Formal submissions
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Content warning: This survey engages with subject matters related to violence, harm and abuse. If you find any of the content in this survey distressing, you may exit the survey at anytime.
Please note that if you exit the survey before you click submit, your responses will not be saved or submitted. If you find the content to be distressing, there are services available to support you.
You can find support services on the National Mental Health Commission website such as Lifeline and Beyond Blue.
In your responses, where possible, please avoid providing identifying information about you or someone else, such as names or a combination of attributes which could identify an individual.
Introduction
Thank you for your interest in contributing to the consultations to inform the Second Action Plan under Australia’s National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022–2032 (the National Plan). We want to hear from as many individuals and organisations as possible to help us develop the Plan.
You can use this online form to make a written submission or upload a prepared submission.
When making a submission, we suggest you refer to the Consultation Paper. The Consultation Paper contains questions for consideration against 5 priority areas that will help to inform the Second Action Plan. We also encourage you to add other feedback and ideas about how we can work together to end family, domestic and sexual violence.
Participating in this consultation
Your participation is voluntary, and you are under no obligation to participate if you do not wish to.
You can choose whether to provide the name of your organisation, or remain anonymous.
You can also advise us if you would like to make your submission publicly available. If you do choose to make your submission publicly available, you will need to provide your name and email address.
Please note that we may collect your personal information if you provide your name and email address, or if you contact the department. Please see the Privacy Notice regarding this consultation.
You can contact us to delete your submission if you no longer want to participate in this process. Please email us at Secondactionplan@dss.gov.au and include your email address by 31 July 2026.
Instructions
When completing the below submission process you will be asked:
- Questions about yourself or the organisation you represent.
- Some guided questions that we particularly want to know to help us draft the Second Action Plan. If you don’t want to answer these questions you can skip to upload a submission document or file.
- Whether you want to upload a written submission document. This is optional.
If you need support
If participating in this consultation raises any concerns or you feel distressed we encourage you to contact one of the numbers at the Help and Support page.
If you require support to access the Consultation Paper, including paper copies or telephone assistance, please email Secondactionplan@dss.gov.au.
If you require translation services you can contact Non-English speakers | Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS National).
Privacy Collection Notice
This Privacy Collection Notice (Notice) explains how the Australian Government Department of Social Services (Department, we, us) will collect, use and disclose information shared in connection with Consultation with respect to the Commonwealth Government’s ‘National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022–2032’ (Consultation).
Engaging with us
This Notice applies to each of the ways you may engage with the Department during the Consultation – including when you:
- submit a survey response via DSS Engage (dss.gov.au);
- submit a written response via (engage.dss.gov.au); or
- participate in an event related to the Consultation, such as a roundtable, panel or webinar.
What we’re after
The purpose of this Consultation is to gather views, ideas and feedback on policy matters relating to family, domestic and sexual violence. We would be grateful for your candid views on these policy matters, as relevant to the format in which you are engaging with us.
We may collect limited personal information from you:
- in order to enable you to participate in the Consultation (such as to manage your attendance at a Consultation event), or manage your queries regarding the Consultation;
You may not be able to participate in the Consultation if we don’t receive this information.
What we’re not after
Except as set out above, we are not seeking any other identifying information about you, or anyone else, in your response to the Consultation. We particularly do not want to collect information that might allow a person with a lived experience to be identified.
For example, your submission should not:
- include identifying information about you; or
- provide identifying information about any other person.
If you feel you need to share a story, we ask that you do so on an anonymous or non-identifying basis.
How we will use and disclose your information
Information provided during the Consultation will be used by the Department to inform the development of Action Plans under the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022–2032, and to support related policy development and implementation activities, including the:
- Second Action Plan required to be delivered under the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022–2032;
- the Second Action Plan for Safe and Supported: The National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children 2021–2031;
- Second Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Action Plan for Safe and Supported: The National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children 2021–2031;
- First Action Plan supporting implementation of Our Ways – Strong Ways – Our Voices: National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Plan to End Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence 2026-2036; and
- the Attorney-General’s Department’s National Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Child Sexual Abuse 2021-2030.
The Department intends to remove or redact any identifying information provided in submissions before they are shared with our research teams such that individuals are no longer reasonably identifiable. We will use our best endeavours to review all submissions and remove any personal or identifying details prior to this process occurring.
Where you consent, we may also use AI tools to process information you submit to us, in order to support the above activities.
We may disclose information contained in Consultation responses:
- to third party contractors who support us in conducting the Consultation, including the providers of third-party tools we use to process your responses to the Consultation;
- other Federal, State or Territory government agencies (e.g. the Attorney-General’s Department) to progress work on related policy areas; and
- to the public, if you consent to us doing so.
There may also be situations where we have to disclose your personal information. For instance, we may be required by an Australian law or a Court or a Tribunal order to share your personal information.
Overseas disclosures
We do not disclose personal information to recipients located outside Australia.
Further information
We store your personal information (and delete your information when it is no longer needed) in accordance with the Archives Act 1983. In relation to any personal information contained in records stored under the Archives Act 1983, we will ensure that this can only be accessed by relevant staff on a need-to-know basis as permitted by law.
The Department’s privacy policy contains further information about how you can access and correct personal information the Department holds about you, as well as information about how you may submit a complaint about a breach of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), Australian Privacy Principles, or a registered APP code (as applicable).
If you have any questions about this Consultation or how your information will be handled, please contact Secondactionplan@dss.gov.au.