The recent Senate enquiry into the Bill recommended that domestic violence be included and we call on the government to adopt this recommendation.
"We call for this inclusion today, on International Women's Day, because domestic violence is very much a gendered issue," said Joanna Shulman, Redfern Legal Centre CEO.
In 2005, 15% of Australian women had experienced physical or sexual violence from a previous partner and 2.1% from a current partner since the age of fifteen, while 4.9% of Australian men had expereinced violence from a previous partner and 0.9% from a current partner since age fiften (Personal Safety Survey Australia, 2005).
"The inclusion of domestic violence as a protected attribute is a small but important piece of legislative change that will have a big impact on the support and safety of women dealing with violence," said Ms Shulman.
Redfern Legal Centre auspices the Sydney Women's Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service (Sydney WDVCAS) and works with women dealing with domestic violence who experience further discrimination and trauma in the rest of their lives because of the violence.
"Redfern Legal Centre sees women clients suffering discrimination in the workplace as a flow-on effect from their experience of domestic violence," said Ms Shulman.
"We work with women deailng with family violence who report that their workplaces are not supportive of their need to take time off work and have little understanding of the impact of violence on other aspects of their lives. Women suffering physical and psychological trauma as a result of violence may need time off and to make arrangements for childcare that are slightly different than for other employees. Adding domestic violence as a protected attribute could assist women to overcome these difficulties and re-establish themselves," said Joanna Shulman.
It's time to take action to end violence against women. The inclusion of domestic violence as a protected attribute is a small but important step we can take.
