Social Policy Analysis: Evaluating Australia's National Plan

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Australia's National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children. It begins by introducing the plan's objectives, which include reducing domestic violence and sexual assault. The discussion section delves into the plan's strategies, such as ...Read More

Social Policy

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Discussion........................................................................................................................................3
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9
References........................................................................................................................................9

Introduction
The major priority in the present scenario is to reduce violence of all types and variants from our
community. It is the responsibility of every social being to prevent violence and to stand against
it at all costs. The violence against women should not be accepted in any community, despite the
fact, various forms of violent behavior are still committed against women, out of which, sexual
assault and domestic violence are prevalent in Australia to a large extent (Australian
Government, 2018). There is a requirement of severe and immediate response to be made against
such violence because there are no strict provisions in the policies framed till now. The
Australian government is through the “National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and
their Children 2010-2022” is trying to bring significant decrease in the cruelty against women.
Far from simply understanding the reasons of such violence against women, the responses to the
expansion of the National Plan and this issue has been influenced by various competing
addresses regarding the issue, its causes and possible solutions. (Question 1) On the basis of
Bacchi’s policy analysis approach, this essay will assess the National Plan in accordance with the
Australian law and regulations (Department of Social Services, 2018).
Discussion
The National Plan is a most important policy agenda having the potential for achieving gender
equality and eliminating violence against females. Basically, it acts as the Australian policy
regarding reduction of sexual assault and family violence. It comprises of four Action Plans,
each for three years, aimed to develop a set of defined practical initiatives to deal with cruelty
against women and children in the society (Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet,
2018). The National Plan focuses on reducing violence against females that are domestic

violence & sexual assault as these are continuously becoming unacceptably high. According to
the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), almost 33% of females have to face domestic violence
from the age of 15 years and 25% of females are sexually assaulted. Furthermore, more shocking
is the situation of indigenous females who are more likely to be hospitalized because of domestic
violence as compared to Australian females. The personal and emotional cost of violence is
immeasurable and its impact reaches to all the levels of society (Krantz & Garcia-Moreno,
2004). Such violence not only has negative impact on victims, but also on their children,
families, friends, colleagues and ultimately the entire community gets affected because of it
(Domestic violence in Australia, 2014). So, instead of only framing laws and policies, there strict
implementations along with strict provisions of punishments should be emphasized more upon as
it will develop deterrence among wrongdoers, then only, will they be discouraged to do such
acts. (Question 3)
Support of all
The government of Australia has been working continuously for reducing cruelty against females
and their children. The emphasis on legal reforms and community awareness has contributed a
lot in this direction. The Federal government is providing several services through family law,
which include social security system and legal support. The State and territory governments
provide support and services which include justice, monitoring and legal help for fatalities and
criminals. They also fund and organize various services offered by the private sector. While all
the governments have many highly effective services and programs in order to act in response to
cruelty faced by females and kids, there is need for using coordinated approach for improving the
response (Fry & Elliott, 2017). The National Plan is a step in this direction as it provides an
organized framework that improves the scope, efforts & success of the actions taken by

governments that ensure women and children support as well as information required by them
(NTV, 2018). Similarly, the Commonwealth has exhibited great leadership in development of
measures for the decreasing such cruelty against females and their children by developing
various policies which include native safety and comfort, income support provision, family law,
family payments as well as crisis payments (National Library of Australia, 2013).
The vision of National Plan is to ensure safe and free environment for Australian females and
their children. For 12 years starting from 2010 to 2022, the government will assess the success of
this vision of the National Plan. The high level indicators of change have been utilized to
demonstrate progresses which are reduction in the occurrence of domestic cruelty and sexual
assault, increased ratio of women feeling safe, reduction in deaths due to cruelty, and reduction
in the ratio of children exposed to the cruelty caused to their mother or caretaker (HM
Government, 2018).
Community intolerance
Community wide response is essential for eradicating the community problem of cruelty against
women as the leaders in various community organizations, local governments, sports clubs and
workplaces are not contributing much in promoting equivalence and courteous relationships
between men and women. (Question 4) There is requirement of successful anti-violence
strategies with effective vision, and dedicated local and organizational leadership (Williams,
2003). The people are required to be encouraged throughout Australia. The National Policy has
mentioned about the strategies to be taken in order to enhance community intolerance against
cruelty (VicHealth, 2017).
The males should take a most important role in disappointing violent behavior and
discrimination and sex stereotyping. The imbalanced distribution of power as well as resources

