BUDGET 2026-27
12 May 2026
Women’s Legal Services Australia welcomes the Australian Government’s commitment to address the weaponisation of child support, but investment in frontline services to meet women’s safety needs missing.
Women’s Legal Services Australia (WLSA) has welcomed the Albanese Government’s commitment of $182.6 million in the 2026–27 Federal Budget to address the weaponisation of the child support system, describing it as one of the most significant actions taken against systems abuse in Australia’s recent history.
Adrianne Walters, Executive Director, Women’s Legal Services Australia, welcomed the commitment to reforming a child support system that is currently enabling the financial abuse of women by perpetrators of violence. However, targeted investment in women’s legal services to meet the demand of women fleeing violence amid the cost-of-living crisis is missing.
“In a genuinely difficult budget environment, the Albanese Government has chosen to make an important investment in women’s safety and economic security,” said Walters.
“This decision recognises that when households are under financial strain and fuel and inflation costs are rising, the risk of violence at home grows.”
“Investment in making the child support system safer and tackling the shocking levels of financial abuse is both the right thing to do and the smart economic decision.”
“There is, however, more work to do to keep women safe. With rising inflation and fuel costs, the risks of violence against women in their homes grows. At the same time, the costs of delivering services, especially vital outreach services, are also growing.
“Our services are already forced to turn away around 1,000 women a week. Each woman turned away is more exposed to violence, more likely to face long-term economic hardship.”
The investment responds to findings by the Commonwealth Ombudsman, which confirmed that the child support system – a system designed to support the financial security of children – was being strategically exploited by perpetrators of family violence to continue coercion, control and harm following separation.
Up to 90 per cent of women seeking support in relation to domestic and family violence have experienced financial abuse. For these women, the child support system has too often functioned not as a safety net, but as another arena in which their abuser could operate without consequence.
Women’s Legal Services Australia Chair Elena Rosenman said today’s commitment signals that the government understands this reality and is prepared to act on it.
“This is a landmark commitment, and we congratulate the Albanese Government for acting on the evidence. Our services have seen for years how perpetrators weaponise child support to drain women’s resources, delay outcomes and maintain control long after a relationship has ended.”
“$180 million to stop that abuse is an investment in the safety and economic security of thousands of Australian women and their children.”
Women’s Legal Services Australia called for targeted investment in systems abuse capability in its 2026–27 Federal Budget submission, including specialist legal assistance and policy reform capacity to ensure that system redesign actively mitigates risk rather than placing the burden on victim-survivors to identify and respond to their own abuse.
Funding to address workforce sustainability – including pay parity with public sector counterparts – is desperately needed particularly to ensure that women in regional and remote Australia have the same access to specialist legal help as women in major cities.
WLSA notes that additional investment will be needed to maintain funding of Sexual Assault Legal Services, which is due to end in December 2027.
Women’s Legal Services Australia looks forward to working with the Federal Government on these priorities.
ENDSMEDIA CONTACT: Kimberley Gardiner 0437 435 777 wlsamedia@womenslegal.org.au