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Women’s safety advocates have welcomed a move to make it easier to provide input into a domestic violence plan spanning the next decade.
Brittany Higgins called out the federal government for being “breathtakingly disrespectful” after it set a two-week consultation period in the middle of January.
The national plan to end violence against women and children will span from 2022 to 2032.
“Two weeks to map out the next 10 years of the fight against gendered violence in Australia,” Ms Higgins wrote in a Twitter post, which triggered a backlash over the timetable.
An open letter signed by prominent women’s rights advocates, community leaders and union heads, called for the consultation period to run at least six weeks.
“The tiny window of consultation diminishes this issue to our society and is shallow and disrespectful to our country. We need this plan to succeed,” the letter reads.
“We are in the midst of a pandemic, and school holidays will not have ended prior to the consultation closing. We need the consultation period extended … in order to give women and families affected by violence a time to meaningfully respond.”
The consultation period will now run until February 25.
– AAP