E&OE Transcript
DOORSTOP
PARLIAMENT HOUSE CANBERRA
THURSDAY, 5 MARCH 2026
TOPICS: Preventing perpetrators of domestic violence receiving victim’s superannuation benefits, Family and domestic violence payments, Housing and support for victims of family and domestic violence.
DANIEL MULINO: Good morning, everyone. It's really good to be here today to make an announcement in relation to the government following through and delivering on an election commitment.
Can I firstly acknowledge that I'm here with my colleagues, Tanya Plibersek, the Minister for Social Services, and Ged Kearney, the Assistant Minister for Social Services and Assistant Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence, and it's really important that they're both here because that reflects the fact that this is a reform which is going to require cooperation and action across a range of portfolios.
These issues that we're talking about today are complex, and I'm really grateful and pleased that my ministerial colleagues are here today.
Can I also acknowledge that Senator Deb O'Neill and Zaneta Mascarenhas are here? They're both members of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services, and that Committee has undertaken very important work over recent years in relation to financial abuse, and I want to acknowledge their long-standing commitment to these issues.
And then as you can see, there are many members of the caucus here, and I won't name all of them, but the fact that there are so many people here reflects how much commitment there is to taking action on these issues.
Can I just start by saying that superannuation is a really important Labor reform that is there for dignity in retirement, but it's not there to reward the perpetrators of abuse. And what we see at the moment is that, unfortunately, there are too many instances where superannuation trustees are bound to provide benefits to the perpetrators of abuse.
A prominent example in WA was Molly Wilkes, who died by suicide, and the perpetrator of abuse over a long period of time against her was provided benefits by the trustees, and that's a loophole that we want to shut.
This was a commitment that the government made in April 2025. It was also recommendation 10 of the PJC report into financial abuse. And today we're releasing a discussion paper which will set out options for closing that loophole. This is really important work, and it's work that I will work closely with Tanya and Ged and members of the caucus on over the coming weeks.
Can I just say once again, superannuation is there for dignity in retirement, it is not there to reward the perpetrators of abuse, and today is a really important step forward in making sure that doesn't happen. And with that, I'll hand over to Tanya.
TANYA PLIBERSEK: Thanks so much, and I really want to thank Daniel Mulino and my colleagues here today for this very important work. Women work hard all their lives, they save up their superannuation to have a dignified retirement, and if they die before reaching that retirement, of course their superannuation should be distributed to their nearest and dearest.
In the circumstances we're looking at today with this discussion paper, we've got examples where superannuation instead has been distributed to the tormentors of those women. There are too many instances where families have watched on in horror as a woman has had her life made a misery by someone either physically assaulting her or controlling her in a way that has isolated and degraded her.
The idea that that tormentor should be rewarded by receiving superannuation after the death of that woman is adding untold misery to the surviving family members and friends of those women.
This really important reform goes hand‑in‑hand with a parliamentary inquiry that we have launched into the relationship between family, domestic and sexual violence and suicide. We see the numbers of women who are killed by their partners every year in domestic homicides. We don't have a clear insight into the number of women who take their own lives because of that torment. We don't have a clear insight into the number of adults who take their lives as a result of childhood sexual abuse. We know that these are widespread problems in our community that until now have really been largely unexamined by our parliament.
The work that Daniel's doing, the work that my parliamentary colleagues are doing through the committee process, are just two examples of the dozens of initiatives we have underway as a government to tackle family, domestic and sexual violence; in fact, we've invested well over $4 billion as a government on initiatives to tackle family, domestic and sexual violence.
Just yesterday, I was very proud to announce the next phase of funding for our 500 Workers Initiative. Yesterday's $292 million announcement brings to almost half a billion dollars the total we have invested in 500 workers in frontline services right around Australia, frontline workers who are literally saving lives every day: they're picking up the phone in the middle of the night to women and children fleeing violence. They are helping victims of violence safely plan to leave the family home, they're helping with housing and financial supports, they're helping perpetrators of violence change their behaviour, they're offering counselling to children who have been impacted by domestic violence, so they don't grow up to repeat the cycles and abuse that they've known as children.
That frontline worker initiative again is just one of the dozens that we have underway, more than $1 billion invested in crisis and transitional housing for thousands of new homes for people fleeing violence, making the Leaving Violence Payment permanent, working with perpetrators to change their behaviour, working with adolescent boys who are at risk of using violence, counselling for children, for the first time ever specialist counselling for those kids.
I'm very proud of the work we're doing as a government to end family, domestic, and sexual violence in Australia, and I'll ask Ged Kearney, who's doing such great work, to add a few comments as well.
