Pathways to Prevention: NSW Strategy for the Prevention of Domestic, Family, and Sexual Violence

On 6 May 2024, the NSW Government announced it will allocate $230 million over 4 years as part of an emergency package to enhance support for DFSV victim-survivors and expand programs that reduce the rate of violence against women and children.

From this package, $38 million was committed for the implementation of NSW’s Primary Prevention Strategy. Pathways to Prevention: NSW Strategy for the Prevention of Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence 2024-2027 will develop a range of initiatives to address the drivers of DFSV.

The Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) leads implementation of the Strategy and has made significant progress on implementation. The Strategy takes a whole-of-government approach. Many of the actions are implemented in partnership with other NSW Government agencies including the Department of Education, SafeWork, Office of Sport, Women NSW, Office of the NSW Public Service Commissioner and Office of the NSW Women’s Safety Commission.

The Transforming Aboriginal Outcomes division in DCJ has received resourcing to establish a dedicated Aboriginal-led team to work within the broader NSW Primary Prevention Strategy to collectively elevate and evidence Aboriginal community approaches to address the drivers of domestic and family violence to stop violence before it occurs. This resourcing included dedicated funding for Aboriginal Led-Primary Prevention Grant projects under the NSW Aboriginal Community Safety Grant Program 2025.

Key achievements include:

1. $5.17 million has been awarded to 11 organisations as part of the Primary Prevention Multi-Year Partnership Grants Program. For more information see Primary Prevention MYP Grant Program 25-28.
2. $3.9 million in grants has been awarded as part of the Aboriginal Community Safety Grants. A total of $854,000 has been awarded to six Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations focused on preventing domestic and family violence in Aboriginal communities, funded via the NSW DFV Emergency Package and the Aboriginal Community Safety Grants program.
3. The Multi-Sport Coalition (Coalition) was launched on 13 June 2025. The Coalition, which includes state sporting organisations and peak bodies, will guide initiatives focused on building the capacity of sports organisations to address gender inequality and the drivers of DFSV. For more information see Sport and government unite to address domestic violence - Media release.
4. A Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Framework is being developed to track implementation effectiveness and identify improvements over the life of the Strategy.
5. Key governance structures to support effective implementation of the Strategy have been established.