CANBERRA, May 1 -- Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced new funding to help women leave violent relationships.
Following an emergency meeting of federal, state and territory leaders to address gendered violence, Albanese on Wednesday announced 925 million Australian dollars (about 598 million U.S. dollars) over five years to establish a new leaving violence program.
Under the program, women looking to escape violent relationships will be eligible to access up to 5,000 Australian dollars (3,234 U.S. dollars) in financial support as well as safety planning, risk assessment and referral services.
Albanese on Sunday joined thousands of Australians in protests demanding an end to gendered violence. Addressing protesters in Canberra, he described violence against women as a national crisis.
According to advocacy group Destroy the Joint, 28 women have died violently in Australia so far in 2024 compared to 12 in the first four months of 2023.
"The heartbreaking reality is that there is no overnight solution to violence against women and children," Albanese said in a statement on Wednesday.
"Today's announcement builds on our efforts to ensure fewer women feel trapped in a violent relationship because they don't know if they can afford to leave."
Additionally, leaders at Wednesday's meeting agreed to implement new measures to address misogyny online, including a ban on the creation and distribution of digitally-generated deep fake pornography.
"Digitally created and altered sexually explicit material is a damaging form of abuse against women and girls that can inflict deep harm on victims," Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said in a separate statement.
Leaders agreed on Wednesday that justice system responses to gendered violence need to be strengthened to prevent homicides and that information sharing about perpetrators between jurisdictions needs to be improved.
Albanese said that federal, state and territory leaders will hold a further meeting on domestic and family violence between July and September. ■
