Access to specialist legal assistance saves women’s lives.
Let me explain – last week, a woman called Rachel sat down with one of the family lawyers at a specialist women’s legal service in Tasmania. After many years of violence and control in her relationship, she was looking for advice about separation. Her partner had told her again and again if she left, she would get nothing and would never see the kids again. While Rachel was scared, she reasoned if they stayed together at least she could protect the kids from the worst of it.
The same story echoes at each of our services across Australia.
The idea that decisions about the care of children post separation are about the rights of parents, and that a court will always decide both parents are entitled to equal time with their children regardless of family violence and abuse, is a deeply entrenched misconception in communities across Australia.
Rachel’s lawyer explained the Family Law Act to her and together with a social worker in the service, they started to consider what a safe separation might look like.
Access to specialist legal assistance drives women’s economic independence.
Without access to legal assistance, across Australia we see women agreeing to unfair property settlements, rather than being involved in a confusing justice system that also demands contact with their ex-partner. In many cases, women will choose to leave with nothing.
Without access to legal assistance, we see women choosing to leave jobs where they are being sexually harassed rather than tackle the complaints process, or leave jobs where they can’t access entitlements like parental leave and flexible work which allow them to care for their families.
These scenarios show us how a lack of access to legal assistance today frustrates the long-term goal of gender equality.
So, at women’s legal services across Australia, we were excited back in October 2022, when the Albanese Government promised to make Australia a world leader on gender equality, and to end violence against women and children in a generation.
It sounded like an ambition that would see meaningful investment in the role of our services, which provide expert, feminist, wrap-around assistance to women in crisis.
Yet, 17 months on, our services remain under resourced and are now facing growing uncertainty about what funding will be available to us in 2025. This year, across Australia, our services will turn away more than 52,000 women (and their children) who need our help to be safe and to build economic independence and security after violence.
Our situation is a double whammy for the gender equality goals of Government. We are also a female dominated workforce, but a solicitor working in one of our services can be paid up to 25% less than someone doing similar work in a statutory agency or private firm. This means the funding models set by governments are themselves, driving a gender pay gap, which the same governments are then simultaneously trying to address. My head spins too.
It is not as though governments have taken no action – we have seen the development of various gender equality strategies across States and Territories. There has been some targeted investment in initiatives for early intervention, prevention and responses to domestic, family and sexual violence, and some law and policy reforms have been implemented to improve how our systems respond to violence against women.
Our goals are aligned with the Federal and State and Territory Governments- we all want to end gender-based violence and abuse, and see justice, safety and equality for women in Australia.
It is imperative policy initiatives that drive gender equality, reduce gender-based violence and increase women’s economic contribution and security are accompanied by investment in frontline services like ours. We are supporting those women who are dealing with the fall out of gender discrimination and gender-based violence, today.
As the Minister for Women releases the National Gender Equality Strategy later today, we again wait with bated breath, alongside many frontline services and clients like Rachel.
We are looking for recognition that a strong, sustainably funded Women’s Legal sector will increase women’s access to the justice systems intended to empower and protect them. If we zoom out from their stories, we see women living safely and independently and contributing to their communities. If we zoom out again, we see gender equality.