Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Katie Woolf spoke with Families and Social Services Minister Anne Ruston

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Katie Woolf spoke with Families and Social Services Minister Anne Ruston · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Three sixty with Katie Wolf on Mixed one oh four
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  Speaker 1: point nine thanks to Joyce Main Darwin.
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  Speaker 2: It's just twenty minutes away from ten o'clock and as
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  Speaker 2: we mentioned throughout the morning, Sky News is reporting that
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  Speaker 2: the Northern Territory Department of Chief Minister and Cabinet is
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  Speaker 2: investigating an incident involving Northern Territory Treaty Commissioner Mick Dodson.
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  Speaker 2: Professor Dodson has been accused of threatening to assault a
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  Speaker 2: woman and using sexually degrading language towards her at a football.
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  Speaker 1: Game in Darwin.
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  Speaker 2: The former Australian of the Year has not denied the allegations,
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  Speaker 2: but says he has no recollection of the incident. Now.
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  Speaker 1: We will speak further about this throughout the.
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  Speaker 2: Morning, but joining me on the line right now is
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  Speaker 2: the Federal Minister for Families and Social Services, Senator An Rustin.
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  Speaker 1: Good morning to you.
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  Speaker 3: Good morning, Katie.
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  Speaker 1: Senator, thanks so much for your time this morning.
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  Speaker 2: Can I just ask you we have got this breaking
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  Speaker 2: news that's come through from Sky News and I know
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  Speaker 2: that you may not be aware of all the detail
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  Speaker 2: at this point, but as I've just mentioned, the Department
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  Speaker 2: of Chief Minister and Cabinet is investigating an incident involving
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  Speaker 2: the Northern Territory Treaty Commissioner Mick Dodson. Professor Dodson has
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  Speaker 2: been accused of threatening to assault a woman and using
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  Speaker 2: sexually degrading language towards her at a football.
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  Speaker 1: Game in Darwin.
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  Speaker 2: The former Australian of the Year, has not denied the allegations,
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  Speaker 2: but says he has no recollection of the incident. Senator, obviously,
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  Speaker 2: domestic violence and well family violence, I mean violence in
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  Speaker 2: general against women is totally unacceptable and something that you
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  Speaker 2: in your role have to speak.
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  Speaker 1: A lot about. What's your reaction upon hearing this allegation.
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  Speaker 3: Well, of course I'm not going to make any comments
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  Speaker 3: about an allegation that I don't have any information about.
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  Speaker 3: But you know, one of the things that we are very,
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  Speaker 3: very focused on as a federal government is making sure
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  Speaker 3: that you know, we make women safe, not just they
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  Speaker 3: are safe, that they feel safe and respectful relationships no
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  Speaker 3: matter where they are and who they are between are
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  Speaker 3: absolutely essential if we're going to end domestic violence against
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  Speaker 3: women and their children.
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  Speaker 1: A minister.
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  Speaker 2: The alleged victim here is, as we understand it, an
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  Speaker 2: Aboriginal woman who we know are thirty four times more
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  Speaker 2: likely to be the victims of domestic violence. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: can we really say we're serious about tackling this issue
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  Speaker 2: if we don't take firm action against a powerful Aboriginal
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  Speaker 2: man over an incident like this.
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  Speaker 3: Well, of course, we have to address all of the
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  Speaker 3: the issues when it comes to domestic violence. And that's
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  Speaker 3: why I'm in the territory because of the statistics that
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  Speaker 3: we do know that Indigenous women are significantly disproportionately impacted
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  Speaker 3: by domestic violence, and so it's absolutely essential. Well, I
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  Speaker 3: think it is for me to come here and listen
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  Speaker 3: to the voices of those women to find out why
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  Speaker 3: it is that we have this disproportionate number of women
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  Speaker 3: being impacted, but also to understand, you know, what are
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  Speaker 3: the different you know, what are the reasons, what are
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  Speaker 3: the drivers, and what are the union nique in impacts
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  Speaker 3: in unique reasons why we are seeing these disproportunate statistics.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, taking all of that into account, just going
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  Speaker 2: back to the situation that we're talking about right now,
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  Speaker 2: do you think that he's able to stay in this role?
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  Speaker 3: Well, look, obviously I am unaware of the circumstances around
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  Speaker 3: the matters of which you are discussing, So it would
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  Speaker 3: be inappropriate for me to be making comments about a
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  Speaker 3: particular case. But what I do know is what my
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  Speaker 3: role is and what I'm absolutely focused on is to
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  Speaker 3: make sure that we have an Australia where disrespect is
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  Speaker 3: something that doesn't happen. Because if we are going to
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  Speaker 3: end violence against women and their children, we have to
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  Speaker 3: make sure that we have respectful relationships, that Australians understand
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  Speaker 3: what disrespect is and that they can call it out.
