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/></td> <td> <p style="font-size:1.4em;">United Nations</p> </td> <td> <p> <span style="font-size:2em;">A</span>/HRC/38/47/Add.1</p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> </td> <td> <p style="font-weight:bold;font-size:2em;">General Assembly</p> </td> <td> <p>Distr.: General</p> <p>17 April 2018</p> <p>Original: English</p> </td> </tr> </table> <div class="content"> <p style="font-weight:bold;font-size:1.2em;">Human Rights Council</p> <p style="font-weight:bold;">Thirty-eighth session</p> <p>18 June 6 July 2018</p> <p>Agenda item 3</p> <p style="font-weight:bold;">Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil,</p> <p style="font-weight:bold;">political, economic, social and cultural rights,</p> <p style="font-weight:bold;">including the right to development</p> <h2>Report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences on her mission to Australia</h2> <h3>Note by the Secretariat</h3> <p>The Secretariat has the honour to transmit to the Human Rights Council the report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, Dubravka `imonovi, on her visit to Australia from 13 to 27 February 2017. In the report, she examines gaps and challenges in fulfilling the obligations of the State to eliminate violence against women, its causes and consequences, and recommends measures for preventing and combating violence against women in the country.</p> <h2 style="font-weight:bold;">Report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences on her mission to Australia *</h2> <p style="font-size:1.4em;">Contents</p> <p style="font-style:italic;font-size:0.9em;">Page</p> <p>I.Introduction3</p> <p>II.General context3</p> <p>III.Incorporation of the international framework on violence against women4</p> <p>IV.State responses and measures to address violence against women5</p> <p>A.Constitutional, legislative and policy framework5</p> <p>B.Institutional framework: national machinery and independent institutions6</p> <p>V.Manifestations of violence against women, its causes and consequences7</p> <p>A.Femicides or gender-related killings of women7</p> <p>B.Domestic violence8</p> <p>C.Sexual violence, including harassment in the workplace and at universities8</p> <p>D.Situation of women who encounter multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination and violence9</p> <p>VI.Opportunities and challenges16</p> <p>A.Intersection of family violence, domestic violence and child protection legislation16</p> <p>B.Legal/front-line services defunding17</p> <p>VII.Conclusions and recommendations18</p> <h2>I.Introduction</h2> <p>1.At the invitation of the Government, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences visited Australia from 13 to 27 February 2017.</p> <p>2.During her visit, the Special Rapporteur met with key stakeholders on the situation of violence against women at the federal, state and self-governing territory level. </p> <p>3.She visited five out of the six state governments (New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania) and the two self-governing territory governments  the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory. </p> <p>4.She also met with a broad range of civil society representatives and service providers, the Australian Human Rights Commission and various rights commissioners at the national, state and territory levels. She held two meetings with academics in Sydney and Melbourne. </p> <p>5.She visited the Brisbane Women s Correctional Centre and a number of women s legal centres, some of them specialized in indigenous issues, and shelters. </p> <p>6.The Special Rapporteur expresses her gratitude to the federal Government, and the governments of the states and territories for their excellent cooperation, dedication and openness and to the Australian National Human Rights Commission, civil society organizations, academics and other stakeholders for their valuable input in facilitating her visit. She expresses her heartfelt thanks to all the victims of violence who agreed to relate their personal experiences, crucial to gaining a deeper understanding of the situation of violence against women in the country. </p> <p>7.She was deeply impressed by the personal commitment and dedication of many victims who have experienced family or domestic violence and have become tireless advocates for the measures needed to address violence against women and on the importance of integrating victims voices into all laws, policies and programmes, and by the efforts of the Government to do so. The Special Rapporteur would like to recognize this as a promising practice. </p> <h2>II.General context</h2> <p>8.Attention to the issue of domestic violence and family violence, publicly recognized as a pandemic, has increased recently and has translated into a strong political will expressed at the highest level of the leadership of the country and transcending political divides. Domestic and family violence are now publicly expressed issues of national priority for federal, state and territory governments while other forms of violence against women, such as assault, sexual harassment, violence in residential settings and online violence and harassment, do not enjoy the same high level of attention and response.</p> <p>9.As recognized by the Council of Australian Governments, based on available data violence against women is disturbingly common and continues to have a significant, negative impact on women, children and the wider community. The scourge of violence by an intimate partner takes on average the life of one woman every week throughout the country. Women represent 79 per cent of intimate partner homicides; one in three women has experienced physical violence since the age of 15; and almost one in five women has experienced sexual violence since the age of 15. </p> <p>10.Since the age of 15, one in four women (23 per cent) has experienced violence by an intimate partner, one in four women (23 per cent) has experienced emotional abuse by an intimate partner and one in six women (16 per cent) has experienced physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner. More than half a million women report that their children have seen or heard partner violence. The social, health and economic consequences of family, domestic and sexual violence are enormous, with costs to the economy estimated