The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) has convened a National Summit today to address this problem and as President of ALGA I had the opportunity to present to the Prime Minister, Premiers, Chief Ministers and summit delegates on some of the leading practices adopted by individual councils and state and territory local government associations.
The key message I gave to the COAG First Ministers and the summit delegates was that preventing violence against women and children means changing attitudes, practices and norms in the community and this needs sustained, coordinated and resourced action across governments.
I know that local government is committed to playing its role in reducing violence against women and children, in partnership with other levels of government, and I urge all councils to look critically at their workplace policies and their community engagement programs to make sure that we are doing the best we can to make a difference on this issue.