CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes has welcomed the NSW government’s announcement of an extra $184.1 million for domestic and family violence programs in this week’s budget to help keep more women and children safe.

CatholicCare is the largest provider of domestic and family violence services in western NSW, working across a regional and remote area of more than 400,000 square kilomitres.

CCWF chief executive officer Anne-Marie Mioche said the extra funding – a 50 per cent increase to be phased in across four years – for six frontline specialist programs was recognition of the scale of the need for support for women and children.

“Domestic and family violence occurs at unacceptable levels,” Ms Mioche said.

“Like all providers, we are experiencing rising demand for support.

“This budget announcement shows that Premier Chris Minns and Minister Jodie Harrison have listened to the sector about the challenges of supporting victims to safety and healing.”

Ms Mioche said the announcement built on other significant initiatives including funding for more permanent crisis beds, to benefit women and children escaping domestic and family violence and other groups most affected by homelessness, as well as an investment to deliver new refuges across NSW.

CatholicCare is a provider of four of the six programs earmarked for extra funding: the Staying Home Leaving Violence, Men’s Behaviour Change, Domestic Violence Response Enhancement and Specialist Workers for Children and Young People programs at various locations across western NSW.

The Far West and Orana region had the highest rate of domestic violence assault in the 12 months to December 2025 (1502.4/100,000 population), more than three times the rate for NSW, Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research figures released in March show.

“We look forward to hearing how this increased funding will affect our organisation,” Ms Mioche said.

“We have long argued regional and remote NSW needs a fairer share of funding, given the vulnerability of our population, the high rates of domestic violence, and the complexity of working in regional and remote areas.”

In November CatholicCare brought together more than 100 frontline workers, community advocates and leading voices at the Hidden No More: shining the light on domestic violence in rural communities symposium at Narromine, and issues raised by providers were fed back to government.

“This is a complex area to tackle but the government has made some significant inroads into addressing the gaps and listening to what providers are saying,” Ms Mioche said.

“We believe this funding in the budget and recent changes rolled out will have an impact on domestic violence in NSW.”