In the Top End and Big Rivers Regions, we’re at a breaking point.
At the Top End Women’s Legal Service (TEWLS) and Katherine Women’s Information and Legal Service (KWILS), our dedicated and passionate teams work tirelessly on the domestic violence frontline, but the demand for our specialist services has already outstripped our capacity.
We know the Northern Territory (NT) has the highest rate of domestic and family violence assaults in the country. Evidence heard in the recent Coronial into the murder of four Aboriginal Territorian women tells us that domestic homicide in the NT in 2021 was seven times higher than the national average, and domestic assaults were five times higher than any other jurisdiction. It showed Aboriginal women in the NT are 40 times more likely to be hospitalised for domestic violence. Emergency departments across the NT are now reporting increasing numbers of injuries due to family and domestic violence, many now including weapons.
Just last week in Darwin, another woman was tragically killed at the hands of men’s violence. A similar story echoes in Katherine only weeks ago.
Police statistics tell us Katherine women are some of the least safe in the country, with rates of domestic violence assault in Katherine being five times that of any other state or territory.
We know the real numbers of violence against women in both the Top End and Big Rivers Regions are much greater than those reported officially – police statistics don’t include unreported incidents. They don’t account for other forms of domestic violence. They don’t reflect the times that police did not have the resources to respond. They fail to tell the full story of the ongoing impact of colonisation and institutional and systemic racism.
The Top End and Big Rivers Regions together span a geographical area of some 605,000km2 – more than 2.6 times the size of Victoria. We are home to 68 per cent of the entire NT population, including women who experience significant vulnerabilities like remoteness, poverty, homelessness, disability, and past traumas, including intergenerational trauma. Most women we help present with multiple legal problems and are forced to navigate a legal system that is outside of their cultural framework, language, or experience.
Women’s Legal Services exist to provide these women high quality, trauma informed, and culturally safe legal and support services. We exist to improve the lives of women. We support and respond to women and their children’s diverse needs in their experiences of domestic, family and sexual violence. Our sole focus is on gender equity and creating positive change for women across the community. Yet, two years after the Albanese Government pledged to end violence against women and children within a generation, our centres continue to experience chronic underfunding.
Across Australia, Women’s Legal Services are turning away more than 52,000 women every single year.
That’s 1,000 women each week, turning up to our doors in crisis and being sent away because we simply cannot meet the increasing demand for our services. Last month, one in three women seeking help from TEWLS had to be turned away.
The pressure is immeasurable, as we have repeatedly and loudly told the Federal and Territory Government. Perhaps we haven’t been clear enough.
If Australia is to become a world leader in gender equity and equality, there must be Territory and Federal recognition that access to our specialised legal assistance for women, is key. That recognition must and can only come from substantial and significant investment across the specialist domestic, family and sexual violence sector, including significant funding uplifts to Women’s Legal Services like ours.
We help women leave violent relationships safely. We guide women in making informed and safe decisions for the benefit of themselves and their children. We act across multiple legal matters so that our clients only tell their stories once. We enable women to be active participants in navigating a justice system that was not designed to empower them, nor respond to the complexities of family and domestic violence. We empower women to build safer and more secure futures.
This is the support every woman deserves, but we can’t provide.
We know the current funding model for Women’s Legal Services is woefully inadequate; our workers are dedicated and resilient, but they cannot continue to operate under such extreme pressure without adequate resources and recognition of the actual cost of delivering our services.
We know the Federal May budget failed to invest in our services, despite declaring a women’s safety crisis. We know that in June 2025, when the current National Legal Assistance Partnership ends, there is no commitment for additional funding for Women’s Legal Services, meaning we will continue to turn away 1,000 women every week.
What will it take to consider whether the National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children is working? How many different ways can we describe a crisis?
We know that while the recent NT Election brought the promise of $180 million to the domestic, family, and sexual violence sector, we are yet to hear if any of this investment will flow to the three Northern Territory based Women’s Legal Services.
It is time for the Territory and Federal Government to address this issue head on by committing to sustainable and ongoing funding for our services that are tirelessly fighting to support and protect the futures for women everywhere.