Only 30 of 500 family violence workers promised by Labor have been delivered, minister says

The minister for women, Katy Gallagher, says the commonwealth has provided funding for more family violence and workers and it is up to the states to implement the program by hiring workers. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Just 30 of the 500 frontline domestic violence workers promised by the Albanese government have been delivered so far, the minister for women, Katy Gallagher, says.

Gallagher, who is also the finance minister, revealed the difficulty recruiting workers in a pre-budget interview with ABC’s Insiders, suggesting that further help for women escaping violence could come in the form of increased rent assistance.

As national cabinet met this week to tackle gendered violence, the Coalition has been campaigning on the failure to deliver 500 frontline domestic violence workers promised in October 2022 as part of the 10-year plan to end violence against women and children.

In March, the social services minister, Amanda Rishworth, revealed just 17 had been hired. On Sunday, Gallagher said that “not as many” frontline workers have been delivered as the government “would like”, and the count stood at 30 on the most recent numbers.

Gallagher said the commonwealth had done its part by delivering funding, but it was the states’ job to “operationalise” and implement the program by hiring workers.

“We’ve got an agreement with the states,” she told Insiders.

“We made the payments last June and at the end of last year. So the money is there. I think the states’ view is they’re having issues with recruiting. But Amanda Rishworth has been working with her state and territory colleagues to really try and get these workers in place as soon as possible.

“They have signed on to an agreement to have the vast majority of them employed in the first half of this year but they are saying that staff and recruiting staff is an issue.”

On Wednesday, the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, announced $925m to make permanent the leaving violence payment of up to $5,000.

On Sunday, Gallagher defended restrictions on eligibility including that the payment was not available to people aged under 18, but pointed to “other supports that kick in for a person in that situation”.

Gallagher noted that Labor had increased and expanded access to the single parent payment in the last budget.

“It’s not just one payment. There are other payments like the commonwealth rent assistance (CRA) which goes to providing support for many women and many women who are single parents.”

Gallagher did not commit to increase CRA in the May budget but said the government would “look across the board at what is possible”.

“We’ve made no secret that we want to make sure that … we are driving economic equality for women, and women do experience financial insecurity, so part of the answer is [the] payment system, part of it is how we address gender equality and gender pay gaps more broadly.”

Gallagher said the budget would have “a focus on inflation in the short-term and growth in the long-term over the [four-year] forward estimates”.

Gallagher has announced that the budget will save $1bn on consultants and contractors including $625m allocated across government agencies in 2027-28 plus an additional external labour levy of $375m over four years from 2024-25.

But on Insiders, Gallagher refused to commit to making more savings than new spending in the budget.

“Savings are … difficult to find. You will see some savings, you will see some reprioritisation with existing expenditure … but the pressure on the budget is real and intensifying.”

Gallagher said that some new spending was “unavoidable”, including investing in information and communication technology and preventing programs including public dental and cancer programs from expiring.

The Coalition has stepped pressure up on Labor by demanding a royal commission into domestic violence.

But earlier on Sunday the deputy Liberal leader, Sussan Ley, equivocated by saying that “I want things to happen now”.

“I agree with Peter Dutton that if the right vehicle is a royal commission … then that’s a sensible approach to take,” Ley told Sky News.