Reducing rates of violence against women and children will have the backing of two national plans agreed to by federal, state and territory governments.

For the first time, targets for ending violence will be set, including a 25 per cent annual reduction in female victims of intimate partner homicide.

Ending violence will require a change in attitudes and the plan also sets targets for encouraging more people across the community to reject violence against women.

A dedicated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander action plan charts a path to reducing, and ultimately ending, pervasive rates of family, domestic and sexual violence in Indigenous communities.

It is the first dedicated plan which acknowledges that underlying causes of violence in First Nations communities are different to those for non-Indigenous Australians, and was developed in partnership with Indigenous advisory bodies.

One in three Australian women has experienced violence by a partner, other known person or a stranger after the age of 15.

Indigenous women are 34 times more likely to be hospitalised because of violence than non-Indigenous women, report three times as many incidents of sexual violence and are more likely to be killed due to assault.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men also experience extremely high rates of violence, both as children and as adults.

Independent senator Lidia Thorpe welcomed the dedicated action plan for Indigenous Australians.

“Our needs are different and we need to have a dedicated resource and plan to stamp out not only gender-based violence, but the racism that comes with that when we seek help,” she told ABC Radio.

Governments at all levels have committed to develop resources to address coercive control, provide services in prisons and detention centres for Indigenous people who are victims and perpetrators of family violence and bolster trauma-informed models of support.

An Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men’s advisory body will be established to provide leadership on issues such as family violence, gender equality, programs and services for men, boys and men’s issues in general.

A national peak body for Indigenous family safety will also be established and the Commonwealth will investigate the feasibility of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence Commissioner.

Governments also committed to funding education and training on family and sexual violence for community workers, health professionals and those in the justice sector.

Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth said she wasn’t scared of being ambitious when it came to ending violence against women.

She said governments were also committed to prevention measures and supports for women who escaped a violent home.

“Early intervention is critical, not just for a woman that may be a victim survivor, but early intervention for men as well … to change behaviour,” she told ABC Radio.

“It will take more than just governments, it will take businesses, education institutions right across the board, there’s got to be a whole of societal effort.

“But by having our actions set out, our investment and the goal we’re working towards, I think it is realistic that we can achieve it.”

13YARN 13 92 76

Aboriginal Counselling Services 0410 539 905

1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)

Lifeline 13 11 14

National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028

– AAP