Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has promised a further $4.7 billion in funding to help end the “national crisis” of violence against women and children, in a five year plan that includes funding 500 additional frontline family violence workers.
Albanese made the commitment following the National Cabinet meeting in Canberra this morning, with the funding commitment coming on top of “the already record funding that the commonwealth has committed for women’s safety and the work that states and territories are doing as well.”
Albanese said around $800 million will go to lifting funding to legal aid services, including providing better pay.
“Importantly, it will ensure as well that there is an uplift in pay parity for people working in community legal centres, which has been one of the issues that has been outstanding that will be addressed through this new agreement,” Albanese said.
The funding will also support new and “innovative” approaches for identifying and responding to high-risk perpetrators and for addressing the role of alcohol and gambling in violence.
Albanese said that “on many occasions”, the perpetrator is someone who had experienced family violence when they were younger. “How do we intervene to change that?” he asked. “How do we intervene to change the culture so that it is unacceptable.”
The National Cabinet also agreed on a “communique” to review alcohol laws, with the NSW Premier Chirs Minns noting that all states and territories are at “different places” but that the review across jurisdictions will help determine what works so that it can be applied to other areas.
Minns also noted that NSW is experiencing higher rates of domestic violence than Victoria, and that there are things to learn from the neighbouring state.
Victorian premier Jacinta Allan said that her state has seen success on addressing the issue by seeking to not merely change the system, but actually build a system, following lessons from the Royal Commission into the issue back in 2016. She said creating a system that puts women and children at the centre has helped, as has a stronger focus on prevention.
The five-year funding commitment will be focused on four areas of action, including supporting frontline services, a focus on perpetrators to stop violence from escalating, more support for children and young people who have experienced violence, and tackling the impacts of alcohol on violence.
The PM said that “every single premier and chief minister is committed to delivering” the 500 additional workers promised — despite previous issues with getting vacancies for such workers filled and with Queensland Premier Steven Miles telling reporters on Thursday that challenges in the labour market mean that “you cannot just magic these workers up.”
Albanese said they will provide “certainty” for organisations requiring the funds for frontline workers from 1 July 2025, and that “those legal services will benefit from certainly of knowing what is coming as they go forward.”
Albanese raised concerns about misogyny in schools and content shared online. He said he was briefed on how many Australians have seen misogynistic content from a “prominent” person in Europe, whom he refused to name. “It’s not just one individual, of course we know this is a scourge. It’s one of the things the eSafety Commissioner is very conscious of.”
Asked about calls for a total ban on gambling advertising — as recommended in the rapid review into violence against women — Albanese pointed to measures already being undertaken by his government on gambling.
At one point while taking questions from journalists, Albanese said he is “deliberately going to women before blokes”.
Following the National Cabinet meeting, a statement from the Prime Minister’s office noted that state and territory leaders have agreed to:
- Develop new national best practice family and domestic violence risk assessment principles and a model best practice risk assessment framework.
- Support enhancements to the National Criminal Intelligence System, which enables information sharing across jurisdictions, to provide a ‘warning flag’ that will assist police responding to high-risk perpetrators.
- Extend and increase nationally-consistent, two-way information sharing between the family law courts and state and territory courts, child protection, policing and firearms agencies.
- Strengthen system responses to high-risk perpetrators to prevent homicides by trialling new focussed deterrence models and Domestic Violence Threat Assessment Centres. These centres will be able to use intelligence, monitor individuals and intervene with those at high risk of carrying out homicide.
In a statement later shared by Albanese Government ministers, we learned that the Commonwealth funding outlined includes:
- $3.9 billion for frontline legal assistance services, delivered through a new National Access to Justice Partnership with the states and territories. This includes the $800 million in funding over five years for the legal assistance sector.
- $351 million over five years from 2025-26 for funding under a renewed, five-year National Partnership Agreement on Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence Responses frontline services, to be matched by states and territories.
- $169 million in targeted initiatives to support the National Plan and address gender-based violence, including $85 million in response to recommendations by Data and Digital Ministers, Attorneys-General and Police Ministers who identified key options for responding to high-risk perpetrators to prevent homicide and keep women safe.
- $80 million for boosting, enhancing and expanding child-centric trauma-informed supports for children and young people, including specific focus on First Nations children and young people and prioritise the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community-Controlled Sector, in line with Closing the Gap.
The statement also included a promise to establish national standards for men’s behaviour change, and an audit of key Commonwealth government systems to identify areas where they are being weaponised by perpetrators. The audit will include the child support, social security and tax systems.
This story is currently being updated.