Sexual Assault Services Victoria (SASVic) warmly welcomes the Victorian Government’s continued investment in supporting people impacted by sexual violence and harm in today’s budget, but cautions more investment will be needed in the future to meet the growing demand for the state’s specialist sexual assault and harmful sexual behaviour services.
As the peak body for sexual assault and harmful sexual behaviour services, SASVic will receive $2.2 million over two years.
SASVic CEO Kathleen Maltzahn said, “We were pleased to see the Victorian Government has continued funding us to promote rights, recovery and respect for survivors of sexual violence. In a tight budget like this one, continuing to invest in the peak body sends a message to survivors of sexual violence that they matter”.
Also important for people impacted by sexual violence in today’s budget is an investment of $126 million to modernise the digital systems used by community services, including sexual assault and harmful sexual behaviour services.
Ms Maltzahn said, “Specialist sexual assault services who work with survivors every day see systemic issues and trends first-hand, but don’t have a good way of capturing this data. Counsellor advocates will tell you that there has been an increase in non-fatal strangulation, they’ll tell you survivors don’t have equitable access to forensic medical examinations – but we can’t point to the data because the data infrastructure is decades old”.
“Modernising our digital systems will help us identify state-wide trends in real time and raise the alarm early on emerging issues. We commend the government on this investment.”
In its 2026-2027 budget submission, SASVic also asked for some important low-cost reforms, including protecting survivors’ counselling notes from subpoenas and giving survivors the right to pre-record evidence if they choose. The government announced its commitment to both reforms last week.
Ms Maltzahn said, “Though not formally part of the budget, these reforms are massive wins for survivors of sexual violence and will make a big difference for those who are bravely going through the justice system”.
Now that the budget is over, SASVic will turn to advocating for further investment and reform ahead of the state election in November.
Ms Maltzahn said, “With growing community awareness of sexual violence, more and more survivors are coming forward, and our specialist sexual assault and harmful sexual behaviour services are struggling to see everyone who needs support.
“The government has announced a big surplus today. We’d like to see some of that surplus go towards more secure funding for specialist sexual assault and harmful sexual behaviour services before their funding lapses next year.
“Ahead of the election, SASVic will continue advocating for a minimum of four year’s guaranteed funding for our services, for investment in sexual violence prevention, and for reforms that uphold rights, recovery and respect for survivors of sexual violence”.