Parliament Urged to Declare Femicide a National Crisis

The House of Representatives was urged on Wednesday to confront what one MP described as a national crisis, after a motion was moved suspending standing orders to force an immediate parliamentary debate on femicide, domestic violence, and sexual violence in Australia.

The member for Waringa moved the suspension, arguing that extraordinary circumstances demanded an extraordinary response. The motion cited data from Australian Femicide Watch recording 45 women and 19 children killed by violence so far in 2026, numbers the MP described as representing not statistics but shattered families and communities.

Central to the push was the death of a 27-year-old Brisbane woman on 12 August, who had reportedly sought police assistance in the days before her death and had a temporary domestic violence order in place. The MP said the case raised urgent, recurring questions about why protective measures continued to fail women in danger.

"Why is it that this is still not keeping women safe?" the member asked the chamber. "What did police know? Was risk being identified and escalated appropriately? What protective actions were taken or could have been taken?"

The motion also referenced a June 2026 report by the NSW Law Enforcement Conduct Commission, which found the police response to the fatal assault of Lindy Lucina inadequate, identified systemic failures, and made eight recommendations — none of which had yet received a formal police response.

The week's events had also been shaped by two separate high-profile sexual assault allegations — one involving private school students, the other AFL players. The MP was careful to note that due process and the presumption of innocence must be respected, but said the institutional responses to those allegations had been deeply concerning, with powerful bodies seen to prioritise reputations over victim safety.

The motion called on the government to choose between two courses of action: empowering the Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commissioner to compel information and examine failures to implement past inquiry recommendations, or establishing a royal commission into femicide and domestic violence.

Additional measures sought included a national domestic violence offender register with appropriate privacy safeguards, stronger sentencing and protection order enforcement through national cabinet, improved monitoring of high-risk offenders, proper funding for frontline services and safe housing, and a commitment to language around sexual violence that centres victim dignity rather than institutional interests.

"Australian women feel angry," the MP told the House. "Angry about violence, about institutional failures, and about a culture that leaves women and girls feeling and being unsafe. Governments have failed to implement a multitude of recommendations from numerous reviews and inquiries. We are at a crisis point."