GED KEARNEY: Thanks so much, Tanya, and I would like to also thank you for the amazing work that you do in your portfolio for women and children fleeing family domestic violence, and Daniel, as Assistant Treasurer.
It was just a few weeks ago that I was standing in a similar situation with Daniel, where we announced that perpetrators of child sex abuse could not hide their assets in superannuation, preventing their victims from getting compensation. Another incredibly important announcement. So, I'd like to thank the Assistant Treasurer for the hard work that he is doing making women's lives easier.
And Minister Plibersek has just outlined some amazing work that she's doing in her portfolio in this case as well, and I think it is a great example with everybody here behind us, Senator O'Neill and my fellow member Zaneta, who did some great work on the committee.
It just goes to show that this government is committed to dealing with this terrible scourge in society. Tanya mentioned a few wonderful initiatives already, but if you look right across the whole‑of‑government, you'll see in Education, Minister Clare is making our universities safe, and we have introduced funding for respectful relationships in schools right across the country, which is incredibly important, making our early childhood education centres safer. In communications, Minister Wells is doing amazing work so that technology can't be used to abuse women and children and prevent family domestic violence through technology-based abuse.
In workforce, we have 10 days paid family domestic violence leave, something that I am incredibly proud of, and we have legislation putting onus on employers to make sure that sexual harassment doesn't occur in workplaces.
In health, just last week, we announced funding to make sure that primary healthcare facilities were well‑equipped and skilled enough to recognise when family domestic violence was occurring and know what to do.
In the justice system, we're making it easier for women to go through the justice system after sexual assault so that they feel supported and not re-traumatised. We are doing so much work right across the whole‑of‑government, and that's just touching on a few things; I could go on forever, but I just wanted to make the point that this Albanese Government is committed right across every portfolio to make sure that women and children will be safer and that we do indeed work towards our target of eliminating family and domestic violence in this country.
So, I want to say a big thank you to everybody who is working on this; it's incredibly important. Thank you.
TANYA PLIBERSEK: Any questions?
JOURNALIST: Minister Plibersek, it seems quite extraordinary that perpetrators can access the super of their ‑‑
TANYA PLIBERSEK: Well, we might start with Daniel, because it's [indistinct] ‑‑
JOURNALIST: It seems quite extraordinary that perpetrators can benefit from the super of their victims. Why has it taken until now to take action on this?
DANIEL MULINO: Look, this is an issue that has been around for a long time, and what it reflects is the fact that superannuation trustees are currently bound by, at times, quite prescriptive arrangements in relation to the distribution of benefits.
And as Minister Plibersek referred to, usually that makes sense, because usually the distribution of benefits to people who are close relations of somebody who has passed away makes sense.
What we're talking about is a set of circumstances where it's not appropriate, and so what we need to do is to change, look at changing long‑standing arrangements in relation to superannuation trustees so that in certain circumstances they're not bound to provide benefits where, for example, arrangements are being set up that would provide for it to go to the perpetrator of abuse.
JOURNALIST: I understand, Minister, that the discussions are at an early stage, but what kind of alternatives are we talking about? Are we saying that we won't have to say who the benefits go to or override the benefits [indistinct]. What actual sort of actions are we talking?
DANIEL MULINO: Yeah. So, at a high level, there are three options that we're consulting on. The first one we're describing as a discretionary approach where superannuation trustees would be able to take into account a wide range of information, and then, using discretion based upon that wide range of information, overturn or not comply with a certain direction.
The second one we're describing is a prescribed approach which would depend more specifically on court orders, for example, and so that would provide less discretion for trustees and be more reliant upon other processes and outside forums.
And the third option relates to a certain set of circumstances in which superannuation trustees would provide the distribution to the court or to the estate.
The reason why we're consulting on detailed options is that there are pros and cons to each of these options, and the reason why it's so important that I'm here with Tanya and Ged is that this is a complex area. It's an area where closing the loophole is just not a straightforward matter of a one‑line change in the SIS Act, it's working through options, each of which are going to have pros and cons, but we're going to do that carefully and methodically. And if you look at the discussion paper, it works through each of those three options with care.
JOURNALIST: Do you have a timeline on when you'd like to see legislation drafted for this?
DANIEL MULINO: So, we're asking for submissions by April 15, and that is a reasonable amount of time given the complexity of these issues. We didn't want to rush that part of the process, and then we'll very quickly look through those options. Look, it's always difficult to say how long it would take to go through the next steps, and of course, it's always difficult to say in a busy parliamentary agenda for an ambitious government how long it would take to get things into parliament.
But look, we're taking an important step here today. We'll receive submissions by April 15, and then the government will get to looking through all of those responses.
JOURNALIST: So, would you hope to have at least draft legislation prepared by the Budget?
