The Royal Commission into Family Violence – May 2015
The Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission have made a submission to The Royal Commission into Family Violence.
About the submission
The submission makes three key recommendations:
- Promoting Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities compliance The VEOHRC is keen to ensure that family violence, and violence against women more broadly, is characterised as a human rights issue. Therefore, the submission is promoting greater Charter compliance requiring all Victorian public authorities to complete a Human Rights Impact Assessment Statement.
- Legislative changes to improve legal protections offered to victims/survivors of family violence The VEOHRC has recommended that section 6 of the Equal Opportunity Act be amended to insert a newly protected attribute of victim/survivor of family/domestic violence. The Equal Opportunity Act, as it currently stands, does not protect the attribute of victim or survivor potentially leaving vulnerable women open to discrimination.
- Miscellaneous Leave Provisions in the Victorian Public Service The submission recommends dedicated leave for Family Violence be included in the Victorian Public Service Enterprise Bargaining Agreement (EBA) as “miscellaneous leave” which will include a number of requirements aimed at protecting the safety and privacy of employees through training, flexible work practices and referral to appropriate family violence support services.
The Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission have also submitted a Joint Statement to the Royal Commission: Getting serious about change: the building blocks for effective primary prevention of men’s violence against women in Victoria.
This submission draws on the significant expertise of signature organisations: Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission; CASA Forum Victorian Centres Against Sexual Assault; Domestic Violence Victoria; Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health; No To Violence; Our Watch; Women with Disabilities Victoria; Women’s Health Association of Victoria and Women’s Health Victoria.
The statement highlights and identifies gender inequality as a key driver of men’s violence against women and canvasses a range of preventative approaches needed to achieve measurable change.