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  Speaker 3: They've got the tools and the confidence to be able
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  Speaker 3: to call it a call it out. And it doesn't
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  Speaker 3: matter who you are. It does not matter who you are.
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  Speaker 3: Everybody has the right for you to be used to
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  Speaker 3: be treated respectfully, and that means that everybody has the
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  Speaker 3: right to expect other people to be respectful.
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  Speaker 2: Now, the federal government announced that one point one billion
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  Speaker 2: dollars to women's safety. Can you talk us through how
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  Speaker 2: some of these funding's going to be utilized here in
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  Speaker 2: the Northern Territory.
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  Speaker 3: Well, the one point one billion dollars is made up
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  Speaker 3: of a number of different initiatives. A couple of the
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  Speaker 3: really big ones are around an Escaping Violence Payment, which
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  Speaker 3: will give women who are making that really brave decision
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  Speaker 3: to leave a violent situation up to five thousand dollars
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  Speaker 3: to assist them in getting the necessities, maybe putting a
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  Speaker 3: deposit down on paying for their rent bond, or even
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  Speaker 3: just going and getting some things for the kids. So
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  Speaker 3: that is a very very important new initiative because we
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  Speaker 3: know that giving them the financial wherewithal to be able
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  Speaker 3: to get past that initial trauma is really important. We're
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  Speaker 3: also up here talking to the Northern Territory government about
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  Speaker 3: a new partnership between the federal government and the territory
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  Speaker 3: government about supporting them in what they do with frontline services.
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  Speaker 3: So it's a two hundred and sixty million dollar new
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  Speaker 3: initiative to support our states and territories. And I met
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  Speaker 3: yesterday with Minister Warden and Minister Most and I'm about
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  Speaker 3: to meet with the Chief Minister about how we can
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  Speaker 3: work together. So we really are delivering programs that are
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  Speaker 3: going to benefit the people on the ground. And a
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  Speaker 3: couple of very specific Indigenous initiatives that will be contained
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  Speaker 3: in this one point one billion dollars is a personal
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  Speaker 3: Safety Survey for Indigenous women because as you pointed out
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  Speaker 3: disproportionate number of women impacted. We need to know why
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  Speaker 3: they're being impacted, we need to know how they're being
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  Speaker 3: impacted so we can develop programs that are specific to
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  Speaker 3: ending violence against our Indigenous women. And part of that
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  Speaker 3: will be an Indigenous Advisory Group, so that we actually
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  Speaker 3: being informed by the voices of Indigenous Australians, including those
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  Speaker 3: that actually have lived experience of domestic violence, in developing
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  Speaker 3: the next national Plan.
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  Speaker 2: Well, and sadly, we've got terrible rates of domestic violence
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  Speaker 2: here in the Northern Territory. You know what have people
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  Speaker 2: been telling you on the ground since you've been here
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  Speaker 2: over the last couple of days when it comes to
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  Speaker 2: the issues that we've got with domestic violence.
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  Speaker 3: Well, obviously, a lot of the people that we're speaking
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  Speaker 3: with are the frontline service providers and they're telling us
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  Speaker 3: about the incidence of the number of women that are
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  Speaker 3: acquiring support. But the one thing that's been really positive
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  Speaker 3: has been a change in the conversation about people realizing
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  Speaker 3: that it's not just we have to fund and support
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  Speaker 3: people when they're escaping domestic violence. We have to do
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  Speaker 3: things to intervene earlier. We have to have perpetrator program,
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  Speaker 3: so we can teach men and show them the error
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  Speaker 3: of their way so they don't repeat offend them. We
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  Speaker 3: also have to start preventing domestic violence happening in the
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  Speaker 3: first place, and that's all about respectful relationships. You know,
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  Speaker 3: it's also not just about physical violence. I mean, I
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  Speaker 3: think everybody thinks of domestic violence as physical violence. There's
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  Speaker 3: so many other ways that women are entrapped in relationships,
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  Speaker 3: whether it be financial abuse, coercive abyuse. I mean, the
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  Speaker 3: mobile phone is actually one of the most threatening devices
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  Speaker 3: when it comes to domestic violence because you know, he
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  Speaker 3: can constantly be in touch with her all day every day,
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  Speaker 3: knows where her movements are. So it's some really you know,
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  Speaker 3: they're new and emerging things that are happening in domestic violence,
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  Speaker 3: and so we have to respond to those as well. Well.
