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The NSW Government is investing more than $2.6 million to deliver seven women’s health, wellbeing and empowerment projects from 2024-2027 as part of the statewide Investing In Women Funding Program. 

Through this program, the NSW Government is working in partnership with community organisations to improve women’s economic opportunity and advancement, health and wellbeing and participation – the three priority areas of the NSW Women’s Strategy.

The innovative projects that received a share of the 2023-2024 funding include:

• Contact – The ‘Empowering Far Western NSW Women: Building a Brighter Future Together’ project will allow women and girls who are isolated in remote or rural NSW, to feel a greater sense of connection through a series of co-designed in-person and virtual workshops, training sessions, community renewal days and practical supports.
• Dress for Success Sydney – With the development of the Western Sydney Aerotropolis driving increased demand for employees, the new Dress for Success (DFS) hub will be a place for local women to attend in person to access DFS services. DFS will support local women and girls with finding new work opportunities and training in softer skills.
• Generation Australia – Women from western and south-western Sydney from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds will be provided a pathway into care work through holistic pre-employment programs. Mentorship and employment support will help participants to upskill, build confidence, and improve career outcomes.
• Girls on Fire – ‘The Fire UP – Girls Fire and Resilience’ project is an experiential learning program for teenage girls in regional and remote areas providing qualifications, confidence, and clear pathways to join the emergency services sector.
• Her Futures Foundation – The ‘Her Futures Wellbeing’ project is designed to reduce the major health concerns among Aboriginal women in Kempsey through a tailored health and wellbeing group program.
• NSW Council for Intellectual Disability – The ‘My Relationships Matter’ project focuses on enhancing the health literacy of women and girls with intellectual disability and empowering them to make informed decisions, leading to changes in health, relationships, and communities.
• Western Sydney University – The ‘WARDA-NSW: Women’s Awareness in Reproductive “Aafiya”’ project is a co-designed, peer-mentored, empowering reproductive health promotion program for Muslim women to generate a community wide conversation on reproductive health.

Commencing in 2024, the Her Futures Foundation’s health and wellbeing project will have a total funding of $550,000 to help tackle major health concerns among women in Kempsey. The foundation will deliver a 12-week group program of facilitated fitness and healthy lifestyle sessions to improve fitness, self-care, guided access to services and social participation for local women.

Since its inception, the successful Investing in Women grant has funded 131 projects to advance the role, status and contribution of women and girls in NSW communities. Between 2013 to 2023, over $3.8 million was invested in programs enhanced women’s economic opportunities, health, and leadership in NSW.  

Minister for Women Jodie Harrison said:

“The Investing in Women Funding Program has supported more than 100 organisations since its inception to improve the lives of women and girls, and deliver on the NSW Women’s Strategy 2023-2026.

“This program will enable women to not only take tangible steps towards achieving their personal aspirations but also pave a permanent pathway for future generations of women.

“The NSW Government is pleased to be partnering with these 7 organisations which are best placed to address targeted communities where improvement is needed to uplift and preserve women’s presence and participation in society.”

CEO of Real Futures (partner of Her Futures Foundation) Christianna Cartwright said:

“Our project has the potential to make the entire community stronger as they see Aboriginal Women become confident, healthy leaders in their respective families and communities. These women will become strong role models for their children and set a benchmark for adolescent Aboriginal girls in our community.

“Aboriginal women will be provided an opportunity to work on themselves in all aspects of their lives in a safe, supported environment, and build strength in knowing they are not alone with their day-to-day life and health challenges. Women will have the opportunity to grow stronger, fitter and healthier, learning better eating and exercise habits and being connected to culture.”

Find out more about the projects and the Investing in Women Funding Program

See the NSW Women’s Strategy

Business owners across NSW can access a range of free, in-language support to help navigate government services and boost their business.

The Service NSW Business Bureau connects eligible small businesses with independent advisors who speak a second language, such as Mandarin, Vietnamese and Arabic, and understand the local economy.

Advisors have experience running their own business and can offer tailored advice on essential topics such as business planning, marketing and cash flow.

When a business needs guidance on how to start a business, navigating government, or help understanding licences and permits, they can speak to a Business Concierge over the phone or in person.

For in-language assistance business owners can call the National Translating and Interpreting Service on 13 14 50 and ask them to call a Service NSW Business Concierge on 13 77 88.

The service provides immediate phone interpreting. The interpreter will transfer the call to a Service NSW Business Concierge who has been specially trained to work with translator services.

Get more information about the Service NSW Business Bureau or call 13 77 88.

Minister for Small Business Steve Kamper:

“The Service NSW Business Bureau is proud to be doing what we can to support business owners in our multicultural communities to survive and thrive.”

“We understand how valuable our multicultural communities are to both the local economy and in enriching our culture.”

“To ensure as many business owners as possible can benefit from the Service NSW Business Bureau, the website can be translated into 70 different languages so everyone can take advantage of the services available to them.”

