Our union prides itself on the work it does getting members the best possible wages and conditions in the safest possible workplaces.

But an organisation as powerful as ours can also do its utmost to take on social scourges such as the plague that is domestic violence.

According to data gathered by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, it is estimated that about one in four women (27 per cent), and one in eight men (12 per cent) in Australia have experienced violence by an intimate partner or family member since the age of 15 years.

In 2024, a staggering 80 Australian women were killed by their partners.

Domestic violence is a nationwide crisis and it is up to the union movement, the largest social movement in the country, to take a stand.

The PSA CPSU NSW has launched a campaign against domestic violence. The campaign aims to bring awareness to the issue and look at solutions to end the carnage. Last year we were part of the 16 Days of Activism, which publicised the issue throughout the country, and in the coming months the PSA CPSU NSW will again be using its influence to work for a safer state.

Our union’s membership includes many whose work is affected by violence in the home. Our prison populations are overrepresented by those who have been subjected to domestic violence, and those who are the perpetrators. Child Protection and Youth Justice also deal with many children who have experienced violence in their upbringings, while our members in schools too often work with those who have suffered.

The PSA members working for NSW Police are also on the frontline in the fight against this unwelcome aspect of Australian society.

The PSA CPSU NSW was at the vanguard of the campaign to prevent the closure of the Family Violence Service run by the Department of Communities and Justice out of a discreet premises in Mount Druitt. The only government-run facility of its kind in the state, it should be replicated throughout the state, so anyone experiencing violence in the home has access to government-run help.

Union members look out for each other, and look out for vulnerable people in our society. Your union not only wants what’s best for its members, it wants what’s best for all Australians. And a country free of domestic violence is a goal worth fighting for.