Minister for Social Services Tanya Plibersek launched a ten-year action plan in February to end family, domestic and sexual violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and children following consultations with Indigenous communities and organisations.
The plan, Our Ways: Strong Ways: Our Voices (Our Ways), is a 108-page document outlining strategies that state and territory governments and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities will implement from 2026 to 2036.
“This plan builds on decades of campaigning by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and communities who have told us that solutions designed and delivered by them in their communities will make the biggest difference,” said Ms. Plibersek.
The necessity of this plan is supported by 2024 Our Watch data, which revealed that a third of women allegedly killed by male violence identified as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, while only making up 3.8% of women in Australia.
Despite prior commitments such as the 2023-2025 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Action National Plan, Ms. Plibersek told the South Sydney Herald that Our Ways is the first plan of its kind “supported by not just the Commonwealth, but every state and territory government”, with a ten-year timeframe that reflects the scale and complexity of tackling patriarchal violence that intersects with colonial oppression.
Commitment to rehabilitating offenders
Our Ways consulted Wamiinda, an Aboriginal women’s health and wellbeing corporation on Australia’s South Coast, which recommended that Indigenous offenders engage in alternative justice systems such as Circle Sentencing, Family Yarns and Care Circles, which involve the participation of Indigenous elders and communities.
By implementing Waminda’s vision, Our Ways is promising to shift court and sentencing processes away from denouncing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander offenders and towards rehabilitation.
According to 2020 data by the NSW Bureau of Crime and Statistics, offenders who participate in alternative justice schemes are 9.6% less likely to re-offend within 12 months than offenders who participate in traditional adversarial processes.
As part of Tanya Plibersek’s initiative, the criminal justice system is required to enhance the eligibility criteria and resource allocation for alternative justice schemes.
Commitment to preventing violence before it occurs
Ms. Plibersek’s initiative also focuses on preventing violence before it occurs or escalates.
Our Ways consulted the Moorditj Men’s Program in Western Australia, which provides Noongar men with diversionary activities, skill acquisition, employment, health promotion and mental health support through connection strategies that aim to foster resilience and belonging.
Moorditj partnered with the Aboriginal Koort Kaarl Service Inc. in 2023 and identified a strong community need for more support programs for men.
Plibersek’s initiative promises to encourage governments to work with service providers and grow existing programs like Moorditj.
A spokesperson for Ms. Plibersek says that rehabilitative programs tackle the complexity of simultaneously protecting Indigenous women while reducing incarceration rates among Indigenous men for domestic violence by acknowledging that “violence is often linked to broader social, economic and systemic drivers”, which stem from ongoing colonial impacts.
Commitment to support victims of violence
As domestic and family violence is the leading cause of homelessness for Indigenous women and children according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Our Ways found during consultations with an Aboriginal legal service, Djirra, that housing unavailability acts as a deterrent to victims leaving abusive relationships.
Our Ways promises to develop housing responses that consider the safety of victims, embed culturally safe financial support programs and invest in community-led employment and job creation initiatives to support economic independence.
Circular Head Aboriginal Corporation said in consultation with Our Ways that their community wishes to support victims by creating a purpose-built healing centre that includes accommodation, transition housing, counselling and support services, however, has been prevented from establishing this centre due to a lack of funding.
Murdered and missing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women
While Our Ways outlines that the motivation for the initiative comes after “too many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women have been murdered or gone missing”, a spokesperson for Ms. Plibersek says that their focus is on “prevention, healing, safety and system reform” and that the re-opening of individual cases where families have not received justice is “the responsibility of states and territories”.
Progress so far
As the plan is new, a spokesperson for Ms. Plibersek says that in March they established Australia’s first National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander family, domestic and sexual violence peak body, Our Ways Strong Together, that “will amplify the voices and experiences of Aboriginal community controlled organisations across the sector”, helping them develop and grow.
As the Australian Government has so far committed $218.3 million to Our Ways across the next four years, these funds will be used to help Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations grow so community wishes like purpose-built healing centres can be established.
Our Ways’ first peak body is currently seeking an Executive Support Director, Sector Development Director and a Communication and Engagement Director, with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander candidates encouraged to apply.
To receive stronger leverage with the government, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community controlled organisations are invited to join the body as members. The body also accepts public donations.
A spokesperson for Ms. Plibersek says that they have so far committed $167.6 million to establishing a national network of 40 Aboriginal community controlled organisations that will support “programs like crisis responses with mobile teams in remote areas to work with families after a violent incident, support victims to leave violence safely and drive behaviour change for men and boys”.
Governance of the plan
Despite the prospect of new political leaders over the next ten years, the spokesperson for Ms. Plibersek is confident that electoral changes will not impact the plan’s progress.
“What’s really important is that Our Ways has been endorsed by all state and territory governments of all political persuasions.”
Our Ways has also implemented a governance structure to ensure ongoing progress and that the initiative is continually led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and organisations.
Governance will consist of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representatives from every state and territory regularly coming together with ministers from the Australian state and territory governments to review previous actions, inform improvements, develop new action plans for emerging needs and align planning and reporting frameworks.
Immediate danger: 000
1800RESPECT: call 1800 737 732, text 0458 737 732 or visit www.1800respect.org.au for online chat or video call services.
13YARN: Call 13 92 76 to speak with an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Crisis Supporter.