between males and females and, obedience to severe and narrow gender roles and stereotypes
reflect prevalence of gendered patterns. It has also been identified that psychological abuse and
especially dominance has been a strong predictor of continuous domestic cruelty. On all the
societal levels, gender inequalities have intense impact on the cruelty against women and their
children. (Question 2) There is urgent requirement to develop greater respect and gender
equality among both the genders so that the development of such an attitude that promotes and
justifies violence could be reduced and laws and policies regarding gender equality and ‘equal
pay for equal work’ in employment sector should be utilized by the government in an effective
manner (Domestic Violence Prevention Council, 2014).
Respectful relationships
To modify and change the attitudes and behaviors of youth is critical to prevent domestic cruelty
and sexual assault in future. However, prevention against cruelty is considered as essential at
community level, the governments are required to support the individuals to develop healthy
courteous relationships. The education must be provided to youth in order to encourage them to
develop equal as well as positive relationships. In addition, optimistic parenting practices and
violence free internal as well as external environments are critical to the improvement of healthy
social relationships. The education will equip the youth with sufficient knowledge and skills for
the development and maintenance of peaceful and respectful relationships. The children should
be provided with sufficient knowledge, to attain which, cultures of school and community should
maintain and promote structural and individual changes. The youngsters should be provided with
education and school- based approaches can shape their mentality to develop and sustain
respectful relationships (Our Watch, 2018). As, it is a fact that majority of men are peaceful, it is
essential that they are supported to stand firmly against cruelty of such kind. The National Policy

is emphasizing upon raising awareness among males to be intolerant against cruelty but there is
strict requirement to educate youngsters to develop and maintain peaceful and respectful
relationships with all.
Strengthening of Indigenous community
It has been found that majority of indigenous women of the country are unable to raise their
voice against cruelty. They need to be encouraged to raise stronger voice in the form of
community leaders and to stand against cruelty. They need to be supported to improve their
financial position and opportunities which are critical for the reduction of violence against them.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians also suffer due to violence and it is
essential for the government of the country to take initiatives to make them safe and free from
violence (Victorian Government, 2018). The concerns related to the indigenous women and their
children should be prioritized in the National Plan, which is supposed to reduce the major
amount of cruelty against women and safeguard their children who are more exposed to violence
due to their mother suffering cruelty (Øverlien, 2010). (Question 1) It will change the overall
attitude of males of the community towards women and they will behave and respect them. The
issues of indigenous Australians are highly complicated and it will require excessive efforts by
the governments and relevant authorities to make them able to deal in an effective manner with
domestic cruelty and sexual assaults. Another issue is that indigenous females are informal
leaders in their community and their voices are required to be heard in their communities. They
need to be provided with the privileges in order to close the gap for the indigenous people so that
they can have access to primary education, employment and community safety outcomes
( Commonwealth of Australia , 2009).

Needs of women and their children facing violence
The expert services are critical for helping the women to recover from such experiences and
needs of victims and their children get deteriorated because of the inability of services and time
taking procedures to provide them with the required assistance. When women experience
violence, the first place they contact for assistance should provide them with the professional as
well as emotional assistance as they already get frustrated with such experiences and if they do
not receive instant help, their condition might get worsen. They should get help regardless of
their age, background, language and culture. The women and children experiencing violence
should be provided with holistic support which includes health, housing, education, legal
assistance and employment (Our Watch, 2017). The financial and social well-being is essential
for females and children who have been victimized, to reconstruct their lives and the services
should be equipped to support it. The National Policy is emphasizing upon the needs of females
and their children and is supposed to be effective in this area.
Effective Justice System
Domestic violence and sexual assault are considered as crimes and in spite of variety of civil as
well as criminal measures existing in the country, to protect females and children experiencing
violence, the rate of violence has not reduced. So, there is requirement of effective justice system
in place and reformations should also be taken into consideration. The National Policy is
emphasizing on the effective justice system as the system already in place is insufficient from the
viewpoint of situation of women and their children facing violence in the society. The National
Policy allows for civil and criminal justice system to be highly effective to prevent the women
and their children who experience domestic violence (Davies, 2013). The Justice Systems can
play a significant role in reduction of violence against females and prevent their children from

getting affected due to it. The more severe the provisions would be such that the perpetrators will
deter to act in violence. The National Policy requires zero tolerance towards violence and strong
policing and provisions of sentencing and other serious consequences for the offenders. It will
obviously develop deter among offenders and otherwise they will be behind bars. It will ensure
safety and freedom for women and their children and would make them lead their life freely and
happily. However, it will not be enough to punish the offenders but, there is requirement to
change the behaviors of the offenders as well, for which, they must be provided with proper
assistance (Broderick, 2013).
So, the National Policy includes all the measure to be taken into consideration by the society and
government to make the policy implemented successfully which would most probably change
the condition. The women and their children will be able to lead life freely and happily and
would recover easily from the traumatic situations, if the recommendations of the policy could
be implemented effectively.
Conclusion
The National Policy is highly effective and all the stages of the policy are emphasizing on certain
specific aspects associated with recovery of women and their children who get affected by
domestic violence and sexual assault. The policy has discussed about the reasons associated with
violent behaviors developed among males in the society. In Australia, the number of women
experiencing domestic violence and the impact on their children is high. In order to reduce this
number, the government as well as the policy will most probably prove to be effective, as the
strategies and measures suggested by the policy is required to be taken into consideration.

