The peak domestic violence organisations in New South Wales and Victoria have called on Tony Abbott and state and territory leaders to guarantee funding for the sector and ensure it is secure, regardless of who is in government.

As the prime minister prepared for Friday’s Council of Australian Governments (Coag) meeting in Canberra, Fiona McCormack, the chief executive of Domestic Violence Victoria, said that although she welcomed his commitment to implement a national domestic violence order scheme, the move merely targeted “low-hanging fruit”.



“It’s been talked about for years, and the national domestic violence order scheme is one of the easiest things that could and should be undertaken by the governments,” McCormack said.

“We’re hearing consistently that family violence is a national emergency, and we have had 31 women murdered across Australia by men this year, most by someone known to them them, an average of almost two a week so far.

“These murders are just the tip of the iceberg, and those organisations trying to provide a response to this are spending a lot of their time begging governments for scraps.

“Rather than getting on with the job, we’re fighting funding threats and a lack of funding security.”

National consistency for intervention orders was important, but should be a given, she said.

Moo Baulch, the chief executive of Domestic Violence NSW, said the recent decisions by the federal government to reverse proposed funding cuts to community legal services and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander programs, and the last-minute extension of funding for the homelessness program, revealed the haphazard nature of funding.

“It was only due to the impact of the effective public campaign against these cuts that resulted in the last minute reversal by the federal government,” Baulch said



“If the prime minister wants to demonstrate his understanding of family violence, then fund it in the same way that the Australian defence forces are funded. We don’t ask our defence forces to pitch for funding from other funding streams.”

Their comments come as more than 60 Australian women’s sector organisations sent a letter to the prime minister and state and territory leaders ahead of Coag to call for funding for frontline services, and for funds for awareness-raising campaigns to be redirected to primary prevention programs in schools.

“At a time of heightened community awareness, political momentum, and a real appetite for cultural change, we urge you to ensure that the Coag meeting this Friday delivers the political commitment to allocate the funding required to end violence against women,” the letter signed by local councils, health services and refuges said.



“We urge you to reconsider your funding priorities to ensure that desperately needed financial resources are spent on initiatives that will make the biggest and most profound impact on Australia’s culture of violence.”