High demand and inadequate funding for specialist family violence services are resulting in workforce shortages and notable wait times for victim survivors seeking support, according to a new report released today by Safe and Equal. 

The findings, released as part of Safe and Equal’s 2025 Measuring Demand and Capacity Report, reveal that a quarter of surveyed services reported delays of one to 10 days for victim survivors to receive case management support, even in high-risk cases. 

Safe and Equal CEO Tania Farha said that despite significant investment into family violence in Victoria over the last nine years, specialist services continue to grapple with increasing demand and complexity of cases. 

“Since the Royal Commission, we’ve seen significant investment in initiatives to support intake and triage, so that people have clear entry points to the system to get support. 

“However, we’re yet to see sustainable and adequate investment in ongoing case management support for victim survivors, which is ultimately where those long-term safety supports can be put in place to recover from violence. 

“The current funding does not support the growth we’re seeing. And while specialist services are doing an incredible job helping those who need it, the data shows that the sector is under pressure.” 

The report highlights that the increasing severity and urgency of family violence experienced by victim survivors means services must direct resources towards crisis responses, missing crucial opportunities to intervene earlier. 

“Wait times put victim survivors at further risk of harm. During the time a victim survivor is waiting for support, their circumstances might change, or their risk level might escalate,” said Ms Farha. 

“Some victim survivors will drop out of the system completely because they were unable to get the support they needed at a critical time.” 

The report also found that misidentification – when a victim survivor is wrongly identified as a perpetrator by police – continues to be a significant systemic issue, with almost half of services (47 per cent) reporting it as a presenting issue for victim survivors seeking support. 

With $118 million in funding for specialist family violence response and prevention due to lapse at the end of this financial year, Safe and Equal is calling on the Victorian Government to not only make this permanent and ongoing, but uplift existing funding for all services, including specific funding increases for targeted family violence services and specialist Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations. 

“The evidence is here: demand for specialist family violence services is continuing to grow,” said Ms Farha. 

“There has been a shift in the public conversation about family violence and more victim survivors are reaching out for help, which we want to encourage. But we need to ensure every person who needs help can receive timely and tailored support. 

“The findings in this report are not sudden, unexplainable shifts. They’re the direct result of the increasing pathways for reporting but not enough funding for specialist family violence services to respond to the demand. 

“Our sector has been saying this for a long time: if we want to improve outcomes for people experiencing family violence, we must ensure our specialist services are adequately funded to do this complex and critical work.” 

 

About the 2025 Demand and Capacity Report 

This report provides analysis and insights on data collected through Safe and Equal’s 2025 Demand and Capacity Survey. The data collection is focused on gathering an overall picture of demand for specialist family violence services and case management support.,  

Conducted between July and August 2025, the survey gathered 49 responses from specialist family violence case management services representing 34 organisations across Victoria.  

Key findings from the 2025 Demand and Capacity Report 

• In addition to family violence risk, victim survivors most commonly presented with needs related to housing and homelessness, financial insecurity (each reported by 96 per cent of services), closely followed by mental health support needs (92 per cent).

• Services continue to prioritise urgent safety needs, with victim survivors assessed as being at ‘serious risk requiring immediate protection’ typically assigned a case manager immediately. Those at serious risk were typically prioritised for immediate allocation, though around a quarter of services reported delays of one to 10 days even in high-risk cases. 

• Misidentification of victim survivors (as a person using violence) continues to be a systemic issue, with almost half of services (47 per cent) reporting this as a presenting issue for victim survivors seeking services.

• The demand for refuge support continues to outstrip capacity. A total of 671 referrals into refuge were received, reflecting sustained demand for refuge. Across the six-month reporting period, 349 households were accommodated. Refuge providers also reported that victim survivors with permanent residency or citizenship remained in refuge for an average of 84 days. In contrast, victim survivors on temporary migration visas had an average length of stay of 130 days, with two services reporting averages as high as 365 days.

• Workforce pressures remain persistent, with services reporting trends across several areas including higher average caseloads; an increase in vacancy rates/widespread staffing shortages; staff regularly working beyond contracted hours to manage workload and demand; and workload pressures impacting either staff retention or wellbeing. 

 

About Safe and Equal 

Safe and Equal is the peak body for Victorian organisations that specialise in family and gender-based violence across the continuum, including primary prevention, early intervention, response and recovery. Our vision is a world where everyone is safe, respected and thriving, living free from family and gender-based violence. 

Media contact

Stephanie Jones, Communications Manager

media@safeandequal.org.au

03 9921 0897

Urgent action is needed to build upon existing government commitments and strengthen responses to family and gender-based violence in Victoria.  

Responding to coercive control is critical, as it is inherent to all forms of family violence. While we welcome recent calls by Leader of the Opposition Jess Wilson to prioritise and bring attention to this important issue, we do not support the introduction of a standalone offence to criminalise coercive control in Victoria. 

There is no doubt that the current response to coercive control needs to be strengthened, however caution must be taken to ensure this does not prevent careful consideration of all options and solutions, including those that sit outside the criminal justice system. 

We are concerned the criminalisation of coercive control will lead to unintended consequences, particularly affecting marginalised communities such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, women from migrant and refugee communities, LGBTIQA+ communities, and women with disabilities, who are often wrongly identified by police as primary aggressors instead of those in need of safety. 

We also know that criminalising coercive control does not necessarily make victim survivors safer. Evidence from other states that have implemented standalone coercive control legislation shows that criminalisation does not reduce harm, nor result in increased prosecutions.  

Here in Victoria, coercive and controlling behaviour is already recognised in our definition of family violence, and in Family Violence Intervention Order applications. Any breaches of FVIOs can be responded to as a criminal offence.  

We need the system to make better use of this existing mechanism, coupled with a focus on creating and resourcing other ways to educate and support people to recognise, respond to and prevent coercive control. Strengthening existing mechanisms to truly embed accountability for men using violence would go a long way towards improving victim survivor safety. 

Furthermore, introducing a standalone offence for coercive control does not detract from the fact there are a broader range of systemic issues that need to be addressed in a comprehensive legal, service and social response to family violence.   

We must address critical system reform issues that limit the overall capacity of service systems to respond effectively to the needs of all victim survivors in a timely and long-term way.  

Any proposed changes to coercive control laws in Victoria must be guided by the expertise of victim survivors, Aboriginal community-controlled organisations, the legal assistance sector and specialist family violence services, including those who work with men who use violence. 

We look forward to working with both sides of government on any proposed changes in Victoria – particularly to ensure they do not cause unintended consequences or harm to victim survivors. 

Safe and Equal
Djirra 
InTouch
Law and Advocacy Centre for Women
Women’s Legal Service Victoria
No to Violence
Federation of Community Legal Centres