Domestic Violence Support Services in Queensland Face Funding Crisis
Queensland's frontline domestic and sexual violence support services are struggling to meet the growing demand, with victim-survivors facing wait times of six to 12 months for counselling.
The Domestic Violence Action Centre (DVAC), which provides support services in south-east Queensland, has seen a 25% increase in referrals in the past year.
"We're seeing many services having to make the difficult decision to waitlist victim-survivors who desperately need counselling support," said DVAC CEO Amie Carrington.
Despite the increasing demand, the majority of funding is allocated to government reforms rather than frontline services.
"From the 'Hear her voice' reform, 85% of the budget went to government reform agenda and only 15% was allocated to frontline services," said Carrington.
Frontline services estimate an additional $300 million is needed to address the crisis.
"We have put that to government, the initial uplift is a good faith gesture — but it is nowhere near enough," said Carrington.
The Queensland Sexual Assault Network (QSAN) also faces significant challenges.
"We have 12-year-old girls on the waitlist for rape [support services] right now," said QSAN's Angela Lynch.
QSAN is calling for an additional $30 million per year for frontline services.
"We have not had a significant funding increase for nearly 30 years, it hasn't even stayed in line on a population basis," said Lynch.
Premier Steven Miles acknowledges the need for additional funding and hopes to see more support in the upcoming state and federal budgets.
"National cabinet resolved to get advice in the third quarter about best practice in each of the states, and with a federal budget coming up and of course our budget, we do hope to see additional funds committed," said Miles.