Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence

S.E. ANDREWS (Gibson) (15:06): My question is to the Minister for Women and the Prevention of Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence. How is the government addressing increased demand on state domestic, family and sexual violence services?

The Hon. K.A. HILDYARD (Reynell—Minister for Child Protection, Minister for Women and the Prevention of Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence) (15:06): Thank you very much, first of all, to the member for her question and her absolutely enduring commitment to preventing violence against women. I am really pleased to inform the house that the Malinauskas Labor government is taking positive steps to address demand on services by significantly boosting funding for our crucial Domestic Violence Crisis Line and personal protection app. I offer immense gratitude to our South Australian domestic, family and sexual violence sector for all that they do to support and empower women and children experiencing violence and for their frontline work on the crisis line and app, responding to those experiencing the horror of violence.

As the royal commission continues and with a rightly heightened national and state level focus on domestic, family and sexual violence, our services are seeing these and other factors increasingly prompting women at different levels of risk to reach out for assistance. We are determined that when women at risk do reach out we help ensure there is somebody there for them.

Through the Mid-Year Budget Review, our government is doing this. We have allocated almost $1 million in additional funding annually to enhance the Domestic Violence Crisis Line operated by Women's Safety Services. This funding will increase staffing levels and expand its capacity to respond to calls, particularly during after-hours periods.

Upon the service expanding to 24/7 coverage, in its first 14 months the DV crisis line averaged almost 1,200 calls per month, with an answer rate of around 57 per cent. In 2023, this grew to an average of over 2,600 calls per month, with on average 79 per cent of calls answered. Through 2024, with the start of the royal commission, the volume of calls increased and the call answer rate reduced to around 70 per cent.

When a call is not answered, that caller may choose to utilise the voicemail service and receive a call back when safe to do so. However, we know that the best outcome is for a woman to receive an immediate response at the time she reaches out for help. This additional funding to boost staffing levels will ensure more calls can be answered. Very simply, this funding will help save lives.

I recently visited the remarkable, dedicated frontline staff at the call centre. In chatting with them, they reiterated how important this new funding is, given that by the time a woman is calling the crisis line her life may already be in danger and it is imperative that they can respond. Crisis line staff also advise they are being contacted by women who are experiencing violence with increased complexity and therefore the initial call to undertake their needs assessment is taking longer. This boost to staffing numbers will help ensure staff are able to talk through the needs of the caller, fully understand their circumstances and what action can be taken to increase their safety.

In addition to supporting the crisis line, the government is also allocating significant funding to the personal protection app, a key tool designed to protect individuals at high risk of domestic family and sexual violence. That provides users with direct access to SAPOL through a 24-hour monitored security centre. The government's additional nearly $200,000 per annum will enable the app to support an additional 120 of the individuals to stay connected with authorities.

The funding boost to both of these supports are crucial and demonstrate our government's ongoing steadfast commitment to providing critical support to survivors and to our state's broader strategy to prevent and tackle the horror of domestic, family and sexual violence.