News & Updates

Women’s Safety NSW has released a position paper that highlights the dangers of coercive control in a domestic abuse situation and calls on the government to prioritise criminalising the behaviour. Coercive control is at the centre of domestic violence and is the use of coercive behaviours and tactics of fear and intimidation by a person…

Frontline domestic violence specialists say the economic impacts of COVID-19 are disproportionately affecting victims, trapping them in situations of abuse due to financial dependence, unemployment and a lack of affordable accommodation. A survey of specialists at 34 community services across NSW found rising rates of women experiencing domestic violence since the onset of the pandemic,…

“My cats were the only thing keeping me going, they were my life. Leaving them was not an option.” These are the words of domestic violence survivor Violet who witnessed her loved animals suffer not only at the hands of her abusive partner as an adult but also as a child, when her violent father…

With Sophie Clarke on 2GB Listen HERE A domestic and family violence body is calling for reforms to current laws, to better protect victims with pets and livestock. Women’s Safety New South Wales wants “harm to animals” to be a ground for seeking an apprehended violence order. Rural reporter Sophie Clarke caught up with Chief executive…

Existing laws are in need of reform to better protect domestic violence victims with pets, assistance animals and livestock from ongoing violence and abuse, a Women’s Safety NSW report reveals. The Animal Abuse and Domestic and Family Violence report released today was developed in response to a review being conducted by the NSW Government into…

Women’s Safety NSW have welcomed the announcement by the NSW Attorney General and Minister for the Prevention of Domestic Violence, Mark Speakman today of $9 million from the next tranche of Commonwealth COVID relief funding for frontline domestic and family violence services. The money will be available to frontline domestic and family violence services providing…

By Mirage News Access HERE Women’s Safety NSW have welcomed the announcement by the NSW Attorney General and Minister for the Prevention of Domestic Violence, Mark Speakman today of $9 million from the next tranche of Commonwealth COVID relief funding for frontline domestic and family violence services. The money will be available to frontline domestic…

The independent evaluation of the NSW Government’s domestic violence reforms has found more needs to be done if we are to drive down rates of violence in NSW homes, and this is going to take increased investment, as well as co-design with sector experts and victim-survivors. KPMG’s independent evaluation of the NSW Domestic and Family…

The ‘stay home, save lives’ slogan, coined to protect the public from virus transmission has become a cruel paradox for victims of domestic violence who are now more at risk than ever. Before COVID, Australia’s crisis of violence against women had spiralled into an epidemic so severe it was hard to fathom. Up to23.9 percent…

By Madeline Hislop for Women’s Agenda  Access full article HERE  Two weeks ago, amid Australia’s worst ever domestic and family violence crisis, Women’s Safety Ministers from across the country met for the fifth time this year. Domestic violence advocacy groups were hopeful that this could be a turning point, and that we would see some…