The Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commissioner, Micaela Cronin, and social entrepreneur Catherine Fitzpatrick are co-convening a national business roundtable, bringing together over 60 senior corporate leaders to discuss the role of businesses and workplaces to prevent and reduce violence against women and children.
Senior representatives from Woolworths Group, Telstra, Optus, Origin, AGL, Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Property Council of Australia, as well as major banks, technology, transport, insurers, super funds and other industry associations, will gather together in Sydney on Monday 24 June 2024.
With one in six women in Australia having experienced financial abuse, this business roundtable will specifically discuss the ways in which corporations can act to prevent violence against women, and will hear from experts and people with lived experience of violence.
Ms Cronin said that businesses have an important role to play in identifying domestic, family, and sexual violence and supporting those who have experienced this violence.
“Governments and communities across the country have recognised that violence against women is at a crisis point in Australia. We all, but especially major companies and businesses, have a role to play in ending domestic, family and sexual violence,” Ms Cronin said.
“We know that systems can be, and often are, weaponised. That men who use violence are very good at weaponising every new technology to continue their coercive control.
“Today is an important day in gathering senior executives from the largest companies in Australia so they can hear directly about what is needed to identify, reduce and ultimately end violence against women and children.”
Catherine Fitzpatrick, Flequity Ventures Founder and Director and Adjunct Associate Professor University of NSW School of Social Sciences, has pioneered bank responses to tech-facilitated abuse and engagement with businesses. She said the roundtable is an important step in continuing to address this national crisis.
“As a former bank executive, I have seen firsthand how products and the shift to digital services are weaponised as a tactic of coercive control, and the devastating impact that financial abuse has on victim-survivors. It’s not just an issue for banks though – any business that offers joint accounts or online services can be weaponised as a tactic of coercive control,” Ms Fitzpatrick said.
“If we are to realise Australia’s ambition to end gendered violence in a generation, it will take collective action across sectors to promote respect for women and protect against abuse. The roundtable will help to identify ways that businesses can continue to show leadership and accelerate efforts that complement government investment and the critical work of the community sector.”
The Business Roundtable will build a shared understanding of the role businesses and workplaces to accelerate the implementation of the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-2032. It will also discuss how corporations can:
- Prevent gender-based violence through fostering gender equality in the workplace,
- Design products and services that are safe and prevent misuse, while also focusing on perpetrators accountability
- Provide leave entitlements for victim-survivors, such as paid family and domestic violence leave and paid parental leave.