Jenny Leong MP, Greens spokesperson for Women’s Rights is urgently calling on the Premier to reinstate the Minister for the Prevention of Sexual Assault and for consent laws to be strengthened in NSW.

In the NSW Cabinet reshuffle of March 2019, the Premier chose to allocate the ‘Prevention of Domestic Violence’ responsibilities to the Attorney General, while the ‘Prevention of Sexual Assault’ element of this previous portfolio was abandoned and is no longer a named portfolio.

UPDATE 23 May 2021:

Great work! Our collective campaigning is working! News reports today are suggesting that the NSW Attorney General will be bringing forward his plans for overhauling consent laws in NSW to cabinet this week - and that details are likely to be revealed as early as Tuesday.

We know that the Liberal/National Government is dominated by conservative men - so we need keep the pressure up.

In the coming weeks there will be much debate over the details of the Bill, and the chance to push for amendments to ensure it delivers on our demands for enthusiastic consent.

Add your voice to this petition demanding strong, enthusiastic consent law reforms in NSW - and to keep connected with our continued campaign.

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Right now in NSW the laws that we have to respond to sexual assaults are woefully inadequate. The way that ‘consent’ is defined within the NSW Crimes Act makes it possible, and even probable that Police, Courts and Juries will rely on false and outdated ‘rape myths’ to decided whether or not an assault has taken place. As a result, conviction rates are extremely low and people who experience sexual assault often don’t report it because they know they won’t get justice.  

The NSW Attorney General knows this is a problem, but three years after he admitted to it, changes still haven’t been made.

We urge you to sign on in support of our letter urging him to act to reform consent laws now. 

The path to this reform is clear - a report commissioned by the Attorney General himself agrees with key experts, stakeholders and survivors that we need to apply a communicative model of consent within the Crimes Act. This alone won’t solve rape culture, toxic masculinity and the patriarchy, but it will go a long way to ensuring justice for those who have been raped or have experienced sexual assault.

Tell the Attorney General to strengthen consent laws now.

Read the full letter here.

Jenny Leong MP, Greens Member for Newtown has called on the government to urgently act to criminalise coercive control.

Crucial amendments have been made by the Legislative Council to the Stronger Communities Legislation Amendment (Domestic Violence) Bill 2020. These amendments will go a long way to improve the outcomes for victim survivors of domestic and family violence in the State. 

Greens Member for Newtown, Jenny Leong MP has welcomed government reforms which strengthen protections for victim-survivors of domestic and family violence during court processes.

Jenny Leong MP welcomed proposed amendments that would cover situations where someone threatens to use a person's image, aka 'revenge porn'. Currently, this is not an offence and there are no proceedings or take-down orders available in relation to threats around this. This fix is very welcome and will have a huge impact on many people's lives.

Jenny Leong MP made a Private Members' Statement in Parliament to draw attention to the increased risk or poverty and homelessness that older women are currently facing. She called on the Government to act to address this growing crisis, as older women's homelessness is often invisible or overlooked.

Internationally acclaimed artist Wendy Sharpe has just finished a brand new mural dedicated to women's empowerment, right in the heart of Newtown.

Jenny Leong MP, Member for Newtown, spoke to Parliament to draw attention to World Breastfeeding Week and the 2020 theme which is encouraging everyone to 'support breastfeeding for a healthier planet'. 

I know we are in the middle of a pandemic and things are really intense, but it’s also Fashion Revolution Week. So to try to break up the endless virus content, we have let Tommie Mag take over our instagram.