Seeming as Fusion has policies that would change Australian society as a root level, some of these changes would inevitably affect relationships and in turn, domestic violence − an issue that continues to plague modern societies around the world.
Firstly, it's worth noting that with women being the typical victims of domestic violence, there's a relationship between domestic violence and the respect of women in wider society.
You'll notice in Fusion for instance, many of our candidates are women: https://www.fusionparty.org.au/candidates. Women also make up a chunk of our executive committee: https://www.fusionparty.org.au/our_party. We don't have any sort of quotas in our party.
But back to solving this societal issue, it feels like Fusion's approach is really the best strategy here − and it starts at deeply exploring underlying issues. You'll see in our housing policy for instance, we discuss how shifting more people from owning to renting will result in greater mobility for residents. There are also changes like removing stamp duty and creating a website for reviews of landlords and rental properties, further lowering the hassles involved in moving home. Adding 13 million spare rooms to the rental market will also help here.
If people can move easily, then it means they're not stuck there while they sense their relationship deteriorating. They can move before it ever gets to the stage of wanting some sort of emergency accommodation.
Another big policy area is universal basic income. By giving everyone a weekly income for housing and basic needs, we'd create a safety net for all, without the hoops. We'd lift people out of poverty and give them the financial freedom to escape abusive jobs or relationships. They'd have the freedom to retrain in new industries or to pursue more meaningful work. They'd have more time for family or volunteering.
It's worth noting that these policies aren't just about escaping more easily − they also serve to lower the stress on people that would've contributed to the original decline of the relationship. At the moment, the stress from renting is as bad for people's health as smoking!
You'll see that for healthcare, Fusion supports the inclusion of mental health into Medicare, and we support the treatment of alcoholism and other drug dependencies as health issues. This is consistent with our desire for drug decriminalisation. If people can easily access help for their various drug dependencies, then it will hopefully make it more likely that they get help instead of taking it out on those around them.
Our views around creating a more just society include focusing on rehabilitation and restorative justice, rather than just punishment. If we treat fellow Australians as having the ability to be upstanding members of our society, then it also means we can offer treatments voluntarily to non-criminals. Preventing crimes from happening in the first place. On this note, Fusion advocates for sex, gender and healthy relationship education to be included in the national school curriculum.
For our policies around Fair + Inclusive Society, you'll see that we start off by saying that the health, wellbeing, and productivity of Australia as a whole is dependent on the quality of the lives of people in society.
When we treat our citizens with compassion and give them the conditions for a successful life, then that's how they'll thrive.