Areas to focus:
1
*Presumptions assumptions behind this policy - What is government's logic/
philosophy behind writing this policy ? (Ex: if there is a law for punishing
criminals, it is assumed that punishment will act as a deterrent and will prevent
that person from committing crime again or that by putting criminals in jail,
vulnerable people can be protected). or (if government proposes awareness
generation about any issues, it is assumed that problem is occurring because
people do not know about it ). Think on those lines and find some citations to
support your argument. From your assignment right now it is not clear what
government is trying to do with this plan and why?
*How did the policy come about - History of this policy. Why was it made. What
policy/document existed before this policy was introduced in 2010? why was
older policy changed? again give citations for your arguments.
* What is left unproblematic? Where are the silences? Can the ‘problem’ be
thought about differently? - what are the gaps in this policy. does it leave
behind any issues unaddressed? is it silent about any important aspect (ex: does
it include anything about DV faced by LGBTIQ+ communities or CALD
communities etc? Give citation for your arguments. You can look at submission
made by non-profits on this policy to identify content for this section. or if there
is a report by royal commission about this policy?
* effects produced by these gaps/silences? - how does it impact people who are
left out? or what problems are created due to gaps in this policy ? again you can
find relevant material in report from non-profits/ royal commission or journal
articles on DV.
You don't have to answer each and every question separately. but use them as
a guideline for content of your essay.
2:
Follow the marking rubric especially part 1 about critical analysis on this policy by using the
Carol Bacci’s approach.
Critical analysis of the policy and use of academic resources and independent research.
3: Relevance to and use of social work theory and practice ideas.
4: use peer reviewed journals as a reference.

References
Commonwealth of Australia . (2009). The National Council’s Plan for Australia to Reduce
Violence against Women and their Children, 2009-2021 .
Australian Government. (2018). What is the National Plan? Retrieved from sss.gov.au:
https://plan4womenssafety.dss.gov.au/the-national-plan/what-is-the-national-plan/
Broderick, E. (2013). The pros and cons of a Convention on the elimination of violence against
women and girls. Retrieved from humanrights.gov.au:
https://www.humanrights.gov.au/news/speeches/pros-and-cons-convention-elimination-
violence-against-women-and-girls
Davies, L. (2013). Men's Violence Against Women. Retrieved from leadershipforwomen.com.au:
http://www.leadershipforwomen.com.au/transform/activism/panel-on-women-
experiencing-disadvantage/men-s-violence-against-women
Department of Social Services. (2018). Women's Safety. Retrieved from
https://www.dss.gov.au/women/programs-services/reducing-violence/the-national-plan-
to-reduce-violence-against-women-and-their-children-2010-2022
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. (2018). THE NATIONAL PLAN TO REDUCE
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND THEIR CHILDREN 2010-2022. Retrieved from
pmc.gov.au: https://www.pmc.gov.au/office-women/womens-safety/national-plan-
reduce-violence-against-women-and-their-children-2010-2022
Domestic violence in Australia. (2014). Progress Review of the First Action Plan of the National
Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010-2022.
Domestic Violence Prevention Council. (2014). Second Action Plan of the National Plan to
Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010-2022. Retrieved from
dvpc.org.au: http://www.dvpc.org.au/second-action-plan-of-the-national-plan-to-reduce-
violence-against-women-and-their-children-2010-2022/

Fry, D. A., & Elliott, S. P. (2017). Understanding the linkages between violence against women
and violence against children. The Lancet, 5(5).
HM Government. (2018). Call to End Violence against Women and Girls : Action plan.
Retrieved from publishing.service.gov.uk:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/
attachment_data/file/118153/vawg-action-plan.pdf
Krantz, G., & Garcia-Moreno, C. (2004). Violence against women. Journal of Epidemiology and
Community Health, 59(10).
National Library of Australia. (2013). National plan to reduce violence against women and their
children 2010-2022 : progress report to the Council of Australian Governments.
Retrieved from https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/179837250?q&versionId=195723323
NTV. (2018). AWAVA Consulting on the Fourth Action Plan of the National Plan to Reduce
Violence Against Women and Their Children. Retrieved from ntv.org.au:
https://www.ntv.org.au/awava-consulting-on-the-fourth-action-plan-of-the-national-plan-
to-reduce-violence-against-women-and-their-children/
Our Watch. (2017). Putting the prevention of violence against women into practice: How to
change the story .
Our Watch. (2018). Submission to the development of the Second Action Plan under the National
Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010–2022. Retrieved from
ourwatch.org.au: https://www.ourwatch.org.au/getmedia/21d248e2-af48-408c-a43a-
7eecade644cd/Accessible-Foundation-to-Prevent-VAWC-Submission-for-the-National-
Plan-s-Second-Action-Plan.pdf.aspx?ext=.pdf
Øverlien, C. (2010). Children Exposed to Domestic Violence. Journal of Social Work, 10(1).
VicHealth. (2017). Violence against women in Australia.
Victorian Government. (2018). A Right to Respect Victoria’s Plan to Prevent Violence against
Women 2010–2020.

Williams, L. M. (2003). Understanding Child Abuse and Violence Against Women. Journal of
Interpersonal Violence, 18(4).
Retrieved from Deadlyrav.com.au:
http://www.deadlyrav.com.au/assets/Uploads/ARighttoRespectVictoriasPlantoPreventVi
olenceAgainstWomenPDF.pdf