NSW Domestic Violence Services Struggling Amid 49% Surge In High-Risk Referrals

A 49 per cent surge in high-risk family and domestic violence referrals across NSW has prompted fresh warnings from the sector, with frontline services saying rising cost-of-living pressures and social isolation are intensifying danger inside homes across the state.

New data released by Domestic Violence NSW, the peak body for family and domestic violence services in NSW, shows referrals involving serious threat assessments by NSW Police increased by 49 per cent, alongside continued growth in people seeking help from specialist services.

While changes to domestic violence risk assessment tools mean the figures cannot be directly compared year-on-year, the sector says the increase aligns with what workers are seeing on the ground.

DVNSW spokesperson Angie Gehle said services were dealing with increasingly complex and severe cases as economic pressures mount.

“We are seeing more people reaching out for help, and more victim-survivors being assessed as high risk. That tells us something is shifting, and it’s deeply concerning,” Gehle said.

“Cost-of-living pressures are forcing people to make difficult choices. For some, that can mean withdrawing from support networks, being forced to stay in unsafe situations due to a lack of resources or experiencing increased stress and conflict at home.”

The warning comes as many households across NSW continue to grapple with rising living expenses. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, household spending rose 2.8 per cent compared to the March 2025 quarter, marking the biggest annual growth since 2023, while transport costs jumped 5.1 per cent as fuel prices climbed.

DVNSW said isolation — whether financial, social or geographic — remains a major risk factor for domestic and family violence, and may be worsening as people struggle to keep up with rising costs.

“When people become more isolated, the risk can escalate. It becomes harder to seek help, harder to leave, surveillance increases and its easier for violence to go unseen,” Gehle said.

The organisation is now calling on the NSW Government to urgently increase funding for specialist domestic and family violence services, warning the current system is already overwhelmed.

“What we are seeing now are early warning signs. If we don’t act, these risks will continue to escalate,” Gehle said.

Domestic Violence NSW is now calling for a 50 per cent increase to core funding for specialist domestic violence services, arguing the additional investment is needed to stabilise the sector and respond to a worrying increase in demand.

“The sector is already past capacity; we cannot afford to wait until more people reach beyond crisis point. We need a system that can respond to people now, identify risk earlier, and support people before the harm escalates,” she said.

Supporting data released by the organisation paints a grim picture of the strain being placed on frontline services.

A two-week survey of DVNSW member organisations found specialist programs were routinely supporting an average of 152 per cent more clients than they were funded for. Some services reported operating between 800 – 900 per cent over capacity.

An Equity Economics report released in 2025 also found one in six new referrals required urgent assistance but providers did not have the capacity to respond, while some case workers reported safety plans were the only support they could offer people in crisis.

DVNSW members also reported average wait times of two months for support throughout 2025.

The latest figures come amid ongoing concern over domestic violence deaths in Australia. Researchers from Counting Dead Women recorded more than 52 women killed in a domestic violence context in 2025, including at least 15 in NSW alone.