A standalone plan to end violence against Indigenous women and children would bring about “real change,” advocates say.

The federal government on Tuesday announced a 10-year plan to address Indigenous families, domestic violence and sexual violence. This aims to address the disproportionate rates experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women.

The plan will see more than $218 million spent over the next four years on a national network of Aboriginal community management organizations that provide professional support services to Indigenous communities.

Programs include mobile teams in remote areas to support families and provide emergency accommodation after incidents of violence, and support programs for men and boys to help change behavior and attitudes towards women.

Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek said specialized programs could bring about tangible change.

“This plan builds on decades of work and decades of calls from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women who have told us that solutions designed by them and delivered to their communities will make the biggest difference,” she told reporters in Canberra.

“This additional funding will provide new services to safely evacuate women trapped in remote and confined spaces, for example, if they need to leave an abusive relationship.”

Indigenous women are seven times more likely to be killed by their partner and 27 times more likely to be hospitalized due to family violence than non-Indigenous women. In rural communities, the rate is even higher, with Indigenous women 41 times more likely to be hospitalized as a result of family violence.

Aunty Muriel-Bamblett, co-chair of the 10-year plan’s steering committee and CEO of the Victorian Aboriginal Children’s Community Agency, said the strategy was critical to addressing disparities.

“We have to change the system: court procedures, police enforcement, the way justice is administered, housing and homelessness. [the] “The child protection system, all of that is going to change,” she told reporters, adding, “This plan is the first plan that we’ve actually written for us that will bring about real change.”

Katherine Liddle, chief executive of Indigenous advocacy group SNAICC, said the plan would help support families.

“We know that child removal is often the result of unaddressed harm, so preventing violence is a key element in reducing the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children entering out-of-home care systems,” she said.

“Child protection systems that respond after violence occurs are not enough. Safety starts earlier and is achieved through family support, healing, and culturally-rooted programs that keep children connected to their families and communities.”

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AAP