at $22 billion in 2015 2016. However, the true scale of the problem is probably much greater, as there is no comprehensive national collection of comparable data on different forms of violence against women and it is estimated that many instances of violence go unreported. </p> <p>11.Violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (indigenous peoples) women and girls has been disproportionately high and is clearly revealed by the collection of data on such violence. Indigenous peoples represent 2.8 per cent of the total population, yet indigenous women and girls are 32 times more likely to be hospitalized as a result of family violence. They experience greater intersectional discrimination that emanates from colonization and the dispossession and discrimination to which indigenous peoples have been subjected for more than two centuries, and which has resulted in their exclusion and disadvantaged position. Ten years after the apology to the  stolen generations , indigenous women and girls continue to carry intergenerational trauma, as a result not only of the past but also of some remaining laws and policies that keep them in a disadvantaged socioeconomic position, including higher rates of child removals.</p> <h2>III.Incorporation of the international framework on violence against women </h2> <p>12.Australia is party to seven of the core human rights treaties. It made two reservations to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, in relation to article 11 (2) on maternity leave with pay and a general reservation relating to the exclusion of women from combat duties. The Special Rapporteur was informed that withdrawal of both reservations was being considered.</p> <p>13.Australia is a democratic nation without comprehensive constitutional or legislative protection of basic human rights at the federal level. Also, under the Australian dualist approach, treaties must be incorporated into domestic law at either the federal or state/territory level. Whether a particular treaty requires incorporation into federal or state/territory law will depend on the division of competencies in the federated system. </p> <p>14.The federal structure and division of competencies results in different laws and policies on violence against women applying in each State or territory. Some jurisdictions include psychological abuse as a form of domestic violence, others do not. Some jurisdictions include economic abuse as a form of domestic violence, others do not. The legislation of some, but not all, jurisdictions expressly provides that stalking constitutes domestic violence. </p> <p>15.There is no single nationally agreed definition of family and domestic violence and this results in a lack of harmonized protection of a woman s right to life free from violence across all jurisdictions, in line with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. </p> <p>16.The federal Parliament has passed some important legislation that protects women s human rights, including the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) which was amended in 2011 to encompass different areas aimed at the achievement of gender equality. The states and territories have also passed anti-discrimination legislation and other laws, and all have anti-discrimination bodies or human rights commissions but overall, the Convention is only partially incorporated and implemented.</p> <h2>IV.State responses and measures to address violence against women </h2> <h3>A.Constitutional, legislative and policy framework </h3> <h3>1.Constitutional framework </h3> <p>17.Australia is a federal system with a division of responsibilities between the federal, state and territory governments in the area of violence against women. That division of competencies results in various laws and policies and various levels of prevention and protection of women and girls from violence, and presents particular challenges in assessing the implementation throughout its territory of the State s obligations under international human rights instruments, such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, in relation to violence against women. The Special Rapporteur recalls general recommendation No. 28 (2010) on the core obligation of States parties under article 2 of the Convention, in which the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women reiterates that the delegation of government powers  does not negate the direct responsibility of the State party s national or federal Government to fulfil its obligations to all women within its jurisdiction .</p> <p>18.Additionally, the Constitution does not enshrine the general right to equality of women and men, as required under article 2 of the Convention, nor is there a general prohibition of discrimination against women, as defined in article 1, that could provide a consistent standard for harmonizing laws related to women s rights and the prevention of gender-based violence against women. However, the objects clause (para. 3 (d)) of the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) provides that an object of the act is  to promote recognition within the community of the principle of the equality of men and women . Additionally, the act prohibits unlawful discrimination against women on the ground of their sex (and on grounds of gender identity, marital or relationship status, pregnancy or potential pregnancy, breastfeeding and family responsibilities) and discrimination involving sexual harassment.</p> <h3>2.Most relevant legislation on violence against women</h3> <p>19.The Sex and Age Discrimination Legislation Amendment Act 2011 (Cth) amended the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) in an attempt to advance gender equality. The amendment provided that protection from sex discrimination applied equally to women and men; prohibited direct discrimination against male and female employees on the ground of family responsibilities in all areas of employment; strengthened protection against sexual harassment in workplaces and schools and through new technologies; established breastfeeding as a separate ground of discrimination and provided for measures to protect and accommodate the needs of breastfeeding mothers.