A High Court decision has exposed a major gap in the NSW domestic violence laws, after a man who assaulted his former partner could not be charged with breaking and entering because he remained listed on the lease, despite no longer living at the property.
The case has since prompted the Minns Labor Government to introduce reforms, which are designed to ensure that former occupants can still be prosecuted with breaking and entering offences if they commit, or intend to commit, personal violence against a current or former partner.
However, as domestic violence prosecutions continue to rise across the state, questions remain about whether tougher legal responses and stronger policing are translating into meaningful reductions in harm for victim-survivors.
Source: (NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research)
According to BOCSAR Executive Director, Jackie Fitzgerald, the increase in domestic legal actions was due to more police action.
“It does not appear to reflect increased prevalence, but rather the increased police enforcement and proactive detection,” she said.
“This is supported by other indicators, including stable hospitalisations, domestic violence‑related homicide numbers and crime victimisation survey results.”
The findings complicate the state government’s broader domestic violence response.
While prosecutions have reached record levels, BOCSAR’s data suggest that the increase may reflect the changes in policing practices rather than a reduction in underlying offending.
Source: (NSW Bureau of Crime and Statistics and Research)
This raises questions about the reform: if domestic violence prevalence remains relatively stable, do rising prosecutions reflect genuine progress, or is it merely a sign of increased enforcement within a system that is still struggling to reduce long-term harm?
Source: (NSW Bureau of Crime and Statistics and Research)
Recent homicide data highlights that domestic violence continues to be a significant issue within Australia.
According to the National Homicide Monitoring Program (NHMP) domestic violence victims accounted for 41 per cent of all homicides in 2024-25, representing 98 of approximately 240 homicide victims recorded nationally. Of those victims, 46 were killed by an intimate partner and 52 were killed by another family member.
The data also found that 20 victims were the child of the offender, while 21 were the parent of the offender.
Source: (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare)
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has recorded 175 victims of family and domestic violence-related homicides and related offences in 2024. Of these, more than 100 were victims of murder, including 57 female and 44 male victims. A further 63 people were victims of attempted murder, with female victims outnumbering males by almost two to one.
Although these figures do not necessarily indicate that domestic violence is becoming more prevalent, they demonstrate that domestic and family violence continues to contribute to some of the most serious forms of violent offending.
This further complicates the picture presented by the BOCSAR data, suggesting that while enforcement and prosecutions are increasing, the broader impacts of domestic violence continue to remain a significant challenge.
For frontline domestic organisations, the statistics are able to reinforce concerns that legal reform alone cannot address the underlying causes of domestic violence.
Domestic Violence New South Wales (DVNSW) CEO Delia Donovan argues that victim-survivors continue to face significant barriers when attempting to leave violent relationships, particularly in accessing safe housing and ongoing support.
“Goodwill is not a funding model – it’s exploitation. The New South Wales Government must properly invest in frontline specialist Domestic Family Violence services – women and children’s lives at risk,” she said.
“We live in one of the wealthiest and most well-resourced states in the country, yet women and children are being forced back into violence because we can’t commit just 0.1 per cent of the state budget to the services that save their lives.”
These concerns continue to persist despite the Minns Government choosing to increase its funding for domestic and family violence initiatives across several successive budgets.
According to the New South Wales (NSW) Government’s 2025 budget announcements, there was $272 million that was allocated for frontline domestic violence services, $6.6 billion for social and affordable housing, with a portion of it being prioritised for victim-survivors. Then an additional $130 million to expand the crisis accommodation and programs such as Staying Home Leaving Violence.
Frontline organisations continue to question whether this scale of investment is meeting the current demand.
Domestic violence services across NSW have repeatedly reported growing pressures on crisis accommodation, long waitlists for housing support and increasing demand for specialist services, particularly in regional communities.
The government has also introduced NSW’s first dedicated Primary Prevention Strategy which aims to address the harmful attitudes and behaviours linked to violence against women.
NSW Minister for the Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, Jodie Harrison said that the reforms will ensure to close the legal gaps and improve accountability for offenders.
“We’re ensuring the law will protect victim-survivors who continue to live in a home that was previously shared with the perpetrator, if they return to cause harm,” she said.
“We continue to listen to the sector, victim-survivors, advocates and experts about how we can strengthen our responses, and work towards reducing the rate of domestic and family violence in our state.”
Despite these reforms, some experts and frontline workers argue that the justice system remains heavily focused on responding to violence after it has occurred rather than preventing it.
A South Coast domestic violence survivor. who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to personal circumstances, says that legal reforms alone do not address the long-term challenges many survivors face after leaving abusive situations.
“They help in terms of accountability, but I don’t think laws alone are enough, she said.
“I think real safety really depends on whether people can get access to support in a timely way and navigate through a system without becoming overwhelmed by it.”
As domestic violence prosecutions continue to reach record levels across NSW, the gap between enforcement data and underlying prevalence remains central to the debate.
The BOCSAR findings suggest that the system is becoming more effective at identifying and prosecuting domestic violence offences, while also raising the ongoing questions about whether legal reform alone can deliver an effective and meaningful long-term reduction in harm across one of the state’s most persistent social issues.
