Investment in DFV services must be equitable, community-driven and culturally safe
The ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body (ATSIEB) welcomes the ACT Government’s commitment of over $30 million in the 2025–26 Budget to strengthen responses to domestic, family and sexual violence.
We acknowledge the inclusion of funding for several Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs) and the intent to provide culturally safe, trauma-informed support for those impacted by violence.
While this funding is welcome, we also raise there are multiple ACCOs in the ACT doing critical, often underfunded work in the domestic and family violence space, who are not recognised in this funding round. These organisations are embedded in our community, trusted by families, and delivering essential, culturally responsive services. They deserve recognition and resourcing.
To truly meet the intent of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, government investment must reflect:
- equity across the ACCO sector, not selective support
- community-identified needs and outcomes, not a competitive or ‘first in, first served’ model
- alignment with the National Agreement’s Priority Reforms, especially structural reform and shared decision-making.
This means involving ACCOs and community voices meaningfully in decisions about funding design and delivery, not after decisions have already been made.
An approach to funding Aboriginal Community Controlled services must demonstrate:
- transparency in how priorities are set
- accountability for who is funded and why
- cultural integrity through meaningful partnership with community-controlled organisations.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations working to break the cycle of violence deserve equitable and sustained resourcing. Ending violence is not just about service delivery, it’s about respecting Aboriginal ways of knowing, being and doing and backing the community-led solutions that are already working.
We look forward to working with the ACT Government to ensure future investments in this space are fair, inclusive and driven by the voices of our people.