DANIEL MULINO: Oh, no, look, I think we have to be sensible about working through complex issues like this, and this is a ‑ as I said, when you look at this discussion paper and look at the three options, each of them involves pros and cons, so we're going to have to take our time with this measure and get it right. The worst thing to do with a matter of such sensitivity would be to rush things.
So, the process that we've set out here is what I would consider to be a very standard process for a complex and sensitive matter.
JOURNALIST: Considering this is quite a horrific thing to ‑ personally, I only just found out about it this morning, as something that happens. For people who don't realise that this is a reality for victims of domestic violence, what can they do from now to make sure that they're [indistinct]?
DANIEL MULINO: Well, can I ‑ and I'll hand over to Tanya after giving a very brief initial answer, but can I say that there's a lot of work that the government is doing on a range of fronts, and this is work that Ged and Tanya are both doing to support victims of family violence right now, and that's key work, and that I think is a real priority, to make sure that there are as many supports and as many options as possible.
What this paper really deals with is the really unfortunate and tragic circumstance where it has gotten to the point where, for example, somebody has died by suicide or died by violence, and we want to give more flexibility to the trustees of superannuation funds. But look, I might hand over to Tanya.
TANYA PLIBERSEK: [Indistinct].
DANIEL MULINO: Yeah, and Tanya's pointed out that there are options for making binding nominations to other people, and so I would encourage people to seek advice, I would encourage people through all the support networks to look at making those kinds of binding nominations, you know, while they are working through the situation that they're going through, because those would definitely improve situations were this to eventuate.
TANYA PLIBERSEK: Can I answer your question in two ways? The first is young people always feel invincible, and one of the ways that shows itself is you don't check your superannuation balance, you don't make sure your super's working for you, you don't really check who it's going to if the worst should happen. It's not a big investment of time just to get your finances right, and everyone should do that from an early age. Just once every few years, make sure that your super's working for you and your paperwork is up‑to‑date. No one feels like doing it, everyone should do it.
In relation to family and domestic violence specifically, I think it's really important to understand the dynamics of family and domestic violence. Most people don't leave for good the first time they leave. One of the reasons they end up back in the family home, where there is violence, is because they financially can't afford to leave. Women with children, in particular, don't want to make their kids homeless.
So, as a government, we're doing a number of things that make it possible for women to leave violent relationships safely.
The first thing we're doing is making the Leaving Violence Payment permanent. That's up to $5,000 assistance to help you when you leave a violent situation. $1,500 cash that can buy you the bus ticket out of town, it can get you the deposit on your new place, it can help you change the locks on your old place. Other supports like safety planning are available with that Leaving Violence Payment as well.
We're also investing in thousands of new homes for victims of family and domestic violence. Too often, people say “Why didn't she leave?” when they should be asking “Where would she go?”
And so, Clare O'Neil's excellent work as Housing Minister in investing in crisis and transitional housing is beginning to answer that very difficult question. Also, things like 5 per cent deposits and 2 per cent deposits for sole parents, again, have made it possible for people to leave violent situations and set up in a home of their own in a way that has not previously been possible.
The 500 Workers Initiative, having people there to help with safety planning. Again, a really important way of making it safe to leave a violent relationship.
And I have to give credit to the states as well. A number of states right now are working on coercive control legislation because our understanding of domestic violence is changing all the time. We know that there are relationships where the violence is not physical, or it doesn't start as physical violence, but it starts as coercive control, isolating someone from their friends and family, taking control of the finances.
By working with the states and territories on coercive control legislation and fixing our own systems, as we're doing in this example, as we've done recently with new social security laws that make it possible for socials security decision makers to ignore debts that have been accumulated because of coercion in domestic violence relationships, we're examining our own systems and making sure that we are not helping trapping ‑ we're not helping to trap people in violence.
JOURNALIST: Just back to your point about seeking financial help, many women in these situations either wouldn't have that front-of-mind or not be able to do that, especially if a perpetrator is looking over their shoulder. What help can they get?
TANYA PLIBERSEK: Yeah. A hundred per cent. That's such a great question. Obviously, the first call is always 1800RESPECT. We've recently increased funding to 1800RESPECT by 40 per cent, and there's more people there taking more calls all the time, because the volume, the demand is increasing. So, the first call is to 1800RESPECT.
But that Leaving Violence Payment that I just mentioned, that's exactly why it's there. The person at the end of the phone is not just processing a payment, they're putting you in touch with the supports that you need to leave safely, to do that safety plan, to talk through with you what your options are; where would you go, where is emergency accommodation available, what are the documents that you need to take with you? That safety planning that is now available is a vital support in helping people leave safely, and financial support, of course, of up to $5,000 to do so.
Okay. Thanks, everyone.
ENDS
