Consultation on the Second Action Plan (National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022–2032)

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Closes in 58 days

Family, domestic, and sexual violence consultations - have your say

The Australian Government, working with states and territories, is developing the Second Action Plan under Australia’s National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022–2032 (the National Plan).

Ending gender-based violence is a national priority. Everyone deserves to live free from fear and violence.

Violence is shaped by social norms, structural and gender inequality and power imbalances that sit beyond any one system and beyond government alone. It requires action from all of us.

There are currently more than 583 initiatives underway across the country under the First Action Plan. This builds on the first National Plan from 2010 to 2022.

Due to sustained community effort and advocacy over decades, real progress has been made.

There is broader awareness and understanding of both the prevalence and impact of violence.

More people are reaching out for help. We have more evidence of what works and what doesn’t.

Every government across Australia is committed to ending violence through the National Plan.

The Australian Government has made record investments to prevent and respond to family, domestic and sexual violence to strengthen frontline services, support victim-survivors and expand prevention efforts.

But too many people continue to live with family, domestic and sexual violence, every day.

There is more to do.

Introductory video from the Minister

Watch the video below to hear from Minister for Social Services, Tanya Plibersek about the upcoming consultations, and how everyone has a role to play in ending violence in Australia.

Transcript (PDF 81kB) | Transcript (DOCX 18kB)

Building the next Action Plan – together

Evidence, reviews and inquiries give us strong direction. This includes insights from the Rapid Review of Prevention Approaches. A summary of national domestic, family and sexual violence inquiries and reviews (2010–2025) is also available in the DFSV Commission’s 2025 Yearly Report (PDF) (see page 138).

Real progress also depends on listening carefully, learning together, and being clear about where collective effort can make the greatest difference over the next five years. We want to hear from you and shape the direction together to set a strong foundation for the work ahead.

We want to hear from a wide range of people, and we will be consulting broadly, including people with lived experience, frontline workers, peak bodies, policy experts, academics, employers, and the broader community.

We must learn from what is working from our long-term effort, from the new work underway and critically assess where there are gaps, and emerging new challenges to tackle.

At the same time, work is underway on related action plans, including:

The First Action Plan under Our Ways – Strong Ways – Our Voices: National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Plan to End Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence 2026-2036 (Our Ways)
The Second Action Plan under Safe and Supported: The National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children 2021-2031
The Second Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Action Plan under Safe and Supported 2021-2031
The Second Action Plan under the National Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Child Sexual Abuse 2021-2030.

We are designing these action plans to work together. This is crucial, as people affected by violence often deal with many overlapping services at the same time – such as health, justice, housing and community services – and may also be living with the lasting impacts of past abuse.

Consultations will take a “tell us once” approach so that people don’t have to tell their story or advise us multiple times. To support First Nations women, children and communities, governments will also work through shared decision-making mechanisms to develop complementary First Nations action plans under Safe and Supported and under Our Ways.

Seeking support

We understand participating in consultations may be difficult. If this raises any issues or you need support, there are services available:

1800RESPECT is the national sexual assault, domestic violence and family violence counselling service. This service is free, confidential and available 24/7. Call 1800 737 732 or visit 1800respect.org.au
13 YARN is a support line for mob who are feeling overwhelmed or having difficulty coping, and is available 24/7. Call 13 92 76 13 or visit 13yarn.org.au.

How to get involved
There are a number of ways you can share your views, insights and feedback as part of the consultation.

Short survey

The survey is the easiest way to contribute your views and insights.

Start the survey

Webinars

Visit our webinars page to register for face to face events and online webinars.

Formal submissions

If you work in a specialist organisation within the family, domestic and sexual violence sector (e.g. that supports victim-survivors, children and young people or delivers specialist family services) or in a non-specialist organisation that works alongside the sector, you can provide a formal submission in response to the consultation paper: