By Henry Ea -
The NSW Government has unveiled a half-billion-dollar justice system package in the upcoming 2025-26 Budget, aiming to bolster support for victim-survivors and enhance community safety across the state. While the package includes significant investments in judicial infrastructure and victim support services, concerns are mounting over the adequacy of funding for frontline domestic, family, and sexual violence services.
A key part of the announcement is an additional $227 million over five years for the Victims’ Support Service, providing crucial counselling and financial aid. Sydney’s judicial system will see substantial upgrades with the refurbishment of the Downing Centre and John Madison Tower, creating at least 15 new courtrooms. This includes a $49.4 million vulnerable persons court hub, anticipated to open by late 2027. This specialised hub aims to reduce trauma for victim-survivors of sexual, family, and domestic violence by facilitating remote testimony via video link and offering essential support services.
Premier Chris Minns highlighted its impact, stating it will allow “vulnerable victim-survivors to testify from a different location than their perpetrator” and “make a major difference, especially for women and children who have mustered the courage to give evidence.”
Law Society of NSW President Jennifer Ball praised the $34.5 million investment in new courtrooms, noting the ongoing need for greater investment in justice infrastructure to meet growing demands and technological advancements. She believes the new courtrooms will help “speed justice for defendants and complainants.”
Ball also welcomed the investments into early intervention measures to support victim-survivors of domestic, family and sexual violence, and the provision of funding certainty to organisations providing services to these vulnerable people.
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions will receive $48.3 million for additional solicitors to facilitate more prosecutions. An additional $12.8 million is allocated to reduce stress and trauma for child complainants and witnesses in sexual offence proceedings, supporting 15 staff in the Child Sexual Offence Evidence Program for pre-recorded evidence. Attorney General Michael Daley affirmed that these investments prioritise community safety and access to justice, while Minister for Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Jodie Harrison stated the funding “lays the foundation for long-term reform that the sector has been crying out for.”
The package also includes $2.3 million for reforms to the NSW Victims Registers, ensuring eligible victims receive mandatory notifications about offenders. Corrective Services NSW will receive $100.5 million to manage the increased number of alleged offenders, particularly those on remand due to new domestic violence bail laws.
Ball welcomed the strengthening of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions with more solicitors but added that the Law Society will examine the NSW Budget when it is delivered to “determine whether sufficient funding will also be allocated to Legal Aid NSW and Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT) to meet the significant extra demand new prosecutors will have on the criminal justice system.”
She also raised alarm about the NSW Government’s policies driving up incarceration rates, especially for unconvicted defendants. Ball emphasised that “bulging prisons don’t make safer, thriving communities,” advocating for investment in health, housing, education, and social services to reduce crime.
Concerns over frontline service funding
A significant portion of the Budget, $272.7 million, is earmarked for frontline domestic, family, and sexual violence services. This includes $9.3 million for Serious Domestic Abuse Prevention Orders and $11.2 million for long-term reforms, such as five-year contracts for most support services, new risk assessment approaches, a Domestic and Family Violence (DFV) Workforce Strategy, a Data Strategy, and an Aboriginal Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence plan.
Despite these allocations, advocates warn that current funding levels are insufficient to meet soaring demand. Delia Donovan, CEO of Domestic Violence NSW (DVNSW), stated that much of the $272.7 million appears to be a continuation of existing funding rather than a new investment. “We are deeply concerned about the future of domestic violence services in NSW,” Donovan said, highlighting that victim-survivors are waiting up to two months for support.
DVNSW has consistently called for a 50 per cent increase to baseline funding over five years, a need Donovan says has been overlooked. While acknowledging the positive steps of longer-term reforms, Donovan stressed that these “important building blocks” do not address the immediate crisis faced by stretched services, which are “operating on outdated funding models that don’t come close to covering today’s costs.”
Donovan pointed to the sector’s historical underfunding, stating, “For too long, our sector has been expected to be grateful for small wins while carrying the weight of a growing crisis.” She added that the current announcement “falls millions of dollars short of the funding we put forward.” DVNSW also emphasised that justice responses are only part of the solution, as many victim-survivors cannot or will not engage with the justice system but still require access to safe housing, financial assistance, and trauma-informed services.
“The specialist domestic and family violence services are often the first, or only, point of support for victim-survivors,” Donovan stated, warning that without adequate investment, victim-survivors may not seek support at all. DVNSW urges the NSW Government to “listen – really listen – to the voices of victim-survivors, and the frontline workers saving lives every day,” stressing that ending domestic and family violence requires adequately resourcing these critical services.
The Budget is expected to be delivered on 24 June.
