Women's Electoral Lobby, Australia

21/08/2026

40,087 reported sexual assault victims. In one year. The highest number Australia has ever recorded.

In 2024, recorded sexual assaults rose another 10%.

81% of victims were female.
39% were children and teenagers aged 10–17.

And in NSW, sexual assault reports have now increased for 13 consecutive years.

We have talked about consent.
We have strengthened laws.
We have watched change the public conversation.

So why are we still here?

Natassia Chrysanthos’s Sydney Morning Herald article is a powerful piece asking the question Australia cannot keep avoiding:

“This moment crystallises a very uncomfortable truth about sexual violence.”

Because this isn’t simply about individual scandals.

It’s about what happens in our schools, sporting clubs, friendship groups, homes and institutions — and the cultures of power, masculinity, silence and protection that surround them.

Changing the conversation mattered.

Now we have to change the culture.

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/this-moment-crystallises-a-very-uncomfortable-truth-about-sexual-violence-20260819-p60pt4.html

19/08/2026

Are you WEL-Informed?
Our August edition of WEL's feminist newsletter is available now!
https://www.wel.org.au/2026_wel_informed_august

14/08/2026

10/08/2026

WEL has made a submission to the NSW Legislative Council Committee on Community Services’ Inquiry on a NSW Human Rights Bill 2025.

You can read this submission and WEL's other submissions here - https://www.wel.org.au/submissions

06/08/2026

WEL has made a submission to the Second Action Plan under the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children, 2023-2032.

To read the submission, please visit the link below.

Independent, non-party political, feminist lobby group

05/08/2026

This week is Homelessness Week 2026 (3 August to 9 August). Women are particularly impacted by housing insecurity and homelessness, due to the effects of family and domestic violence, which is the leading cause of homelessness, combined with our economic and other disadvantage.

One way you can take action is to sign this petition from the Everybody's Home Campaign, WEL has long advocated for the need to significantly increase Australia’s social housing and worked in partnership with Everybody’s Home. We suggest you share the petition with others, too!

https://everybodyshome.com.au/end-homelessness/

28/07/2026

Jacinta Allen has stepped aside as Victorian Premier. Allan was the state's youngest-ever female MP when she was elected on the eve of her 26th birthday in 1999, and only the second woman to hold the top job.

Speaking this morning, she encouraged more women to enter politics.

"Please don't look at what I have experienced this week and think, 'Stuff that. I don't want to be involved,'" she said.

"Look at the support I've experienced over my career, and think, 'I can make a difference here too.'"

27/07/2026

CONTENT WARNING: death, violence

Our hearts go out to the loved ones and friends of these women 😢

A woman injured in a head-on crash in northern Tasmania after an alleged domestic violence incident has died in hospital.

26/07/2026

What is reproductive coercion?

Reproductive coercion is a form of domestic and family violence where someone uses pressure, manipulation, threats or control to influence another person’s reproductive choices.

It can include controlling decisions about pregnancy, contraception, abortion, or sexual health - taking away a person’s right to make choices about their own body and future.

Reproductive coercion can look like:
🚩 Pressuring someone to become pregnant or continue a pregnancy
🚩Pressuring or forcing someone to end a pregnancy
🚩Sabotaging contraception or refusing to use protection
🚩Threatening to leave, harm, or punish someone for their reproductive choices
🚩Controlling access to healthcare or speaking on someone’s behalf

Reproductive coercion is about power and control. It can form part of a wider pattern of abuse known as coercive control - a pattern of behaviours used over time to isolate, intimidate, frighten, threaten or control another person.

Everyone has the right to make decisions about their own body, health and future without fear, pressure or control.

🔎 Read the Marie Claire article: https://www.marieclaire.com.au/news/what-is-reproductive-coercion/

🔎 Learn more about coercive control and domestic and family violence on our website: https://wlsq.org.au/resource/coercive-control/

If you or someone you know needs support, help is available:

🚨In immediate danger? Call 000
📱DVConnect (24/7): 1800 811 811
📱1800RESPECT (24/7): 1800 737 732
📱13YARN (24/7): 13 92 76 (for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)
⚖️Free DFV legal help – WLSQ’s Statewide Helpline: 1800 957 957 (Mon–Fri 9 AM–4:30 PM)

23/07/2026

Pauline Hanson is proving her ignorance of the complex and nuanced family violence crisis in Australia, and a number of other issues that face women today. She has suggested women should just leave if they are in a violent relationship because it's a 'two way street'. Pauline continued, claiming that men were perennially disadvantaged by the family law system, labelling paid family and domestic violence leave a “holiday” and a “scam”, and said that child support had become a “cash cow” that should be wound back.

This is not the future Australian women deserve. WEL is committed to advocating for a safer, fairer and more equal future for Australian women and girls.