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  Speaker 2: And I know that nationwide there has been quite a
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  Speaker 2: push really, you know, all around the place for us
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  Speaker 2: to do more when it comes to those domestic violence situations,
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  Speaker 2: and and you know, maybe being doing more as a country,
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  Speaker 2: I guess, to try to prevent domestic violence in terms
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  Speaker 2: of offenders being bailed, and you know, some of those
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  Speaker 2: people sort of being out able to continue these domestic
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  Speaker 2: violence situations against against women that they've you know, either
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  Speaker 2: still in a relationship with or that they've previously been
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  Speaker 2: in a relationship with.
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  Speaker 1: Could we be doing more and should we be doing
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  Speaker 1: more in this space?
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  Speaker 3: Well? Certainly one of the components of the package was
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  Speaker 3: the additional funding that was put towards the legal services
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  Speaker 3: to make sure that our domestic violence legal services were
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  Speaker 3: better targeted. Just two weeks ago I held a meeting
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  Speaker 3: with the Attorneys general around Australia to talk to them
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  Speaker 3: about how we can make sure we better integrate the service,
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  Speaker 3: the domestic violence frontline services and the legal services to
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  Speaker 3: support those women because it is very important in this
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  Speaker 3: There's actually some really innovative ways that the states and
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  Speaker 3: territories around Australia are looking how to deal with things
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  Speaker 3: like the enforcement of intervention orders. I mean Tasmania as
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  Speaker 3: an example, have used electronic monitoring to try and see
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  Speaker 3: if they can deter men from actually breaching their AVOs,
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  Speaker 3: and their early reports are shown that they've had an
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  Speaker 3: eighty three percent decrease in the number of people breaching
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  Speaker 3: AVOs because the men know that if they do breach them,
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  Speaker 3: they will be found out, and so it's been a
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  Speaker 3: very successful pilot. Obviously, more work to do to find
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  Speaker 3: out whether it really is going to be something that
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  Speaker 3: will sustain, but you know, there's lots of really innovative
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  Speaker 3: things that we can be looking at trialing and seeing
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  Speaker 3: whether there are ways that we can actually start really
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  Speaker 3: making a difference around stopping domestic violece happening in the
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  Speaker 3: first place.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, it's so incredibly important, you know, not just here
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  Speaker 2: in the Northern Territory, in other states as well, but
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  Speaker 2: you know, we know that those rates are so.
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  Speaker 1: High in the territory.
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  Speaker 2: Senator, we know that you are pressed for time this morning,
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  Speaker 2: but I do just want to ask you about a
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  Speaker 2: couple of other things. One of the issues that we
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  Speaker 2: talk a lot about in the Northern Territory is our youths.
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  Speaker 2: We've seen an issue with youth crime, which we've covered
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  Speaker 2: really extensively on this show, but we also have some
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  Speaker 2: real worries with kids who will simply aren't safe. I
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  Speaker 2: mean kids that are on the streets really late at night,
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  Speaker 2: engaging in bad behavior and in some cases being picked
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  Speaker 2: up by the police, but they're not having a safe
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  Speaker 2: place to go. Is this is something which has been
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  Speaker 2: on the agenda when you've been meeting with our local politicians.
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  Speaker 3: Well, yesterday I actually met with the Children's and Families
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  Speaker 3: tripardo for them in Our Springs, which is made up
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  Speaker 3: of the Federal government, the Northern Territory government, and the
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  Speaker 3: community sector which includes the peace organizations around the state,
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  Speaker 3: and we did talk very much about youse because of
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  Speaker 3: course we need to make sure that our youth are
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  Speaker 3: not just safe, but we need to make sure that
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  Speaker 3: they're being educated and they're giving a pathway so that
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  Speaker 3: they can have their will supported and they have a
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  Speaker 3: stable life going forward. One of the things that we
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  Speaker 3: have done of recent years, and there's more money in
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  Speaker 3: this budget, is to make sure that we have safe
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  Speaker 3: places for women and their children, and certainly we do
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  Speaker 3: definitely need to be looking at ways that we can
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  Speaker 3: support the Northern Territory government to make sure that it's
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  Speaker 3: not just women and their children, for children in their
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  Speaker 3: own right now, I know.
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  Speaker 2: The Productivity Commission's expenditure on children in the territory as well.
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  Speaker 2: The final report was released last month and it outlines
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  Speaker 2: how the federal and the Northern Territory governments can work
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  Speaker 2: more collaboratively and you have just touched on that, and
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  Speaker 2: also so that that expenditure and some of those decisions
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  Speaker 2: that are being made when it comes to the money
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  Speaker 2: that's being invested really is going in the right places
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  Speaker 2: and is making a real difference.
