Background and Rationale for the Policy
The National Plan to Minimize Violence Against Women and Their Children (the National Plan) outlines what governments are doing to reduce violence towards women and their children between 2010 and 2022. (dss.gov.au., 2022). Its mission is to create communities where women and children in Australia may live without fear of being abused. DSS (Department of Social Service) is in charge of the Australian government’s efforts to reduce violence against women and children in a meaningful and long-lasting manner. (Council Of Australian Government, n.d.). Domestic abuse and sexual assault are two of the most common kinds of violence perpetrated against women in Australia and necessitate fast and concentrated responses. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, one in three Australian women have been physically abused since the age of 15, and nearly one in five have been sexually abused (Council of Australian Government, n.d.). Physical assault was reported to over 350,000 women and sexual violence to over 125,000 women in 2005 (Council of Australian Government, n.d.). For this reason, the aim for the next 12 years, from 2010 through 2022, is a significant and long-term reduction in violence against women and their children. Thus, the paper’s main goal is to critically examine the national strategy to prevent violence against women and their children from 2010 to 2022. For the purpose, the essay will be divided under the following sub-headings- background and rationale, achievement of the policy and critically evaluating the success and failure of the policy. In conclusion, it will evaluate the overall functioning of the policy and the future implication of the policy.
Since its inception in May 2008, the National Council to Reduce Violence Against Women and Their Children (the National Council) has served as a resource for policymakers looking for ways to lessen the prevalence and harm caused by domestic violence. For the National Council, an evidence-based strategy to reduce violence against women and children was requested. This plan included community consultation, an evaluation of current Australian and international studies, an examination of legal systems’ efficacy, and an investigation into economic costs of violence (Pmc.gov.au, n.d.). The Council members were tasked with advising the Australian government on how to minimise the number of cases of domestic and family violence and sexual assaults against women, especially among children. Over 2000 community stakeholders and more than 370 contributions from the public were participated in the council’s pilot report, which was examined by a team of specialists on domestic and family violence (Council of Australian Government, n.d.). The National Council devised a strategy to prevent violence against women and children in Australia through conferences attended by an expert panel, and it was published as Time for Action: The National Council’s Plan for Australia to Reduce Violence Against Women and Their Children (Respect.gov.au, n.d.) This document was expected to lay the groundwork for a comprehensive national plan to fight abuse against women and their children in our society.
According to the Time for Action report, all Australian governments should commit on a long-term plan to decrease violence, with the Commonwealth playing the lead role. For all parties, Time for Action has outlined six outcomes and six tactics to achieve them. In April 2009, the Commonwealth announced their response, Immediate Government Actions, in support of the direction and purpose of Time for Action. In a statement, the government said it will spend $42 million immediately to address critical requests (Council of Australian Government, n.d.). A new national hotline and online counselling centre for victims of domestic abuse and sexual assault was created, as was a programme promoting healthy, respectful relationships in schools and other institutions for young people, as was a social marketing campaign aimed at parents and children.
Rationale for the Social Policy
The goal of this Government Initiative is to bring together all of Australia’s authorities, communities, and citizens to reduce violence and to work together to ensure that fewer women endure violence each year and that less women and their children are safe. The National Strategy recognises the necessity for a long-term response to violence against women and their children. As a result, four three-year action plans are supplied to complement each other for a total of 12 years (Salter, 2016).
Domestic violence has a long-term impact on individuals and families, as well as on the economy. In order to reduce these impacts, it is necessary to change the behaviour of individuals and provide coordinated care across all administrative levels and organisational borders. Even a long-term strategy to reduce violence was promised by the Australian Government when it gained office in 2011. Australia’s National Plan outlines how we’re working together to reduce violence against women and children. Keeping Australian women and children safe is the primary goal of this programme. Domestic violence and sexual assault are the two main types of violent crimes addressed by the Nationwide Plan, both of which have a disproportionate impact on women in Australia. It aims to assist women who have been abused, hold abusers accountable for their actions, and give evidence on “what strives” to minimise gender-based prejudice. As a result, a long-term strategy focusing on what has been accomplished and what may be supposed to improve the most in the future is needed (Phillips & Guthrie, 2019). The Australian government agreed on five national goals to reduce sexual assault, domestic abuse, and sexual violence against women and their children in its Fourth Actions Strategy 2010-2022.
