CANBERRA, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- The Australian government on Tuesday launched the country's first dedicated national plan to end violence against Indigenous women and children.
Minister for Social Services Tanya Plibersek and Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy on Tuesday announced 218.3 million Australian dollars (about 154.56 million U.S. dollars) in government funding to enact the first four years of the 10-year plan.
They said in a joint statement that the plan will address disproportionate rates of violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and children.
Indigenous Australian women are seven times more likely to be victims of intimate partner homicide than non-Indigenous women, according to government data, and 27 times more likely than non-Indigenous women to be hospitalized due to family violence.
The four-year funding package will immediately invest in a national network of up to 40 Aboriginal community controlled organizations that will deliver specialist support services to help Indigenous women and families who are experiencing family, domestic and sexual violence. ■