‘Promise-a-thon’: NSW parties warned tough election talk on domestic violence not enough

For a few weeks in January, it felt like every day delivered something new.

After years of advocating and begging for money, domestic, gendered and family violence groups across New South Wales were getting some of attention and political commitments they had been seeking.

The promises came thick and fast from the Coalition, as it seeks to be returned to power a fourth time in the March state election. Labor was matching some pledges while putting forward their own plans as well.

Some were widely welcomed by the sector, like the government's $430m plan to deliver more women's refuges. Others were panned as potentially dangerous - in ways that could have been avoided if there had been more consultation.

"Most of us in the sector have found out on the morning of announcements," says Joanne Yates, the policy and advocacy manager of No to Violence.

"It would be good to get things right from the start. We don't like having to be negative commentators for policy initiatives that should be really strong."

There's also a sense from advocates that issues underpinning violence, including cultural attitudes, as well as key measures to ensure women have safe, long-term housing options, were missing entirely.

Domestic Violence NSW's chief executive, Delia Donovan, says the sector is desperately "trying to keep the government on a careful path of ensuring an evidence base" for policies.

And she wants to see "announcements being made beyond an election cycle".

"It certainly isn't newsworthy but if we're actually going to change societal attitudes, it's going to be generational, and no one wants to hear that," she says.

"The social housing piece is hugely missing from the conversation and we want to see solid commitment with actual numbers."

More women's refuges are needed, she agrees, "but again, we want that whole piece - what happens when they leave the refuge? They need a housing pathway."

Full Stop Australia's chief executive, Hayley Foster, says a proper discussion about gender-based violence also requires "a conversation about housing and rental affordability".

"We have people, day in, day out, forced to return to their abusers because they have nowhere else to go," Foster says.

"We don't want to have to wait for elections to put in place the changes that we know as a community that we need."

For the Liberals, the issues are particularly concerning. According to Redbridge pollster Kos Samaras, the party has "women's issues" frequently reported in the news and a "tanking" female vote, especially those under the age of 40.

"They are in real strife when it comes to women, especially younger, educated women," Samaras says.

"This promise-a-thon is not going to help them."

He believes the Liberals risk losing women in key seats being targeted by teal-style independents, as they did federally in 2022.

Samaras also expects them to face issues in a handful of western Sydney seats, including Parramatta and East Hills, amid changing demographics.

After handing down a female-focused budget and introducing coercive control laws last year, the Coalition has promised to provide access to first-homebuyer assistance schemes to victim-survivors.

It has pledged $20m for extra additional electronic monitoring devices, and promises to review all domestic violence-related sentences. There's also a commitment to fund five extra magistrates to handle domestic violence cases, and a feasibility study to examine establishing a specialist court.

Other policies have been met with concern, like the Right To Ask scheme to allow people to look up their partner's offending history. Advocates say it could leave women in more danger by lulling them into a false sense of security.

"It's flawed in so many different ways but mostly in giving women a false sense of their own security and safety," Yates says.

Last month Kate Fitz-Gibbon, the director of the Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre, said there has been no evidence that such a scheme would make women safer since the government first trialed it in 2016.

Labor has promised a new specialist multicultural domestic and family violence centre in south-west Sydney, as well as boosted funding for the NSW Sexual Violence Helpline.

The party also vows to introduce longer-term funding arrangements for services to ensure continuity of service, and has pledged $100m for women's health centres.

Statistics show that action is needed. Last year saw a higher-than-usual number of women dead from domestic violence incidents across the country. In NSW, domestic violence-related assault offences increased annually by an average of 3.1% in the five years to last September.

The NSW women's safety minister, Natalie Ward, rejects concerns her government had failed to consult widely on its commitments.

She says consultation have been the "cornerstone" of reform efforts, including in the Right to Ask scheme.

The government allocated a further $14m for domestic violence prevention and support schemes on Friday, as part of a joint commonwealth and state agreement.

Labor's spokesperson for the prevention of domestic violence, Jodie Harrison, says policies need to be developed term-round.

"Sadly, we have seen domestic violence incidences trending upwards over the past decade," she says.

"It should not take an election for women's safety to be taken seriously."

While advocates are happy with the recent focus on domestic violence, they say ongoing commitments are needed.

"We do need to acknowledge [governments] when they make these announcements and they make these commitments and they prioritise issues like these," Foster says.

"If you've been around long enough, you tend to see this like pattern, calling for change and then all announcements come in a flurry around the elections."