The latest of the National Plan series’ implementation plans, the fourth, lays out an aspirational but attainable agenda for bringing about change and eliminating unacceptable kinds of violence against women and their children. The National Plan lays forth six national goals for all countries to attain by 2022, based on a number of significant themes. Action plans over the next four years guide the National Plan (Kaur & Atkin, 2018). It has, however, brought attention to the importance of a well-coordinated and comprehensive approach that takes into account the needs of a large number of women who are victims of abuse. An independent national plan monitoring and assessment method was supported by the Sex Discrimination Commissioner. Second Specific Plan (Second Plan) was announced by the national government in June 2014, a plan that lays out how it intends to implement the National Program to Reduce Violence Against Women and Their Children from 2013-2016 (Webster, et al., 2017).
For the first time, all of Australia’s states and territories have worked together with the federal government to prevent and eliminate violence against women. An emphasis on primary prevention, developing an evidentiary basis, and holding criminals to account are all part of the strategy. Recognizing that the National Plan’s goals need action from all sectors of society, the National Plan also aspires to strengthen ties between government and non-governmental organisations. Support and services in the area of family law, such as legal aid and social welfare, are also a priority for the Commonwealth Government of Australia. Justice, police, and legal help for both victims and criminals are provided by state and territory governments (Council of Australian Government, n.d.). In addition, they offer funding and coordination for a wide range of non-government activities. At this point in the national plan’s ninth year, it’s important to assess if the Social Services Department has already been effective in administering the obligations of the nationwide plan, particularly in analysing the policy’s achievements and progress.
Critical Evaluation of the Policy
Social justice advocates believe that all members of society should be treated equally, regardless of their actual or apparent social rank or gender. According to a recent evaluation, Australians have become more informed about violence against women because to The National Plan’s execution. According to a recent survey conducted by NCAS (2017) sound that there has been a substantial improvement in the knowledge of violence against women among Australians, as a result, there have been fewer cases of violence against women after the strategy was implemented than there were previously. The national plan to minimise violence against women and their children has shown significant success in lowering the death rate associated with domestic violence and sexual assault. As a result, fewer domestic violence-related children are visible to their mothers. A study of the National Homicide Monitoring Program shows a decrease in the number of women slain in family and domestic violence-related situations by the middle of the decade, even though there had been a number of cases recorded earlier in the decade (NHP, 2021).
Attitudes against violence against women in Australia have improved as a result of The National Plan. According to the 2017 NCAS, the National Plan has resulted in encouraging developments, such as an improvement in tolerance for violence (NCAS, 2017). With the help of The National Plan, for example, more Australians exhibited a shift in attitudes on violence against women and the importance of gender equality in society. Prior to and after The National Plan was implemented, more Australians were likely to have favourable opinions about actions aimed at preventing violence against women (Toivonen & Backhouse, 2018). Social development has resulted in one of the most important accomplishments of the National Plan. This strategy also demonstrates the positive consequences in indigenous communities, as they are reinforced in society and abusers are held accountable for their crimes (Langton et al., 2020). Taking this policy into consideration has helped raise awareness about domestic abuse and how to avoid it in a respectful relationship. It allows indigenous women to report abuse against themselves or their children more easily, therefore empowering them to do so. Policy to eliminate violence against women and their children has led to a decrease in the number of instances of partner victimisation. According to the Family and Community Safety study (2019) emphasised that there has been an increase in the number of Aboriginal people empowered by The National Plan to have a say in their community about domestic violence against them and their children. With the help of The National Plan, victims of family and sexual abuse were given opportunity to have their voices heard on these issues, a significant step toward eliminating them from their communities.
