Overview
- The prime minister told Hobart’s Hit 100.9 in a Tuesday interview that a royal commission would “do nothing besides fund lawyers,” prompting immediate criticism from campaigners and victims’ families.
- A petition run by The Red Heart Movement has passed more than 90,000 signatures calling for a royal commission into femicide and has continued to grow since the interview.
- Public anger rose after recent fatal domestic-violence incidents, including a charged Campbelltown case in which a man is accused of killing a woman and two boys, which advocates cited as evidence of urgent failure.
- The government points to roughly $4.4 billion in measures, a $100 million crisis accommodation pledge, 10 days paid domestic violence leave and a $5,000 leaving-violence payment as proof it prefers direct investment over a formal inquiry.
- The sector is divided because many reviews already exist and advocates say a royal commission could expose systemic failures in policing, courts and funding while critics warn it could delay action and divert money from frontline services; government data shows a woman was killed by an intimate partner every 11 days in 2024–25.