COAG Summit on Reducing Violence against Women and their Children

On 2 and 3 October 2018, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Summit on Reducing Violence against Women and their Children was held in Adelaide. Over a hundred experts, Ministers and officials attended the Summit.

Delegates contributed to the development of a statement which was presented to COAG to:

1. Share outcomes from the Summit,

2. Inform the Fourth Action Plan of the National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and their Children 2010-2022 (the National Plan), and

3. Call for urgent action to end violence against women and their children.

Summit delegates call for specific action in the following areas:

• We must invest in primary prevention and early intervention to stop violence at its source
• We must make reducing violence everyone’s business
• We must listen to lived experience and respect cultural knowledge
• We must acknowledge and better respond to the unique experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and children
• We must respond better to sexual violence, as a form of domestic and family violence and as a separate crime
• We must improve systems so women and children are safe
• We must change the behaviour of people who choose to use violence
• We must respect the needs of children and young people as individuals
• We must learn from what’s working, be flexible and tailor our approaches

You can read the Statement here