NSW government set for major $230 million funding push towards domestic violence prevention measures

The slow progress in hiring domestic violence workers in NSW has left victims vulnerable and sparked outrage among advocates.

Only five domestic violence frontline workers have been recruited in NSW out of 118, which the Minns government had committed to deliver by June 30 this year.

NSW Domestic Violence Prevention Minister Jodie Harrison admitted only a small number had been recruited with funding promised at last Federal election.

The Albanese Government’s election promise to roll out 500 extra workers by 2025 remains significantly behind schedule with only 101 – or 28 per cent – of the 352.43 full time equivalent positions states and territories agreed to recruit by June 30 nationwide.

On Monday Minister Harrison said only five had been hired in NSW, saying it was taking time to work out where the DV workers should go.

“There was a considerable amount of consultation with the federal government we needed to make sure where we were rolling out workers matched where they had previously committed workers,” she said.

“We also needed to make sure that we are putting workers in areas where they are most needed, so there was a considerable amount of work needed to be done to analyse where there were gaps.”

Premier Chris Minns at a march against domestic violence in Sydney last month. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

This comes as Premier Chris Minns announced the details of his $230 million domestic violence emergency package on Monday morning.

With tens of millions in the new package going towards recruiting new DV support staff in the justice system, the Premier admitted recruitment would be an issue.

“I freely admit that staffing for the sector is one of the primary challenges the government is facing,” he said.

Domestic Violence prevention charity, The Benevolent Society chief executive Lin Dodds said the whole sector was running with 20 per cent less staff then was needed and that there was a lack of funding for graduates training for those roles.

“It’s hard to attract and retain professional people,” she said.

“If we want more domestic violence workers on the ground we’ve got to tell our governments that we want them.

“It’s not a fast turn around, in terms of specialist domestic violence workers we don’t keep them on ice in a cool box somewhere… it’s training people.”

MINNS SET TO ANNOUNCE EMERGENCY $230M DV PREVENTION PACKAGE

The state’s domestic violence prevention sector will get a $230 million injection with the Minns government announcing the details of its emergency package to urgently reduce the rates of violence against women and children on Monday.

The nearly a quarter of a billion dollar package will be split between bolstering the sector and improving programs supporting women leaving violent relationships, early intervention and prevention and helping overhaul the state’s bail laws.

Among a suite of measures, $48 million will be spent on helping women stay safe in their homes by working with NSW Police to remove the perpetrator from the family home, thereby ensuring victim-survivors do not become homeless. The Staying Home Leaving Violence program is already in effect at select locations, with the new funding to expand it to be accessible across the state.

Part of the funding will also go towards expanding the Integrated Domestic and Family Violence Service, which provides help to victim-survivors trying to navigate the court system, housing and other government and private sector services.

Another $48 million will be spent on increasing funding for specialist workers who support young children who have fled home with their mothers. Additionally the NSW Domestic Violence crisis hotline will receive an extra $700,000.

Forbes woman Molly Ticehurst was allegedly murdered by her former partner last month.

Premier Chris Minns at the funeral of murder Forbes woman Molly Ticehurst. Picture: 9News

Primary prevention measures will also receive funding, with $38 million to go towards the implementation of the state’s first Primary Prevention Strategy. This will be tasked with developing a range of initiatives to combat the root causes of gendered and family violence. An additional $8.1 million will go towards an ‘All in’ early childhood pilot, which is designed to teach young children about healthy relationships.

The state’s family violence prevention peak body, Domestic Violence NSW will receive a $3.6 million boost, with the state’s workforce to get $5 million in additional training.

More than $24 million will go towards boosting the numbers of specialist domestic violence support workers within the justice system. An additional $5 million will go towards research into perpetrators and effective interventions.

The Minns government will also inject $45 million to overhaul bail laws, with the new funding to coincide with government plans to introduce legislation changing the way the justice system deals with domestic violence incidents. The government is expected to announce legislative changes to the state’s bail system in the coming weeks.

The package comes three days after a special state cabinet meeting held on Friday, at which government ministers heard from prominent advocates including former Australian of the Year Rosie Batty, NSW Women’s Safety Commissioner Hannah Tonkin and Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence Commissioner Marcia Neave.

Premier Chris Minns said the funding announcement was just the first step of planned reform.

“This funding announcement is an important step to doing better, to recognising that domestic violence supports need to be applied not just from a crisis response perspective, but with an eye to disrupting the cycle of domestic and family violence early and permanently,” he said.

The new funding comes as the NSW opposition prepares to introduce amendments to the state’s bail laws, including electronic tracking when parliament resumes this week.

“We know bail laws are not the entire answer to fighting domestic violence, and that we need a holistic approach,” Opposition leader Mark Speakman said.

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