Whether a crisis lasts for mere minutes, or is a long-term social problem, there are PSA CPSU NSW members on hand to fix it.

This issue of Red Tape features two crises. One took place last year in just under 10 terrifying minutes. The other is an issue that has plagued our society for centuries.

In December 2025, two men shot into a Jewish gathering in Bondi, killing 15 people and injuring scores more. The event shocked our state and made headlines around the world. The event left 16 people dead, many more with lifelong injuries and will have effects on our society for decades.

The other crisis we cover this issue is Australia’s spiralling rate of domestic violence. Last year, NSW had the highest number of women killed by a partner in any state in the country. Around one in four women in Australia experience violence from an intimate partner in their lifetime. About one in eight men are subjected to violence from partners. 

Both these crises diminish our state. However, there are PSA CPSU NSW members doing their utmost to make our society safer for everyone.

As outlined in our feature this issue, our members in Police were mobilised as soon as shots rang out in Bondi. They were the ones answering phones, making radio calls and, once the incident was over, investigating the hideous crime.

Our members in Police are the Strength Behind the Force. Most people associate officers on the beat with the police force. But the state’s fight against crime and, in the case of Bondi, terrorism, would be less effective without our members.

Added to these members are the essential workers in the corrections system, Youth Justice, schools and Community Services, all working to steer people away from crime and rehabilitate those who have fallen foul of the justice system.

The other crisis we tackle this issue is domestic violence.

As outlined in recent issues of Red Tape, our union was at the forefront of the fight to keep open Mount Druitt’s Family Violence Service, the state’s only government-run facility for people experiencing violence in the home. 

In addition to these valuable members working for the Department of Communities and Justice, we have members in Police, correctives and Women NSW working to reduce the rate of violence in our homes.

These are not the only crises facing the people of NSW. Since European settlement, our environment has been degraded. Recent reports about the Murray River, for example, make particularly bleak reading. I am proud of the army of PSA CPSU NSW members in agencies such as National Parks, the Environmental Protection Authority and Water NSW who are fighting to improve our state’s natural settings.

Our members do so much for NSW. The events in Bondi, and those happening behind doors in too many of our homes, are just some of the crises where you will find PSA CPSU NSW members doing so much for everyone in the state.