To mark International Women’s Day, the National Advocacy Group on Women on Temporary Visas Experiencing Violence (the ‘National Advocacy Group’) calls for reform to the migration system to advance Australia’s commitment to ending gendered violence in a generation.

The migration system currently provides a safety net for some temporary migrants who experience domestic and family violence, via the family violence provisions. This is not enough.

The family violence provisions remain inaccessible to thousands of women who are experiencing abuse, despite recent amendments to the provisions.

Many of the 60+ members of the National Advocacy Group work directly with women experiencing domestic and family violence who are not eligible to access permanent residency via the family violence provisions. Across Australia on a daily basis these organisations are working with women who cannot access emergency or long term accommodation, welfare, health and other critical services due to their status as temporary migrants. Many of these women are at risk of poverty and homelessness, and are faced with no other option than to stay with, or return to, a violent perpetrator.

We call on the Federal Government to urgently introduce a visa category that would be accessible to all temporary migrants experiencing domestic and family violence in Australia. Such a step is necessary to provide victim-survivors with the material and legal support to keep them safe.

The Federal Government has demonstrated that it is capable of migration reform that puts temporary migrants first with the 2024 introduction of the workplace justice visa.

This is the critical next step in the commitment to achieving women’s safety nationally. Other reforms are also critical: we provide a detailed account of the full suite of measures for reform for state, territory and federal government in the Blueprint for Reform.

The National Advocacy Group includes the following organisations and peak bodies:
AustralAsian Centre for Human Rights and Health
Australian Muslim Women’s Centre for Human Rights
Australian Women Against Violence Alliance (AWAVA)
Domestic Violence NSW
Domestic Violence Service Management
Economic Justice Australia
Immigration Advice and Rights Centre (IARC)
inTouch Multicultural Centre Against Family Violence
Jesuit Refugee Service Australia
Muslim Women Australia
Northern Community Legal Centre
NTCOSS
Refugee Legal
Safe and Equal
Safe Steps
Settlement Service International
Tasmanian Refugee Legal Service
University of Melbourne: Borders, Migration and Gender Violence Research Hub
WESNET (Women’s Services Network)
Women’s Health Matters (ACT)
Women’s Legal Services Australia
Women’s And Girl’s Emergency Centre
South-East Monash Legal Service Inc.

See more details about the full National Advocacy Group here.