Frustrated protesters demand more government action to protect women

Protests have been held in Australian cities today, with people of all ages calling for an end to violence against women.

Indigenous-led not-for-profit organisation What Were You Wearing? led the rallies, which asked for more government investment in prevention and crisis support services, mandated trauma-informed training for first responders, nationally consistent and holistic consent laws, housing security, and bail reform to prioritise victim-survivor safety.

Brisbane

About 250 women, men and children marched in Brisbane on Saturday, many of them carrying signs with powerful messages.

The crowd heard from seven speakers, including victim-survivors and community leaders who shared their personal stories.

Brittany Higgins — who was last year found, on the balance of probabilities, to have been raped by Bruce Lehrmann at Parliament House in 2019 — attended the rally but did not speak publicly.

Pictured among other women attending the Brisbane rally, Ms Higgins was holding a sign that said: “25 women killed and still not an election issue.”

The sign refers to the 25 women who have been killed between January 13 and May 9 this year, according to figures from Australian Femicide Watch.

March organiser Brooke Gillham said the national rallies showed solidarity with victims of domestic and gendered violence.

“I’m here today as a victim-survivor, and that makes me really passionate about the cause and really passionate to get true systemic change,” she said.

The march started at Reddacliff Place, continued along Queen Street, and looped closed-off CBD streets.

Melbourne

In Melbourne’s CBD, hundreds of people gathered on the steps of state parliament to call for an end to violence against women.

Australian Femicide Watch founder Sherele Moody voiced her frustration about what she described as authorities’ lack of action to combat violence against women.

One by one, she read out the names, ages and locations of all the Australian women killed by acts of violence since January last year.

British gender equality activist Gina Martin spoke to the crowd about the Australian women who had been killed this year.

“They matter, their stories matter, their legacies really matter,” she said.

“We honour them, not just in words, but in our actions.”

She also called out the vandals who defaced a Hosier Lane mural in the heart of the city last week, labelling them “cowards”.

The She Matters mural — bearing the names, pictures and artistic images of more than 100 Australian women who were allegedly murdered or died due to violence — was spray-painted with the words “war on men” on International Women’s Day.

Another speaker told the Melbourne crowd: “Women don’t need any more talkfests from the government. What they need is action.”

Adelaide

In South Australia, hundreds gathered outside Parliament House to call for an end to domestic violence and demand more government investment in long-term, evidence-based prevention.

Domestic violence survivor and advocate Stacey Nelan said it was “incredible” to see the number of people at the rally.

“That’s what we need to see because we can’t achieve gender equality without the good men challenging those who disrespect women, so that we can walk the path of gender equality together.”

The rally comes as the South Australian government prepares to examine the final report of the Royal Commission into Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence.

The state government established the inquiry after the deaths of six South Australians from alleged family and domestic violence in late 2023, with the commission receiving more than 360 submissions and more than 800 survey responses.

Minister for Women and the Prevention of Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence, Katrine Hildyard, said the royal commission “provides us with a once-in-a-generation opportunity to look at our system and make sure that we get it right”.

“This journey hasn’t been easy. It’s going to continue to not be easy,” she said.

“But together — with shared commitment, with shared resolve — we will absolutely drive change that means the prevention of domestic family and sexual violence.

Sydney

Sydney’s first Aboriginal councillor, Yvonne Weldon, delivered the Welcome To Country at Hyde Park after the hundreds-strong crowd marched from Belmore Park.

Ms Weldon was also among the rally speakers, telling the crowd that violence in all its forms could not be normalised.

“The more that people come together and call it out, and have these rallies, the more that we can actually start to address these issues,” she said.

“And hopefully change a cycle that seems to be normalised at the moment.

One of the rally organisers, Amelia Grace Wilson-Williams, said protesters were angry and upset over a lack of action and the lack prominence the “national crisis” was given during the election campaign.

However, she said people were motivated and had a message for the federal Labor government: “We do need urgent reform and, drawing on some of our demands, that would include consistent and holistic consent laws and also increased funding for crisis support services,” she said.

“These are some of the key demands that we’re really charging and focusing on.”

Canberra

Protesters gathered outside of Parliament House in Canberra to demand action from the re-elected federal government, which now includes more women than ever before.

On social media, What Were You Wearing? called on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to “speak on violence against women now”, citing an online petition that had amassed more than 15,600 signatures.