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  Speaker 1: Again, as you sort.
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  Speaker 2: Of just touched on with that report, though has I mean,
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  Speaker 2: what's been the federal government's response to it and what
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  Speaker 2: changes are going to be implemented.
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  Speaker 3: Well, we accepted the report in principle pretty much entirely,
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  Speaker 3: but we do need to some things better. There was
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  Speaker 3: absolutely no question, and that report really highlighted the fact
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  Speaker 3: that we are going to achieve so much more if
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  Speaker 3: we actually have a more coordinated approach. And I acknowledge,
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  Speaker 3: you know, the really good work that the Tripodos Forum
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  Speaker 3: is doing around children and families in the territory, but
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  Speaker 3: I think we do need to take that holistic approach
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  Speaker 3: on a great supporter of place based response. So instead
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  Speaker 3: of coming in in a number of different areas coming in,
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  Speaker 3: you actually wrap services around an individual, a family, or
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  Speaker 3: a community so that you can actually support them right
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  Speaker 3: the way through the pathway. It's sort of like a
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  Speaker 3: bit like a no wrong door approach. It doesn't matter
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  Speaker 3: which door you walk through, the person will be supported.
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  Speaker 3: So I think the findings of the Productivity Commission give
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  Speaker 3: us a good pathway to go forward. And I have
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  Speaker 3: to say that in my meetings yesterday with Minister's Moss
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  Speaker 3: and Warden, and I'm sure with my meeting in a
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  Speaker 3: minute with the Chief Minister, you know, we will work
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  Speaker 3: out a pathway. I mean, this is this is something
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  Speaker 3: that needs to have a bipart as an approach, and
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  Speaker 3: I'm absolutely committed to making a difference and I really
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  Speaker 3: look forward to working with the territory government and the
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  Speaker 3: territory community sector and everybody in the Northern Territory to
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  Speaker 3: make a difference. Because I don't want to wake up
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  Speaker 3: tomorrow morning or the next morning like I have the
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  Speaker 3: last few mornings to read the front pages of the paper.
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  Speaker 3: We've got to make a difference and it's up with
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  Speaker 3: all to actually make that difference.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Absolutely.
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  Speaker 2: One of those areas where you were hoping to make
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  Speaker 2: a real difference is the cashless debit card. I know
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  Speaker 2: that there's had to be some changes in this space.
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  Speaker 2: It's not going to be mandatory now, is that it's
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  Speaker 2: going to have to be one of those things that
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  Speaker 2: people sort of make a decision to sign up to.
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  Speaker 3: I'm actually quite quite happy about the decision, you know,
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  Speaker 3: it would have when the legislation went through. We had
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  Speaker 3: to agree that it would be voluntary. But I'm absolutely
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  Speaker 3: sure that every Territori and who's currently on the Basics
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  Speaker 3: Card or the Green Cards it's referred to, when they
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  Speaker 3: see that the huge benefit to them to actually being
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  Speaker 3: on the CDFA or that the great cards it's referred
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  Speaker 3: to us here, they'll realize the great benefits. You can
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  Speaker 3: use it in every shop. You can knew that when
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  Speaker 3: you go to Sydney, or you can use it when
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  Speaker 3: you go to Adelaide. You can use it online. You
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  Speaker 3: don't have to line up at the green alley at
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  Speaker 3: the supermarket. You can just go through any checkout. So
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  Speaker 3: with the exception of not being able to use it
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  Speaker 3: in a bottle shop, not be able to use it
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  Speaker 3: at the casino or for gambling and not being able
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  Speaker 3: to use it to get cash out, it's just like
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  Speaker 3: your key card in New Island, and so I'm pretty
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  Speaker 3: confident that wants Territorians realize that it's just like your
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  Speaker 3: key card and it will provide great benefits that they
• 14:13
  Speaker 3: will come across and go on to it, because it's
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  Speaker 3: actually about giving people more choice and flexibility about how
• 14:21
  Speaker 3: they spend their money. So you know, I think it's
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  Speaker 3: a great improvement on the Green Card, but obviously I've
• 14:27
  Speaker 3: got a convince for territory and but that's okay.
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  Speaker 2: Well, Senator Ann Rustin now the Minister for Families and
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  Speaker 2: Social Services, really appreciate your time this morning. Thanks so
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  Speaker 2: much for coming on the show.
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  Speaker 3: My pleasure.
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: Thanks Kay, thank you.