Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe has called out the federal government on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women for "actively fuelling and funding the culture of violence against women, girls, queers, my sister girls and brother boys".

The Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung senator said whilst Labor had labelled ongoing violence against women a "national crisis," they had failed to mention their own role in perpetuating a culture that breeds violence.

Citing statistics that at least 86 women have died in alleged domestic violence related incidents this year, she said she would continue to "call out the hypocrisy of this government as women are continually murdered without consequence".

"This violence is no accident, and it is far from random," Senator Thorpe said.

"It is deeply embedded in how this government, and society as an extension, operates; a continuation of the violent processes of colonisation that have never ended.

"How can we talk about ending violence against women when this government provides diplomatic, financial and military support to those who bomb, rape and pillage the homes of families overseas, all the while locking up First Nations mothers and children here at home—even handcuffing them while giving birth."

National Indigenous Times previously reported many mothers have their children taken from them by authorities at birth, with hundreds of "unborn notifications" - a mark against an expecting mother's name by a government official or police officer, often for minor or unproven reasons - made against Aboriginal mothers in Victoria each year.

Yoorrook Justice Commissioner Sue-Anne Hunter previously noted the unborn notifications result in one in five children being removed before they are three months old.

At the recent Yoorrook hearings, the Victorian Aboriginal legal Service's (VALS) managing lawyer, Emily Yates, said the organisation saw a significant number of women incorrectly accused of family violence, which often resulted in child protection intervening.

In a horrific catch-22, VALS' chief executive Nerita Waight said a lack of refuges meant women often don't report family violence out of a fear of losing their children.

Senator Thorpe said the federal government shapes its economy to "benefit from human suffering," with politicians who "wring their hands over violent porn while defunding public housing—leaving women and children with nowhere to escape".

Labor previously called violence against women a 'national crisis' but failed to mention their role in perpetuating the culture breeding this violence.

I will continue to call out the hypocrisy of this government as women are continually murdered without consequence. pic.twitter.com/GcIRm3pfcx

— Senator Lidia Thorpe (@SenatorThorpe) November 25, 2024

On Monday, NT Coroner Elisabeth Armitage said the killings of four Aboriginal women by their partners was part of a "plague" of domestic violence homicides contributing to a "national shame".

Their deaths were described as "truly shocking" by counsel assisting Peggy Dwyer SC in her submission, with at least 83 women having been killed by domestic violence in the Territory since 2000—more than 90 per cent being Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women.

Earlier on Monday, Minister for Indigenous Australians, Malarndirri McCarthy, said First Nations women are 33 times more likely to be hospitalised due to family and domestic violence than non-Indigenous women.

"Addressing the disproportionately high rates of family violence experienced by First Nations women and children requires a concerted effort," Senator McCarthy said.

"The Albanese Government is committed to working with First Nations people and organisations as we develop the standalone National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Family Safety Plan."

In just the past five months, another eight women from the NT have been killed in alleged domestic violence attacks—all Indigenous.

Nationally, at least 315 First Nations women have been murdered or died in suspicious circumstances since 2000.

Earlier this year, a landmark senate inquiry into missing and murdered First Nations women and children called for a review of policing practices, as well as a First Nations role at the Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commission and changes to the way the media reports on First Nations deaths.

It was delivered to a near-empty Senate and wasn't reported in the national broadsheet or many of the tabloid papers across the country.

Highlighting data from Victoria specifically, Antoinette Braybrook from family violence prevention service Djirra said Aboriginal women are 45 times more likely to experience family violence – perpetrated by men from all backgrounds – than other women; 69 times more likely to experience a head injury while being assaulted; and 10 times more likely to be killed by someone who says they love you.

Senator Thorpe said the "hypocrisy" was evident when laws were passed "blaming sex workers for society's ills," whilst simultaneously "ignoring the gendered, racialized and economic violence that governs our lives".

"Safety comes from liberation, not domination," she said.

"It means dismantling the systems that keep us in fear, the endless war machine, the cages called prisons and the unchecked power of police. It means listening to First Nations women, to migrant women, to trans women, to sex workers to all those lives and labour [that] are erased and exploited."