Prime Minister Tony Abbott has been talking tough on terrorism again.

On Monday, he unveiled a shiny new counter-terrorism policy involving a national coordinator, new measures to “clamp down on” religious hatred and amendments to the Australian Citizenship Act. These elaborate measures, coupled with his persistent decrying of the “ISIS death cult ” and the $632 million in extra funding he poured into counter-terror agencies in the last budget, make one thing perfectly clear: The Prime Minister wants to frame terrorism as the most deadly threat facing Australia.

Related content: Tony Abbott’s national security statement.

But there’s just one problem with his priorities. While he’s investing copious amounts of money and resources into counter-terror measures, he’s close to ignoring another truly frightening security problem closer to home: Family violence.

“We’ve lost 14 women already this year to violence. Just because this violence is not public, doesn’t mean it’s not a public issue.”

University of Melbourne social work professor Cathy Humphreys says it’s “absolutely critical” the government starts to pay domestic violence the same level of attention we pay national security concerns.

“Why don’t we pay some attention to intimate partner terrorism? If only they had the same sense of crisis about intimate partner terrorism,” Professor Humphreys, the former Alfred Felton Chair of child and family welfare, tells Mamamia.

“We’ve lost 14 women already this year to violence.”

Related content: Family violence has claimed another life.

One woman dies on average each week from the domestic violence epidemic, and more than a million women have experienced physical or sexual assault by their male current or ex-partner since the age of 15, according to 2005 ABS figures.

Women’s Services Network Australia chair Julie Oberin has also described domestic violence levels to Fairfax Media  as “a national disaster”.

Women’s Services Network Australia chair Julie Oberin has described domestic violence levels to Fairfax Media as “a national disaster”.

Despite those frightening figures, Mr Abbott’s allotted $632 million in extra counter-terror agency funding stands in stark contrast to the $300 million he defunded domestic violence in last year’s budget.

That defunding was despite the fact that family violence costs the Australian economy billions of dollars annually — in 2011, the figure was over $13 billion — meaning that to eradicate the issue would increase economic and political stability.

Last year’s budget was also the first since 1984 to fail to produce a women’s budget impact statement.

Read more: “This is how to get a domestic violence order-if you need one”

Professor Humphreys criticises the government’s failure to recommit to the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness, which funds community organisations to assist domestic violence victims to find safe accommodation.

“We still need housing services, both crisis as well as move-on housing,” she said. “We don’t have a housing agreement past June, so how are women supposed to leave?

“The lack of clear commitment in that area is unravelling the sector and therefore the lives of women and their children.”

“The lack of clear commitment in the area of housing is unravelling the sector and therefore the lives of women and their children.”

Ms Oberin told Mamamia women’s refuges, shelters and outreach services were desperately in need of help.

“(They) are already turning women and children away and/or have increasingly longer waiting lists,” she says. “Front line crisis services are putting more and more women up in hotels and caravan parks.”

Some of the women who have lost their lives to family violence or alleged family violence. Post continues after gallery:

Leila Alavi. Her estranged husband has been charged with murder.

Leila Alavi. Her estranged husband has been charged with murder.

Nikita Chawla. Her husband has been charged with murder.

Nikita Chawla. Her husband has been charged with murder.

Lisa Harnum died after falling from the 15th floor of an apartment in Sydney last year.

Andrea Pickett, a mother of 13 was killed by her estranged husband in 2009.

Elsa Corp, 26, was found in a hotel room after being killed by David Clifford in 2010.

vana Ukropina, 29, was found on the footpath outside her Kingsford home, an alleged victim of family violence.

Margaret Tannous, 47, was brutally attacked by her husband, George Tannous, in their Bankstown apartment.

Keeli Dutton, 41, was stabbed to death in her apartment in Miller, NSW, by a 49-year-old man believed to be in a de facto relationship with her on the 26th November 2013.

Marika Ninness, 35, died two weeks after being attacked in December, 2013.

Christie Camilleri, 32, was stabbed to death in a Guildford granny flat on 5th December, 2013.

Victoria Comrie Cullen, 39, was a mother of three whose body was found in a Sutherland Shire car park. Pictured with a former work colleague.

Kerry Michael. Her husband has been charged with murder.

Kerry Michael. Her husband has been charged with murder.

Ruth Dodd. Her daughter has been charged with murder.

Ruth Dodd. Her daughter has been charged with murder.

Rinabel Tiglao. Her partner has been charged with murder.

Rinabel Tiglao. Her partner has been charged with murder.

Fabiana Palhares. Her ex-partner has been charged with her murder.

Fabiana Palhares. Her ex-partner has been charged with her murder.

Adele Collins. Her ex-partner has been charged with murder.

Adele Collins. Her ex-partner has been charged with murder.

Ainsur Isamgul. Her husband has been charged with murder.

Ainsur Isamgul. Her husband has been charged with murder.

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