Jails funded as DV services stretched to breaking point

Support services will get longer funding timelines to help more than a million domestic violence survivors as spending on jails and courts increases.

More than half a billion dollars will go towards dealing with domestic violence to undo years of "neglect", with plans to better support victim-survivors and keep alleged abusers behind bars.

Non-government support services will get more certainty around funding with five-year contracts promised, the NSW government said on Monday.

Domestic Violence NSW chief executive Delia Donovan said that would improve service sustainability while other reforms were important building blocks.

"But they don't address the reality that existing services are stretched to breaking point - operating on outdated funding models that don't come close to covering today's costs," she said.

"Too often, domestic and family violence workers are tied to short-term contracts through pilots, and this creates a lot of uncertainty."

Premier Chris Minns said his government was providing more funding than any predecessor but the budget was also stretched.

"It may not be enough for advocates and they may be demanding more but we believe we're pushing the outer edges of what's possible at the moment," he told reporters.

About half of the money is earmarked for a $227 million injection into the state's victims' support service across five years to help victim-survivors access counselling and financial assistance.

Almost $50 million will be spent on making it easier for them to give evidence, with remote courtrooms alleviating the risk of attending the same court complex as their abuser.

The funds will also provide counselling, legal aid and financial advice at a hub expected to open in late 2027.

An estimated one-in-four women and one-in-eight men in Australia have experienced violence by an intimate partner or family member since the age of 15.

Recent bail changes for alleged domestic violence offenders have coincided with more inmates on remand, pushing the state's prison population to near record highs.

More than $100 million will go towards corrective services to help cope with the increase.

Another change ensures bail decisions will be made by magistrates, following the high-profile April 2024 murder of Molly Ticehurst in Forbes, allegedly by her former boyfriend Daniel Billings, who was granted bail by a registrar about two weeks earlier.

Ten virtual courtrooms are planned to support remote bail hearings and five new physical ones will be built in Sydney's city centre.

NSW Law Society president Jennifer Ball also welcomed an almost $50 million boost to fund more public prosecutors.

"But we will be examining the NSW budget ... to determine whether sufficient funding will also be allocated to Legal Aid NSW and Aboriginal Legal Service to meet the significant extra demand new prosecutors will have on the criminal justice system," she said.

The budget announcements will lay the foundation for longer-term reforms, Domestic Violence Prevention Minister Jodie Harrison said.

"This is work that previous governments have neglected for many years," she said.

The state budget will be handed down on June 24.

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