‘Not enough’: Budget fails to invest in ending violence against women and children

Of all the budget measures Jim Chalmers announced to combat Australia’s cost of living, there was one crisis he overlooked – with devastating consequences.

In his final federal budget before Australians head to the polls, Jim Chalmers announced a raft of measures aimed at combating the challenges wrought by our ongoing cost of living crisis.

Yet furious experts, advocates and frontline workers have pointed to one “serious” cost the Treasurer once again overlooked — with potentially fatal consequences: that of living with gendered violence.

Already in 2025, nine women have lost their lives allegedly as a result of men’s violence against women, according to Destroy the Joint’s Counting Dead Women Australia project.

Last year, per Destroy the Joint, there were 79 – making it the worst 12 months on record for gendered violence in Australia since 2016. The statistics equated to approximately one woman being (allegedly) killed every four days by a former or current partner – throwing into sharp relief the effectiveness of the response systems – including police and courts – meant to keep women safe, and the dire lack of funding appointed to critical specialist domestic, family and sexual violence response services.

Any hope those in the sector or victim-survivors had that 2025-26 budget would finally introduce an investment in frontline services equivalent to the scale of the crisis itself was squandered, however, on Tuesday night.

Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers. Picture: NewsWire/Martin Ollman

“If the Commonwealth Government is serious about addressing (gendered violence), it should have shown it tonight – but what we saw was previously announced commitments,” Phillip Ripper, CEO of Australia’s peak body for organisations working with men to end family violence, No to Violence, said.

“This was called the ‘cost of living’ budget. But the budget ignored the cost of men’s family violence and the cost of women and children living in fear. That’s what tens of thousands of women and children are doing tonight.”

The government’s investments in improving access in the family law system for victim-survivors and addressing family, domestic and sexual violence for First Nations communities are both welcome, Tania Farha, CEO of the peak body for Victorian organisations that specialise in family and gender-based violence, Safe and Equal, said.

Yet the repeated pleas for crisis funding to finally meet demand have on deaf ears – with no new investment in services and interventions for perpetrators of gendered violence.

“Victim survivors deserve better. Women and children deserve better,” Ms Farha said.

“It’s disappointing that the Commonwealth Government decided to address the cost of beer rather than increase support for victim-survivors.”

A raft of measures to combat cost of living challenges were announced in the 2025-26 budget. Picture: NewsWire/Gaye Gerard

“Frontline domestic, family and sexual violence services have repeatedly told us they are stretched beyond capacity,” professor at Monash University, Dr Kate Fitz-Gibbon, told news.com.au.

“On the ground, this means turning away women and children in crisis due to a lack of resources to cater to demand.

“Disappointingly, this budget does not provide the level of funding needed to meet that demand, let alone allow services to expand and improve their capacity.”

Given 2 in 5 Australian women have experienced violence since the age of 15, the budget “falls short of delivering the comprehensive whole-of-spectrum funding that is needed from prevention to early intervention, response and through to recovery and healing”, Dr Fitz-Gibbon added.

“Incremental funding is not enough. The Federal Government has recognised violence against women and children is a national crisis,” she said.

“There are important conversations underway about the need to engage young men and boys in prevention, early interventions, response, recovery and healing efforts.

“This is a critical piece of the puzzle, yet this federal budget misses the opportunity to demonstrate a real commitment to this essential work.”

Heading into the federal election – which Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is tipped to call as early as Friday for May 3 – Safe and Equal has urged all parties to prioritise increased investment in frontline specialist family violence services and primary prevention and early intervention initiatives, and address the ongoing housing crisis, in their election platforms.

“Preventing violence is a long game, and to do this work effectively we need sustainable planning and investment across the nation, rather than just piecemeal handouts,” Ms Farha said.

“Meaningfully addressing family violence requires a national, co-ordinated approach; one that provides adequate investment across the board and recognises that change takes time – it’s never going to be a ‘one-and-done’ exercise.

“At the end of the day, this isn’t about politics. Victim-survivors and the people working to support them just want and deserve action and investment from our leaders – regardless of which side of the room it comes from.”

Originally published as ‘Not enough’: Budget fails to invest in ending violence against women and children