Family and domestic violence is one of Australia's most significant public health and safety challenges — with approximately one woman killed by an intimate partner every week, and domestic violence driving more women to homelessness than any other cause. Government and philanthropic investment in family violence prevention, response, and recovery is substantial but still insufficient to meet the scale of the problem.
Prevalence
The National Plan
Australia's National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-2032 sets the strategic framework — with four pillars: prevention, early intervention, response, and recovery and healing.
Safe and Equal (Victoria) and equivalent peak bodies
Each state has a peak body coordinating the family violence sector — advocating for policy change, providing sector development, and sometimes administering grants.
National Housing and Homelessness Agreement (NHHA)
The NHHA includes funding for crisis accommodation — much of which serves women and children fleeing domestic violence. Crisis refuges are partly funded through this stream.
National Partnership on Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence
Commonwealth-state partnership funding for family violence services — refuges, counselling, court-based services, perpetrator programmes.
Escaping Violence Payment
Emergency payment for people leaving domestic violence situations — covering immediate costs of leaving (bond, moving, essentials).
Legal Aid
Legal aid funding supports women navigating family law, protection orders, and criminal proceedings related to family violence.
Men's behaviour change programmes
Government-funded perpetrator programmes — evidence-based behaviour change interventions for men who use violence. These are part of the response system alongside victim support.
State-based family violence programmes
Each state funds its own family violence service system:
- Victoria: substantial state investment following Royal Commission into Family Violence (2016)
- Queensland, NSW, WA, SA: state-specific family violence plans and funding
- Regional and remote specific challenges — particularly for Indigenous communities
Paul Ramsay Foundation
Paul Ramsay Foundation has made family violence prevention a priority focus area — funding prevention, system reform, and evaluation.
The Snow Foundation
Snow Foundation funds domestic violence response, women's safety, and prevention programmes.
Kering Foundation
International fashion group Kering has a foundation focused on ending violence against women globally — including Australian programmes.
Macquarie Group Foundation
Corporate foundation with family violence as a priority area.
Alannah and Madeline Foundation
The Alannah and Madeline Foundation focuses on children affected by violence — school safety, online safety, and children's recovery from family violence.
Community foundations
Local community foundations fund local family violence responses — crisis support, community education, and prevention.
Crisis refuge and accommodation
Women's refuges and crisis accommodation are the cornerstone of family violence response — emergency safe housing for women and children fleeing danger. Funding needs include:
- Refuge operations (staffing, facilities, food, essentials)
- Specialist children's workers within refuges
- Outreach from refuges to women in the community
Court-based services
Family Violence Safety Notices, Intervention Orders, and family court proceedings create need for:
- Specialist family violence workers in courts
- Legal assistance for victim-survivors
- Police family violence liaison officers
Counselling and recovery
Long-term healing from family violence requires:
- Trauma-informed counselling (individual and group)
- Recovery groups (peer connection and shared experience)
- Children's therapeutic programmes
- Economic empowerment (rebuilding financial independence)
Prevention programmes
Primary prevention — stopping violence before it starts — includes:
- Respectful relationships education in schools
- Community attitudes campaigns
- Early intervention for at-risk relationships (relationship education programmes)
- Bystander programmes
Indigenous family violence
First Nations communities require culturally specific responses:
- Indigenous-led family violence services
- Healing and cultural reconnection programmes
- Family violence services within community-controlled health organisations
- Addressing structural drivers (housing, poverty, historical trauma)
Technology-facilitated abuse
Online and technology-facilitated abuse is a growing area:
- Digital safety for women leaving violent relationships
- Surveillance and tracking tool safety planning
- Coercive control via digital means
Safety and trauma-informed approach
Applications should demonstrate trauma-informed practice — service design that prioritises safety, autonomy, and healing rather than re-traumatisation.
Intersectionality
Family violence intersects with disability, poverty, immigration status, sexual orientation, and cultural background. Applications that address intersectional vulnerability — not just a generic "woman" — are stronger.
Whole-of-family response
Increasingly, funders prioritise whole-of-family responses — addressing children's needs alongside mothers' needs, and engaging perpetrators in behaviour change rather than only supporting victims.
Prevention credibility
Prevention grant applications require evidence of effectiveness — not just good intentions. Align with evaluated models and the National Plan's prevention framework.
Coordination with other services
Family violence organisations rarely work in isolation — applications should articulate relationships with police, courts, health services, housing, and child protection.
Tahua's grants management platform supports family violence organisations and funders — with grant portfolio management, service outcome tracking, multi-funder coordination, and the tools that help domestic violence service providers demonstrate impact across crisis response, prevention, and recovery programmes.