sSafety Summit to be held on 29-30 July this year.

“Since 2013, the Australian Government has invested more than $1 billion toprevent and respond to violence against women and their children. This budgetis yet another important step toward our target to end violence against womenand their children,” Minister Ruston said.

The package includes a new, two-year National Partnership Agreement in whichthe Morrison Government will provide up to $261.4 million to partner withstates and territories to boost local frontline services and trial newinitiatives during the transition to the next National Plan. States andterritories will be asked to contribute funding to the agreement reflectingtheir primary role and responsibilities in the delivery of frontline services.

The Government will commit $164.8 million over three years to establishEscaping Violence Payments to provide up to $1,500 in immediate cash and afurther $3,500 in kind for goods or direct payments of bonds, school fees orother items. The payments will be provided under a two-year trial through adomestic violence frontline service and include wrap around support for womenand their children. The Safe Places emergency accommodation program will alsobe expanded with additional funding of $12.6 million to support women andchildren experiencing family and domestic violence.

The Government will build on its efforts to prevent violence with a $35.1million investment including expanding national primary prevention campaigns toaddress new and emerging issues targeted at young people as well as continuingthe award-winning campaign, Stop It At The Start.

An additional $26.0 million will be provided to Family Violence PreventionLegal Services (FVPLS) to improve support services for Aboriginal and TorresStrait Islander women. Funding will be directed to improving the quality,capability and cultural safety of indigenous and non-indigenous family violenceservices.

The Government will also invest $31.6million over five years to establish anAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Personal Safety Survey conducted by theAustralian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). This will enable us, for the first time,to measure the prevalence of family, domestic and sexual violence experiencedby Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and girls. We will also commitfunding to establish a new Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander AdvisoryCouncil.

The Government will invest $29.3 million over three years to improve migrantand refugee women’s safety through early intervention, grass-roots programs,and social and economic inclusion support. The Government will also invest anadditional $10.3 million over two years to extend the new pilot programsupporting women on temporary visas experiencing family violence for an extrayear, making it a two-year trial ending in 2023. This will provide support forwomen who may be unable to access social services and welfare payments due totheir visa status. It includes access to support through the Australian RedCross, with women able to receive up to $3,000 to help them cover expenses suchas food, accommodation, utilities and other essentials and medical care.Extended funding will also be provided to nine Community and Women’s LegalCentres nationally to help this group of women in these challenging situationsaccess legal assistance and migration support.

$26.2 million over four years will address the increasing use of technologyfacilitated abuse, improve online safety for women and girls and raiseawareness of the Online Safety Bill.

Under this investment, the Office of the eSafety Commissioner will pilot aprogram to develop software to better investigate cases of image-based abuseand provide targeted support for children. A further $4.9 million will also beinvested in expanding support for men at risk of using violence and triallingnew perpetrator interventions, including funding for No to Violence program andMen’s Line, which provides advice and information to men about servicesavailable to them such as a men’s behaviour change program.

IMPROVING OUR FAMILY AND JUSTICE RESPONSES

Attorney-General, Senator the Hon. Michaelia Cash, said having a family lawsystem that was safe and fit for purpose to protect and assist victim-survivorsof family violence was a key priority of the Budget.

“We are committing more than $400 million across a range of measures to provideadditional legal assistance funding for women, and to boost investment inChildren’s Contact Services to reduce safety risks and expand Family AdvocacySupport Services.”

These measures include $129.0 million in additional legal assistance funding towomen’s legal centres to help women access justice. This funding will bedirected to women’s legal centres, to enable these providers to respond toincreasing demand for domestic violence assistance.

An extra $101.4 million will be put towards Children’s Contact Services (CCSs)to reduce safety risks to family law system users, including the establishmentof an additional 20 CCSs.

Almost $85 million will be invested in the Family Advocacy Support Services tomaintain, enhance and expand access to their services.

More than $60.8 million will fund the reform of family law case management inthe federal family courts to improve outcomes and better meet the needs offamilies and children.

