☕️ Crisis meetings over gender-based violence

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We’re starting the week with a shoutout to ‘TryingMyBest’ – the username for the person who came last in yesterday’s 'Picture This’. 

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Quote of the day

“It seems like he needs a lot of help, physically. He’s got a lot of problems. He’s getting all kinds of tests. He’s somewhat of a train wreck health wise.”
Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer, Attorney Arthur Aidala, speaking to the Associated Press. Aidala told the publication that Weinstein was hospitalised one day after his 2020 rape conviction was overturned.

Stat of the day

500,000
The number of claims in Centrelink and Medicare’s backlog that have been processed in the last 10 weeks, according to the Minister for Social Services Bill Shorten.

Today in history

2011
Prince William, now first in line to the British throne, married his longtime partner, Catherine Middleton.

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Some headlines from this morning:

• Australia has committed another $100m towards Ukraine’s war efforts, with the assistance package announced by Defence Minister Richard Marles in a visit to Ukraine. It takes Australia’s total contribution since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to $880 million. As part of his trip, Marles also visited Poland, where he discussed Australia’s participation in a multinational program to train Ukrainian armed forces personnel in the UK.

• Iraq has criminalised same-sex relationships, introducing a maximum of a 15-year prison sentence if found guilty. According to a copy of the law seen by Reuters, the law is designed to “protect Iraqi society from moral depravity”, and was backed by Iraq’s large conservative coalition. The law also imposes a one to three-year prison sentence for anyone who changes their “biological gender”.

Recommendation of the day

I’ve got 1 minute

Woolworths has been fined more than $1.3 million for underpaying Victorian staff long service leave

Woolworths has been fined $1.3 million for underpaying some of its Victorian staff between $250 to $12,000 in long service leave.

The supermarket self-reported the underpayments to Victoria’s wages watchdog in 2022.

The magistrate said Woolworths, as one of the largest employers in Australia, should have an “infallible payroll systems in place”.

Long service leave

Long service leave is extended periods of annual leave a worker is entitled to when they’ve worked for the same employer for a significant amount of time.

In Victoria, workers are entitled to long service leave when they’ve worked somewhere continuously for more than seven years.

Woolworths

Woolworths started reviewing its payroll system in 2019. During this review, it found that it had possibly underpaid some staff their long service leave entitlements in Victoria.

Woolworths self-reported the possible underpayments to the state’s wages commissioner in 2022.

Meanwhile, the supermarket said it paid back affected workers what they were owed, including interest and superannuation.

Judge’s decision

Victorian Judge Nahrain Warda handed down her sentence to Woolworths – deciding to fine the company more than $1.3 million.

Judge Warda blamed the underpayments on “systemic and wide-spread payroll failures by Woolworths”.

She said the fine would have been even higher if Woolworths hadn’t self-reported and already pleaded guilty to underpaying long service leave.

I’ve got 2 minutes

A crisis meeting will be held to address the “devastating” rates of murdered and missing women in Australia

TW: domestic violence

Australian leaders have declared the rates of men’s violence against women a “national crisis”, prompting an emergency meeting of key figures to address the scale of gender-based violence. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has also called an emergency National Cabinet meeting for this Wednesday.

At least 27 women have died in Australia in 2024 in violent attacks, according to figures compiled by the research project group Counting Dead Women Australia.

This represents a significant increase from the same time period last year.

National Cabinet

Albanese has called an emergency National Cabinet meeting with the leaders of the state and territory governments.

In a post on X announcing the meeting, Albanese said there will be “one issue on the agenda: immediate, meaningful and practical action to address family violence.”

Crisis meeting

The Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commissioner Micaela Cronin has also called a crisis meeting for May 7 in response to the rising rates of gender-based violence.

The meeting will bring together decision-makers, academics, and key organisations addressing gender-based violence.

Amani Haydar, Tarang Chawla and Alison Scott – who have all lost women in their families due to gender-based violence – will also attend the meeting.

The national roundtable will specifically look at ways to deliver the Federal Government’s National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-2032.

The 10-year strategy aims to eradicate gendered violence through bettering prevention, early intervention, responses to violent incidents, and recovery.

The roundtable will also focus on the disproportionately high rates of violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women.

Government response

During the ‘No More: National Rally Against Gender Based Violence Rally’ in Canberra yesterday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said: “We’re here today to demand that governments of all levels must do better, including my own… We need to change the legal system. It’s not enough to support victims. We need to focus on the perpetrators, focus on prevention.”

Katy Gallagher, Federal Minister for Women, recently also said: “This is a crisis in this country and women don’t feel safe.... that’s 50 per cent of the population in this country who think about what it means to park your car in a dark space, what it means to walk by yourself, what it means to do anything by yourself.”

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has echoed these calls, saying “society is failing [women] at the moment”.

If you want to hear more about this, you can listen to today’s podcast.

1800 RESPECT

Call: 1800 737 732

Text: 0458 737 732

Video: 1800RESPECT.org.au

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Give me some good news

A new study has found that conservation projects and investments are slowing the overall decline of biodiversity.

Published in the journal Science, the study found that two-thirds of conservation efforts “either improved the state of biodiversity or at least slowed declines.” The study calls for conservation efforts to be scaled up in order “to meet global targets.”

TDA tidbit

A federal MP is shooting his shot to be on the 2024 Australian Olympic team. Literally!

Dan Repacholi is the member for the NSW seat of Hunter, and he’s currently trying to qualify for the Air Pistol men’s category.

This isn’t his first rodeo, with the Hunter MP having competed in five Olympics before, beginning with the 2004 Athens Games. The 41-year-old actually took home a gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games for the 50 metre Air Pistol.

He is now two qualifying rounds away from competing at the Paris Games.

Want more from The Daily Aus? Listen to our podcast!

It’s been labelled Australia’s ‘national shame’- so far this year, 27 women have been killed in acts of gender-based violence.

Now, the country’s Domestic Violence Commissioner is convening a crisis meeting of leaders from across the country to figure out what comes next. It comes as thousands marched in rallies over the weekend calling for stronger action.

On today's podcast, we’ll discuss the context, what the government is saying and what comes next in this national conversation about women's safety.

TDA asks