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Labor has pledged to halve violence against women and girls (VAWG) over the next decade. As part of that effort, the government has made consuming liquor a specific criminal offense and will train thousands of bar staff to deal with it.

Jess Phillips, Minister for Security and VAWG, has told us that making spiking a specific offense will prevent the system surrounding the crime from becoming ‘confusing’ and will ‘raise its profile within police forces to ensure ensure that peak incidents are taken seriously. and it can be acted upon.”

In addition, training will be provided to bar staff “to assist in gathering evidence, to help support victims and to identify perpetrator behavior to prevent it”.

When asked what the maximum penalty should be for spiking someone’s drink, Ms Phillips said this would be decided as part of a wider review of sentencing.

“But look, I think that if someone deliberately tries to harm another person, to humiliate them, to cause them suffering, and even to immobilize them for other crimes – very severe penalties should be imposed,” she said.

But regardless of the punishment, she wants people to have “the confidence to come forward,” in addition to “detection rates being better and police responses actually coping.”

The Minister went on to say that she is speaking to us from a pub that is “two minutes away from part of the night-time economy where I pictured my friend many years ago. completely incapacitated on the floor of the toilets”.

But training staff to detect perpetrator behavior and intervene is “something that will actually change women’s experiences of the night-time economy”.

“This isn’t just about, you know, making sure people stay in jail long enough. I want women to feel safe when they are out and about.

“I don’t want them to have to question safety planning with their friends, which everyone has to do.”