Women’s services don’t need restructuring, they need respect and funding

Every day, I see the extraordinary work being done on the frontlines of domestic violence – one of the most urgent crises facing NSW. I also see a system under strain.

Thousands of workers in women’s and family and domestic violence services across the state are supporting women and children through violence, trauma and homelessness. They are helping women and children find safety, navigate complex systems, and rebuild their lives.

It is skilled, demanding and emotionally taxing work, carried out with too few resources and too little pay. So, it is deeply concerning to see public debate shift toward the idea that the problem lies with the services themselves.

Recent calls to move women’s services into a fully public model have been presented as a solution to domestic and family violence. But that argument rests on a flawed premise that the existing community-based system is failing.

For decades, specialist women’s services in NSW have been deliberately delivered by independent, not-for-profit organisations – by women, for women. That’s because many victim-survivors feel safer seeking help outside of government systems.

For some, distrust of institutions such as police or child protection services is a real barrier to coming forward. Community-based organisations provide a critical and often life-saving alternative.

Dismantling or sidelining that model risks making the crisis worse.

This is not an argument against the role of government. Effective responses depend on coordination across police, courts, health, housing, child protection and specialist services. But changing the structure of services is not a substitute for properly funding them.

Services are stretched. Workers are burning out. Experienced staff are leaving because funding has not kept pace with the complexity of the work. That is the real problem.

The sector is calling loudly for a significant uplift in funding for frontline services. As the union representing this workforce, we are also pursuing a Fair Work Commission case to lift wages and properly recognise the value of this work.

Without a stable, fairly paid workforce, services cannot meet demand no matter how they are structured.

The NSW Government has reaffirmed the important role of community-based women’s services. That recognition is welcome. But investment is what keeps services open and workers in the sector.

This should not be a contest between different parts of the system. Everyone shares the same goal: safer outcomes for women and children.

If we are serious about tackling domestic and family violence we must respect the services that exist, listen to those on the frontline, and fund the system to do the job.

Anything less is a distraction we cannot afford.

Angus McFarland is the Secretary of the Australian Services Union NSW & ACT.