There was an announcement on March 5th, 2019, by the Australian government that it has invested 328 million dollars in the Fourth Action Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and their Children 2010-2022. (Sutherland et al., 2019). According to a number of studies, the adoption of social programmes has been tremendously beneficial to the country (Simons & Morgan, 2018; Olsen & Lovett, 2016). The strategy that has been established has been incredibly beneficial for both the mothers and the children of Australia. Based on existing data, Australia has already been classified as one of the world’s most safe nations for women. Australia has already risen to the top of the list when it comes to women’s safety, according to data released in 2019 (Perper, 2019). This is the second time in a row that they’ve held on to the top spot.
Success of the Policy
Everyone in society, including the individuals, must support a social policy to achieve social justice. Planned Behaviour Theory outlines how individuals are likely to respond to a social policy depending on their views about the same (Schulz & Braekkan, 2017). Using this hypothesis, the National Plan’s implementation has resulted in a lack of support from a minority of the population, who believe that it unfairly targets males in certain instances. According to the NCAS data (2017), fewer Australians believe that males are more likely than women to commit acts of violence. Negative views about policy are likely to imply that less men will support the elimination of violence against women since they will feel that males are always victims.
One of the most important goals of establishing social justice is to bring people together to work toward a shared goal, and this policy has failed to do this. In his argument regarding social disparity, Muller (1988) stated that discontent is not mobilised at a constant pace and develops only when the population impacted by inequality is substantial. Domestic violence may be addressed by this theory, which was originally developed to address issues of social inequality and political violence. However, there are many aspects of domestic inequality addressed by this strategy that are linked to political and economic power. Since more Australians feel that gender imbalance is overstated or no longer a problem, the 2017-2018 annual achievement report of The National Plan has shown that more individuals believe that women are utilising accusations of violence to get an advantage in their relationships with males (Dss.gov.au, 2018). The National Strategy’s rigorous delivery looks to be a stringent plan to enhance the welfare of women at the expense of males in abstract matters, according to this reading of its severe delivery.
Civil society organisations have criticised the government’s efforts to reduce violence against women, citing a lack of funding and a lack of focus on the root causes of violence and abuse. In certain indigenous women’s societies, the plan’s support for women and their children was not fully accessed (Dowse, 2016). Ongoing increases in reported sexual assaults were noted in The National Plan’s third schedule, which was evaluated. The number of recorded occurrences of sexual assault rose by roughly 8%, according to the study (Annual Progress Report, 2019). Only 10% of the reported instances had been fully carried out in court, according to the study (Annual Progress Report, 2019). The overall number of reported cases was far higher. Unfortunately, it shows that the policy’s current design makes it impossible for women to disclose crimes with complete confidence and achieve justice. Policy interventions and regulatory instructions for sexual assault prevention in the UK, in contrast, have been beneficial, since they promote greater voluntary reporting of sexual assault cases under programmes such as “Ask and Act” (HM Government, 2016). This kind of intervention gives women the confidence to come forward with reports of sexual assault because they know that action will be done as a result of the legal channels available to them.
Conclusion
The National Plan has had more triumphs than failures in keeping with social policy objectives. As a result of the strategy, attitudes about domestic abuse in Australia have changed, and mechanisms for administering justice to victims and prosecuting offenders have been established. All theories of social change refer to the fact that change is not realised instantaneously, but rather via the realisation of milestones over time. If The National Plan strategy has failed to produce the desired outcomes in some sectors, this is a way to defend against that failure. There are numerous abstract aspects that are analysed as failures, such as men’s concerns about home difficulties being ignored because of the notion that women are over-protected by the policy and limited mechanism to support women in case of domestic violence and abuse. Regardless, the accomplishments of The National Plan show that social programmes have met their primary goals.
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