Call for more govt investment to fight domestic violence

A large crowd in Alice Springs called for more funding to fight domestic violence on Saturday as speakers at national rallies said politicians needed to stand up and do more.

Connie Shaw of the Tangentyere Women’s Family Safety Group told the ABC the Northern Territory and Federal governments had been ignoring the many community voices.

“Put funding where it’s needed the most — they need to listen to us, stand with us and support us,” she said.

And Regan Mitchell from Our Watch said the community needed a “genuine long-term commitment” from leaders that matched the crisis.

“This violence against women is not a blackfella problem, it’s an Australia problem — why are we not outraged when it’s Aboriginal women?” Ms Mitchell, a Wurundjeri-Ngunnawal woman said.

Greens Senator Dorinda Cox, who was at a rally in Perth, said she was disappointed other politicians didn’t show up.

“We need the government to treat this like it is an emergency and fund it like one,” she said.

Indigenous social worker Tanya Keed said the government needed to fund a stand-alone First Nations domestic violence and sexual assault service in the ACT.

“A lot of our women are homeless and fleeing domestic violence with nowhere to go, and they go back to perpetrators,” she said.