</p> <p>20.The Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) was amended by the Legislation Amendment (Family Violence and Other Measures) Act 2011 (Cth), which aimed to protect children and families at risk of violence or abuse. The Special Rapporteur takes note of the first comprehensive review of the family law system, including the Commonwealth Family Law Act 1975, by the Australian Law Reform Commission to address, inter alia, family violence and child abuse (arts. 2, 3, 7 and 26). </p> <p>21.Some States are at the forefront of reforms at the legislative, policy and institutional levels. A prime example is the Government of Queensland with a task force led by the former Governor-General, which made 140 recommendations for tackling domestic violence in its report <span style="font-style:italic;">Not Now, Not Ever: Putting an End to Domestic Violence in Queensland</span>. Another example is the Government of Victoria, which set up a Royal Commission into family violence that enquired into how the response of the state to family violence could be improved by providing 227 practical recommendations for stopping it.</p> <p>22.There is a need to harmonize cross-jurisdictional coherence in view of the lack of direct applicability and of full incorporation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the lack of a national legal framework on violence against women and the complex federal system, in which domestic violence laws and intervention orders fall under the authority of the states and territories. </p> <h3>3.National Action Plan </h3> <p>23.The Special Rapporteur welcomes the National Action Plan to reduce violence against women and their children for the period 2010 2022 and its third three-year action plan for the period 2016 2019. The Department of Social Services leads on the implementation of the plan, although efforts to eliminate violence against women and children involve efforts undertaken across several government departments and include actions agreed by the state and territory governments. </p> <p>24.Under the plan, an independent organization, Our Watch, was established for implementing a shared framework for the primary prevention of violence ( Change the story ) to drive nationwide changes in the culture, behaviours and attitudes that underpin and create violence against women and children. </p> <p>25.The Special Rapporteur notes that, while the plan supports strengthening independent monitoring and evaluation, it lacks a holistic approach to violence against women, since it insufficiently addresses the need for adequate crisis services, shelters or safe houses for women and children who are victims of violence, and opportunities for empowerment in such places. The plan also insufficiently addresses specific situations and patterns of systematic violence against indigenous women and girls in the context of domestic violence. Furthermore, it fails to mention violence against women in prison and violence perpetrated against asylum seekers within the immigration and offshore detention system. </p> <p>26.The Special Rapporteur commends the support from the Commonwealth and all state and territory governments of Australia for Australia s National Research Organisation for Women s Safety and the new ways of integrating services through front-line service initiatives, including DV-Alert and 1800RESPECT. </p> <p>27.The Special Rapporteur welcomes the work undertaken at the federal level on the impact of the use of technology on women and children. The Office of the eSafety Commissioner has expanded its responsibilities to tackle the issue of online violence, including online abuse and revenge porn, which are on the rise. The Special Rapporteur was informed of proposals that would introduce new telecommunications offences, such as revenge porn, into the criminal law, falling within the jurisdiction of the federal Government (as an amendment to the Criminal Code Act of 1995). She notes with appreciation such developments, as well as other initiatives spearheaded by the federal Government on proposed civil penalties, which could act as an alternative for victims who find pursuing criminal action too distressing and too slow. </p> <h3>B.Institutional framework: national machinery and independent institutions</h3> <p>28.In the absence of a uniform national law on violence against women, the Council of Australian Governments and its advisory panel on reducing violence against women and their children play a pivotal role in ensuring consistency across jurisdictions and information-sharing. In 2013, the Council decided that it was a national priority to identify and implement best practices and to share information. The  Stop it at the start campaign and the national summit held in Brisbane in 2016 brought together practitioners, academics, survivors, business and civil society actors. </p> <p>29.The Office for Women, located in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet coordinates policy and programmes across Australia. The Special Rapporteur notes that it does not have implementation responsibilities and has only 30 staff. </p> <p>30.The Australian Human Rights Commission has made ensuring freedom from violence, harassment and bullying by promoting human rights safeguards one of its three priority areas. Twenty per cent of the total number of complaints handled by the Commission are primarily related to the sexual harassment of women in employment. The Special Rapporteur notes in particular the work carried out by the current and former Sex Discrimination Commissioners, including the Gender Equality Blueprint 2010, in which a number of recommendations that are still valid were made, including in relation to violence against women; the report on the results of the national survey on sexual harassment and sexual assault at university; the fourth sexual harassment prevalence survey carried out by the Commission; and the continuation of its collaborative project on cultural reform with the Australian Defence Force. Despite such important work, the Special Rapporteur was informed that the budget of the Commission has been declining over the past 10 years, but in particular in the previous 3 years. She notes with concern ideological attacks, including personal attacks against the former President, intended to undermine the credibility and funding of the institution. </p> <h2>V.Manifestations of violence against women, its causes and consequences</h2> <p>31.As acknowledged by the Government, data relating to violence against women and their children is g