In the run-up to the 2019 state election, NSW Labor pledged to boost funding for domestic violence services, with Opposition Leader Michael Daley claiming that the state Coalition had cut $20 million from specialist shelters in 2014. But Mr Daley's claim is oversimplified. The department that oversees payments to the sector does not classify funding in terms of "specialist domestic violence shelters". Moreover, the Coalition Government overhauled its administration of services to address homelessness in 2014 ' the year singled out by Mr Daley. This means figures related to crisis accommodation in that year are not comparable with those from previous years. Since 2014, women's shelters have been funded as part of homelessness services more broadly, and the department does not isolate spending on them. Experts told RMIT ABC Fact Check that the changes introduced in 2014 have adversely affected the quality of services that dedicated shelters have provided to women and children fleeing domestic violence. But putting a dollar figure on that impact is not possible from the publicly available documents, nor from the information supplied to Fact Check by either Labor or the Government. Since 2015, the Government has increased funding for services to address domestic violence, although this has not been directed exclusively towards specialist shelter accommodation.
Verdict: Oversimplified