The NSW government must finally meet the calls of the expert DFV sector and fund the frontline

The calls from the expert DFV sector to fund the frontline have gone ignored by successive governments for far too long. Today in Parliament, Abigail gave a motion recognising DVNSW's pre-budget submission for the 2026-27 NSW Budget, calling on the NSW government to finally fund the DFV frontline.

Abigail said:

I give notice that on the next sitting day I will move:

(1) That this House notes that:

Domestic Violence NSW (DVNSW), the peak body for specialist domestic and family violence services in NSW with approximately 200 member organisations across the state and diverse lived expertise advisory groups, launched their pre-budget submission on Wednesday 12 November 2025 for the 2026-27 NSW Budget;
DVNSW’s key ask ahead of next year’s budget is for the NSW government to “prioritise a 50 percent core funding increase for all specialist domestic and family violence services, so that frontline services have sufficient resourcing to meet demand ($177.4 million increase from 2024-25)”;
every year for over five years, the number one ask of the sector has been for the NSW government to prioritise a 50 percent increase in core baseline funding for frontline services;
demand for the services delivered by the expert specialist domestic and family violence sector continues to grow rapidly; despite this, investment from the NSW government in the sector’s core funding has not increased in line with demand;
DVNSW has also called for targeted investment in various areas including specific programs, services and strategies ahead of each state budget, however the peak body has repeatedly emphasised that an uplift in core funding is the most crucial thing the NSW government can and must do to help frontline services meet demand; and
after the 2025-26 NSW Budget was released, DVNSW CEO Delia Donovan said in the media “we are deeply concerned about the future of domestic violence services in NSW. For too long, our sector has been carrying the weight of a growing crisis. We are historically overlooked, chronically underfunded, and expected to do more with less. Today’s announcement falls millions of dollars short of the funding we put forward to respond to the scale, and urgency, of the domestic and family violence crisis in NSW. It's time for reasonable and sustained investment in existing services. It’s time to fund the baseline”.

(2) That this House thanks Domestic Violence NSW for relentlessly advocating on behalf of victim-survivors and the entire domestic and family violence sector for government investment in what we know will turn the domestic and family crisis around and keep women and children safe.

(3) That this House calls on the NSW government to finally meet the calls of the expert domestic and family violence sector, and commit to providing a permanent and significant increase in core baseline funding for existing frontline services in the 2026-27 NSW Budget.

20 November 2025

A UNIVERSAL WELLBEING PAYMENT FOR NSW

No matter who you are or what you do, everyone has the right to share in the wellbeing of our country.

But at the moment the essentials so many of us need – a place to call home, food on the table, and everyday essentials like electricity, internet, medicine and water – are simply out of reach.

Instead of supporting us, our government is choosing to prop up huge corporations with massive subsidies, and to give away our collective wealth through record tax cuts for the wealthy. Meanwhile, the rest of us are left to live paycheck to paycheck or trapped in the dehumanising bureaucracy of our existing welfare system.

Now, in the midst of a pandemic, and following quickly on the heels of the bushfire crisis, more of us than ever before are experiencing what it’s like to lose our jobs, be without a home, or worry about where the food for our next meal will come from.

It’s time for us to choose to prioritise the wellbeing of everyone.

And that’s exactly what the Universal Wellbeing Payment will do.

It’s a regular payment made to each of us to ensure our minimum standard of wellbeing. No means testing, no bureaucracy, no strings attached.

It’s the amount you’re owed simply for being a participant in our society.

It means you are free to live your life and contribute to society as you see fit, whether you’re a carer, an artist, a student, a parent, an entrepreneur – you can get on with what you need to do, knowing that you will always be supported regardless of your income.

It means that we’re choosing to structure our economy for the benefit of all of us, not using our collective wealth to prop up the interests of big business and the wealthy few.

It means you will always have what you need to live a good life, no matter what.

The Universal Wellbeing Payment is for everyone. Help us make it happen.

For more information, head to universalwellbeingpayment.com.au

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The NSW government must finally meet the calls of the expert DFV sector and fund the frontline

A UNIVERSAL WELLBEING PAYMENT FOR NSW

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