Albanese says we’re “throwing everything” at domestic violence, so why are women and children still falling through the cracks?

By Nicole Yade

Domestic and family violence is not a social issue to be addressed once the economic heavy lifting is done. It is a national emergency that underpins our economy, our health system, our housing crisis, and our future, writes Nicole Yade, CEO of theWomen’s and Girls’ Emergency Centre.

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This week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the government is “throwing everything” at domestic and family violence. But for those of us working on the frontline, that simply does not reflect reality.

The Prime Minister defended the government’s response to domestic and family violence, pointing to billions in funding commitments, crisis accommodation investments, and frontline workers. He also argued against a Royal Commission, saying: “We know what keeps women in these relationships, we know what’s required in terms of the economic support to get out”. But if we already know what is needed, then the obvious question becomes: why are women and children still being failed every single day?

Last week I was in Wellington, regional NSW, visiting female inmates at Wellington Correctional Centre, speaking with women about their experiences of homelessness, domestic violence, and systemic failure. Over 30 per cent of women entering prison in NSW come from homelessness, and half leave prison into homelessness.

These are some of the most marginalised women in our community: victim-survivors of childhood abuse, women failed repeatedly by systems that were supposed to protect them, and disproportionately Aboriginal women. When political leaders say governments are “throwing everything” at domestic and family violence, I think about those women.

I also held these women in mind as Treasurer Jim Chalmers delivered the 2026-27 Federal Budget last week. He spoke at length about the crises defining our time: the volatility of war, the sting of high fuel prices, and the persistent pressure of inflation. He conjured that classic Australianism of a fair go to address generational equity and create a fairer, more stable nation.

For those of us on the frontlines of women’s and children’s safety, the most revealing moment of the speech was the waiting. Five minutes before the speech ended, the epidemic of gender-based violence was finally acknowledged. It appeared to be a mere footnote. And despite the Prime Minister’s insistence that the government is “throwing everything” at this issue, the budget itself told a different story.

You simply cannot claim to be tackling generational inequality while gender inequality is starved of the attention and funding it desperately needs. It was not just the speech. Examine the budget papers and you’ll find submarines are mentioned 34 times. Housing is mentioned 26 times. Women? Just 16.

Numbers matter. In Australia, two in five women have experienced violence since the age of 15. One in four domestic violence deaths are children. And a woman is killed by an intimate partner every 11 days. This is not a social issue to be addressed once the economic heavy lifting is done, votes are secured, and glowing headlines published. It is a national emergency that underpins our economy, our health system, our housing crisis, and our future.

What’s missing from so much political and economic commentary is the gendered reality behind these pressures. Women are more likely to be renters, more likely to experience housing stress, and more likely to experience homelessness as a direct result of family violence. For too many women, leaving a violent relationship means choosing between danger and destitution.

Of course, there were some important measures introduced in this budget. The $182.6 million to reform the Child Support Scheme recognises that financial systems are weaponised by perpetrators of coercive control. The $218.3 million investment in Aboriginal community-controlled organisations to improve safety for First Nations women and children is similarly much-needed and welcomed.

The commitment to develop the second Action Plan under the National Plan to End Gender Based Violence is important, but only if it results in desperately needed action. But these measures still fall short of the national-scale response this crisis demands.

In 2024, the Prime Minister described family violence as a national crisis. Yet Australia still lacks the coordinated and long-term funding needed to stop gender-based violence before it escalates - despite overwhelming evidence that prevention and early intervention save lives. Instead, we continue to tinker at the edges while frontline services like ours strain under impossible demand, and women and children pay the price.

The Prime Minister is right about one thing: governments cannot solve this crisis alone. Men do need to talk to other men. Communities need to come together to reject violence and coercive control. But governments set the national agenda. Governments decide which crises receive urgency, sustained funding, and political attention. Governments decide whether women’s safety is treated as central to the nation’s future or as an afterthought appended to the end of a budget speech.

This month is Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Month in Australia. It is a time dedicated to raising awareness of violence and coercive control, supporting victim-survivors, and promoting action to end abuse. If Australia is serious about ending domestic and family violence within a generation, then women’s and children’s safety cannot remain a footnote in our national priorities.

Ending gender-based violence can only happen if governments are willing to match rhetoric with action: sustained investment in prevention, early intervention, frontline services, safe housing, and recovery support. The women I met in Wellington, and many others across our community, are counting on it.

Because every delayed investment, every overstretched frontline service, and every political afterthought carries consequences measured not in budget papers or press releases, but in women and children’s lives.

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About the author

Nicole Yade is the CEO of the Women’s and Girls’ Emergency Centre (WAGEC), a feminist, grassroots organisation that supports women and families in crisis. She has over 25 years' experience leading, designing, and delivering services for marginalised people in the NGO sector. Much of this work has involved working across cultures with traumatised populations, including extensive work with victim survivors of violence, refugees, and Aboriginal communities. In 2025, she was recognised as Burwood Citizen of the Year, the Committee for Sydney’s Unsung Hero at the Sydney Awards, and the Advocate of the Year in Marie Claire’s Women of the Year Awards. Nicole is a proud feminist and victim survivor advocate.