THE HON TANYA PLIBERSEK MP
MINISTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TELEVISION INTERVIEW
ABC NEWS BREAKFAST
TUESDAY, 3 JUNE 2025

Topics: Family and Domestic Violence; Australian Institute of Family Studies Research; Dorinda Cox.

BRIDGET BRENNAN: A long term survey of 16,000 boys and men suggests more than one in three Australian males have engaged in intimate partner abuse in their lifetime. The startling data from the Australian Institute of Family Studies has been released this morning by the Social Services Minister, Tanya Plibersek. She joins us now from Sydney. Good morning to you, Minister.

TANYA PLIBERSEK, MINISTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES: Good morning.

BRENNAN: This is such sobering, sobering news, isn't it? Because you would have thought over the last decade of the work that we've done on intimate partner violence, on understanding gendered violence and its drivers, that we would have seen an improvement. But this appears to look like we're going backwards?

MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Yeah, there's some very concerning numbers in this report. So, it looks like it looks at a large cohort of men over a long period of time. And what the research shows is that over about a decade between the first report and the second report, the number of men who have ever used violence has increased from one in four to one in three. That equates to about 120,000 extra men every year in Australia using violence for the first time in intimate relationships. And obviously that's a trend that's going in the wrong direction. The report is also important though, because it gives us some really good insights into what makes it more or less likely that men will ever use violence in an intimate relationship. So, it shows that men who have good mental health, who have good social connections and social supports, and who have a good relationship with a father or father figure when they're young, are all less likely to use violence in their relationships. So, Bridget, you're right in saying that there's some very concerning figures in here. But it's this type of information that shows us how we make it less likely that men use violence. That's really valuable as we design our approaches to combating violence.

BRENNAN: Given that over that decade now we've seen one in three men suggest that they've been engaged in some sort of intimate partner violence, that those social supports over time have frayed or weakened for a lot of families, particularly for men as fathers.

MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Look, I think a lot of people in recent years have reported social isolation and loneliness as bigger features in their lives. It shows why it's important that we invest in mental health supports. And we're doing that as a government. An extra billion dollars with Medicare walk in mental health clinics, expanding number of Headspace clinics, reinstating Telehealth psychiatry consultations. All of those supports make a differerence. It shows why it's important that we are investing to help women as they leave violence with the billion dollars extra for the leaving violence payment, the extra housing an extra billion dollars for that, 10 days paid domestic violence leave. But it shows that the investments that we're making in behaviour change programs, in perpetrator programs, to work with men who have used violence, to stop them using violence, and to work with young men before they ever use violence, with respectful relationship programs and so on, why that investment is so important. The best way that we can protect women and children from domestic violence is to make sure it doesn't happen in the first place. And this study gives us some really good insights into how we can do that.

BRENNAN: Yeah. One of the protective factors it appears to suggest is getting in early with dads of boys, because that seems to be such a causal link to using violence later in life for you. Now, as you come into this portfolio, what sort of additional programs? How can we get in much earlier? Because to me, it sort of suggests that once you get into school, once you're a teenager, given all of the online information that you're subjected to at the moment as a young man, actually, we need to be so much earlier with families in need.

MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Yeah, I think we've got a really good opportunity. We talk a lot about child and maternal health. I think we have to be talking about child and parental health. We know that even before a baby is born the environment that it's growing in influences that baby. Maternal stress, for example, influences an unborn baby. And so we need to be working to strengthen and support families from those earliest days. Even things like paid parental leave make a difference here, because if you take a little bit of financial pressure off that family, it perhaps makes those months before a child's born and immediately afterwards a bit better for that family. But we've got to work from the very earliest days to talk about why those fathers and father figures are such important and positive influences in young men's lives. And of course, I think it's important to say as well, it's not always a father that's there and available. Sometimes it's a grandfather, sometimes it's another male relative or a teacher or a sporting coach. It's really important to talk to men about how they can be a positive role model for the young men and the boys in their lives.

BRENNAN: Can I ask you about a separate topic. The death of an Aboriginal man in Alice Springs who appears to have been held down by police officers in a Coles supermarket. Was on the NDIS, had had a lot of interaction, according to his family, with social services. Another death in custody of an Aboriginal person this year. I believe there's been eight or nine so far this year. For you, what issues does the death of this young man raise?

MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Look, I think it's important to allow proper investigation. I've only seen what you've seen in the news reports and I wouldn't want to comment before there's a proper investigation of all of the circumstances. Any death like this is a tragedy, particularly when you hear that someone has had interaction with the NDIS and perhaps requires greater support. It is particularly a tragedy, but I don't want to comment on the details of it.

BRENNAN: Alright. And Dorinda Cox will join your ranks. How did this happen? Have you got any insight into why she jumped ship?

MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, no. Again, I read the same news reports that you do. I'm very pleased that we'll expand our excellent Western Australian team with a new member. I first met Dorinda Cox actually working on issues of violence against women about 15 years ago, and she impressed me then. We've got a very impressive group in Western Australia and I'm sure she'll make an excellent contribution.

BRENNAN: Alright, Tanya Plibersek, thanks for your time this morning.

MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Thank you.

BRENNAN: And if this interview has raised any issues for you, you can get help by calling the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence counselling service on 1-800-Respect, which is 1-800-737-732.

ENDS