ADDRESSING SEXUAL HARASSMENT

The Government will invest an additional $9.3 million to further implementrecommendations made in the Respect@Work report. This includes funding tosupport the Respect@Work Council to implement a range of practical measureshighlighted in the Roadmap for Respect, and driving amendments to improve legaland regulatory responses to workplace sexual harassment. It also includesinterim funding to continue the targeted delivery of support for womenexperiencing workplace sexual harassment, while the Government consults withstates and territories in line with its commitment in the Roadmap for Respect.

We are also investing $5.3 million over three years to build evidence andfurther develop primary prevention initiatives to respond to sexual harassment.We will also invest $6.0 million over four years for the Workplace GenderEquality Agency to work with the Respect@Work Council and extend reporting tothe Australian public sector.

INCREASING WOMEN’S WORKFORCE PARTICIPATION AND SECURING THEIR ECONOMIC FUTURES

The Minister for Women’s Economic Security, Jane Hume said “women’s workforceparticipation is a social and economic priority and critical to Australia’srecovery, which is why the Government is prioritising investment in childcare.”

The Budget includes targeted measures to increase choice and flexibility forwomen by addressing barriers to working in the paid workforce, and supportingwomen to build financially secure futures.

As part of our plan to secure Australia’s recovery, the Government is investingan additional $1.7 billion in childcare, building on around $10.0 billionalready provided annually. We are removing the childcare subsidy annual capand, starting in July 2022, increased childcare subsidies will be available tofamilies with two or more young children, benefitting around 250,000 families.This will help give families greater choice and flexibility to manage work andcare.

The Government is investing an additional $12.2 million for the NationalCareers Institute Partnership Grants Program for projects that facilitate morecareer opportunities and supported career pathways for women.

In recognition of the economic and social benefits of home ownership, we willestablish the Family Home Guarantee to assist 10,000 eligible single parentswith dependent children, the vast majority of whom are women, to enter thehousing market with a two per cent deposit.

The Government is also investing $42.4 million over seven years to support morethan 230 women to pursue higher level STEM (science, technology, engineeringand mathematics) qualifications.

The Government is focused on improving retirement outcomes for women byincreasing superannuation coverage and making our system fairer. This includesremoving the $450 per month threshold under which employers are exempt frompaying employees, predominantly women, the Superannuation Guarantee. TheGovernment is also extending access to the downsizer contribution and removingthe work test to improve the system’s flexibility.

PROMOTING WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES AND CHOICES

The Government has made significant strides in its commitment to see more womenserving on Australian Government boards.

“I am pleased to announce that as at 31 December 2020, we have a record 49.5per cent of positions on Australian Government boards filled by women, which isa significant achievement and the highest overall result since reporting beganin 2009,” said Minister Payne.

Women in visible positions of leadership is vital in bringing about culturalchange, ensuring respect for women in the workplace and providing role models.That is why we are again investing $38.3 million over five years from 2021-22into expanding the successful Women’s Leadership and Development Program.

This program funds innovative projects, many of which assist women intoleadership roles, and builds on the Government’s $47.9 million investment inthe 2020 Women’s Economic Security Statement.

Sport is a fundamental part of Australian life and women athletes are inspiringthe next generation to get involved. The Government is investing $17.0 millionto support a number of world class sporting events over coming years includingeight additional Matildas international matches and the FIBA Women’s World Cupfor basketball. This funding also supports development programs for women andgirls in football and basketball.

SUPPORTING WOMEN’S HEALTH AND PROMOTING WELLBEING

The Australian Government is committed to promoting the health of allAustralian women and girls throughout their lives. The health of Australianwomen and girls is critical to their social and economic wellbeing. The Women’sBudget Statement highlights a number of targeted measures.

To ensure that Australian women have access to life-saving medicines and accessto essential services, the Government is investing in new and amended PBSlistings to treat a range of conditions, including breast cancer. TheGovernment is also investing $148.0 million in women’s preventive healthmeasures to further reduce the personal and financial costs of ill health.

This Budget demonstrates the Government’s continued commitment to creating moreopportunities for women to fulfil their potential. To ensure Australia achievesthe greatest and most enduring gains for women and girls, everyone needs toplay a part — government, business, community and individuals. In this way, allAustralians gain, and we are a better nation for it.

For more information, including the full set of measures and detailed analysisis outlined below, you can also read the Government’s Women’s Budget Statement.

ENDS