Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has made a huge pledge to domestic violence. Picture: Mark Metcalfe/Getty

BILL Shorten will make the biggest campaign pledge to date, announcing $65 million for family violence services and elevating the topic to a core election issue.

The Labor leader will make an emotive vow to do all he can to make the living rooms of Australians safer as he highlights “shameful statistics that should shock us all into action” and foreshadows further spending pledges in the area before the July 2 poll.

“Violence against women is a national disgrace — eliminating it must be a national priority,” Mr Shorten told News Corp.

“As a nation we’ve made good progress in the recent past, we no longer look the other way — but there is much more for us to do.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said violence against women is a national disgrace. Picture: Mark Metcalfe/GettySource:Getty Images

“Increasing awareness and changing attitudes counts for a lot — but it is not the end of the road.

“We will not address violence in this country until we properly fund the people who are out there on the frontline.”

The announcement followed insights into his own childhood revealed in his book, For the Common Good: Reflections on Australia’s Future, where he wrote about being raised by an “old-fashioned” father who battled depression and was prone to “taking refuge in the drink”.

“I can’t pretend there wasn’t conflict at home,” he wrote.

“Dad was never physically violent towards Mum, but there were plenty of arguments and, looking back, I can see that a permanent undercurrent of tension persisted in our home life.”

After a week spent solidly campaigning around education, the announcement will see Mr Shorten’s campaign shift to another key social issue and comes two days after the Government spruiked $30 million for frontline legal services tackling family violence.

The Labor money, over six years, will go to 1800RESPECT, Our Watch and Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS) to give funding certainty to 2021-22 under the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children.

More than $30 million will go to frontline services to make sure women calling for help are not met with a dial tone as greater public commentary around family violence leads to surges in calls to the national 1800RESPECT line.

Nearly $7 million will fund continuing ANROWS research around the causes, factors and consequences of family violence and how it can be prevented.

The rest will go to advocacy group Our Watch to build community awareness that certain behaviours are not to be tolerated.

“Family violence demands greater attention and greater effort from all of us — and Labor will have more to say about our policies in the course of this campaign,” he said.

“Labor will protect every woman’s right to be safe at work, at home and in her community.”

Mr Shorten has previously promised to introduce domestic and family violence leave as a universal workplace right, the same as sick leave.