Pittwater MP Jacqui Scruby has demanded sustainable, ongoing funding for local domestic and family violence services, warning that life-saving shelters are being forced to turn women away due to capacity constraints.
In NSW Parliament, Ms Scruby highlighted the reality of the domestic violence crisis, with 32 domestic violence-related deaths in New South Wales last year alone, and a national rate of one woman or child killed every four days.
“Our local shelters – Northern Beaches Women’s Shelter, Mary’s House, and Women and Children First – do phenomenal, life-saving work, but they are stretched to the absolute limit. What’s worse is that the demand is hidden with the government only collecting data on government-related services,” Ms Scruby said.
Ms Scruby also backed calls from peak body Domestic Violence NSW for the NSW Government to increase core funding for crisis services by 50%, calling for urgent investment in specialist domestic and family violence services. In signing a joint letter with independent crossbench colleagues addressed to to the Treasurer, The Hon. Daniel Mookhey, Ms Scruby is calling for immediate financial security for existing grassroots services.
“Along with my independent colleagues on the crossbench, I am calling on the Treasurer to stabilise the system by increasing core funding for specialist services in the 2026-27 State Budget. That would be around 0.1 per cent of the budget and that funding will save lives,” Ms Scruby said.