00:00in the Central West area just last year.
00:05The rate was I think 1.4 times more than the national.
00:10The state average rate and in the last 10 years in Central West it was...
00:15..nearly four times more prevalent, you know, assaults against women.
00:19So we know it's so common.
00:20And it's in line with, you know, the nation, rural and remote areas.
00:25So we know that the people who are...
00:27..do experience more violence against all women,
00:29but particularly average.
00:30..the national and Torres Strait Islander women
00:32for a range of reasons and conditions and contexts that we know about.
00:35In some areas up to nine times the rate Aboriginal women are being murdered.
00:38What happened last week...
00:40..is horrific.
00:41It's tragic and it's devastating, but it's not shocking.
00:44While ever we're not...
00:45..we're acting on the years, the decades we've had of strong and clear evidence...
00:50..of what are the root causes of violence against all women,
00:53in particular Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women.
00:55We've got decades of strong evidence, both here and internationally.
00:59What are the root...
01:00..the root causes?
01:01We also are not funding and investing in our response systems.
01:04We can hear that...
01:05..often from, you know, New South Wales CEO, Delia Donovan,
01:08who is talking about...
01:10..relentlessly in the state what is needed...
01:12..and we know across the country world is needed to fund it.
01:15..if we can't prevent violence, if we can't respond to it...
01:17..and all the spectrum, early intervention.
01:20..healing and recovery, working with men.
01:23We know all that.
01:24And then recently...
01:25..we've got countless recommendations from lengthy inquests and...
01:30..the Royal Commissions that have been informed by the experts...
01:33..who are the lived experience of...
01:35..the survivors and their families and the experts in the communities...
01:38..in those rural and remote communities.
01:40..who experience and have the biggest impact of violence...
01:43..and also experts in the country.
01:45So we have all that information.
01:47We also know that if we think of this...
01:49..this is a...
01:50..pandemic in this country.
01:51And if we think about the other pandemic...
01:53..that we all are familiar with.
01:55..recently, we're 24 hours a day for months on end.
01:59We were flooded.
02:00..with information, education, resources.
02:03What to do, what we can't do.
02:05The penalties of...
02:06..if you do, do that.
02:07All for...
02:08..to achieve...
02:10..to confront a pandemic.
02:11This is a goal that the government and our leaders...
02:12..wanted us to achieve.
02:13To confront a pandemic.
02:15Imagine if we even invested...
02:18..a fraction.
02:20..of that support, care, interest.
02:25..atention into this pandemic.
02:27And we valued women and children enough.
02:29Like...
02:30..if we say we do...
02:31..um...
02:32..and we actually face into the fact...
02:33..that there's misogynistic...
02:35..views here.
02:36Because we're not valuing women and prioritising...
02:38..women and children's safety.
02:39Let alone...
02:40..aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women.