Quotes attributable Service NSW Business Bureau Multicultural Business Relationship Specialist, Halimeh Tobbie:

“Many new business owners and newly arrived refugees embarking on an entrepreneurial journey feel a sense of relief knowing there is free support and guidance available through the Service NSW Business Bureau.”

“I am proud of the work I have been doing with business owners and aspiring business owners to help refer them to our Business Concierge and business advisory services.”

New business owner Basema Odisho said:

“I moved from my hometown in Syria to Australia about a year ago with a dream of starting my own alcohol distillery business and the Service NSW Business Bureau has been incredibly helpful and supportive in getting my feet off the ground.”

“Halimeh from the Service NSW Business Bureau was very helpful in directing me to the right people as she speaks in language and can translate. This helped me to set up an ABN and register my business.”

The legislation is part of a package of commonsense reforms to target possession of knives, particularly among young people, reduce knife crime and boost community safety.

Under the new legislation, a senior police officer of the rank of Assistant Commissioner or above can turn on wanding powers to be used in a designated areas including:

• Public transport stations.
• Public transport vehicles within two scheduled stops of a designated public transport station.
• Shopping precincts.
• Certain sporting venues.
• Other public places, designated by regulation, including special events and places that are part of the night-time economy.

This will mean that, compared to Queensland’s ‘Jack’s Law’, NSW will have more designated areas and more flexibility to capture places in which events are held, such as the Royal Easter Show and entertainment areas.

The authority will last for 12 hours, with an option to extend as required.

Police can “wand” any person in a designated area and may request that person produce a metal object, if detected. Failure to comply may result in a maximum penalty of a fine of $5500.

Importantly, wanding powers can be turned on for areas where there have been issues related to knife crime or knife possession offences where one of the following have occurred in the last 12 months:

• At least 1 offence committed by person armed with knife or weapon.
• At least 1 serious indictable offence involving violence.
• More than 1 offence of knife possession or prohibited weapon possession.

In addition to wanding provisions, the legislation will also make it illegal to sell knives to a child under the age of 18, with exemptions for retailers selling to young people who need a knife for their work or study, as well as increasing penalties for people selling knives to young people under the age of 18.

The package of reforms will help address knife-related crime, get knives off streets and keep the community safer.

The reforms build upon responsible action taken by the NSW Government over the last year including:

• Doubling of the maximum penalties for various knife related offences in 2023.
• Ongoing review by the NSW Sentencing Council into sentencing for firearms, knives, and other weapons offences.
• Ongoing high impact NSW Police operations such as “Operation Foil” – an ongoing, targeted operation which last ran from 11-13 April 2024. It targets knife crime and anti-social behaviour with 51 knives/weapons seized and 145 people charged with weapon-related offences.  In the last year alone almost 4000 knives were seized in public places.

Premier Chris Minns said:

“Today we are introducing legislation modelled on new powers for Police to search and detect knives in public spaces, based on Queensland’s Jack’s Law.”

“My hope is that these commonsense reforms stop people from taking a knife into the community and prevent some of the devastating outcomes of knife related violence we have seen in recent months.”

“The NSW Government is committed to tackling knife crime to keep our communities safe, and these reforms send a strong message that knife crime is not tolerated.”

Minister for the Police and Counter-terrorism Yasmin Catley said:

“Giving police the ability to ‘wand’ or ‘scan’ for knives in designated areas is a proactive step toward ensuring community safety. By detecting and deterring knife possession, we’re not just preventing potential crime, we’re also safeguarding lives.”

“The introduction of legislation inspired by Jack’s Law isn’t just about law enforcement. It’s also about instilling confidence in our community, showing that we’re actively working to keep them safe.”

“These laws mark a crucial shift in our approach to combatting knife crime, especially among our youth. By introducing this legislation, we’re sending a clear message that knife crime will not be tolerated in our community.”

Attorney General Michael Daley said:

“The Government is tackling knife crime and keeping the people of NSW safe.”

“We are sending a clear message that it is a crime to carry a knife and under these new measures, you will face a greater chance of being caught if you carry one.”

“I want to say to young people in particular: Do NOT take a knife with you when you leave home. The chances of being caught by police and ending up with a fine or in a court on possession charges are about to become much higher.”

“It’s not worth the risk.”

The Minns Labor Government will invest an estimated $189 million in a bulk billing initiative to ensure the cost of seeing a GP remains accessible for people across NSW.

The Bulk-Billing Support Initiative will legislate to provide:

• A new ongoing payroll tax rebate for contractor GPs at clinics that meet bulk-billing thresholds.
• A waiver for past unpaid payroll tax liability for contractor GP wages to 4 September 2024.

This initiative will protect bulk billing rates by reducing financial pressures on GP practices so they don’t pass on additional costs to patients and will save clinics from closure.

This will also reduce the strain on the state’s busy hospital emergency departments. NSW Health estimates that a 1% decrease in bulk-billing equates to around 3000 additional emergency presentations.

Once enacted, the NSW Government will give an ongoing payroll tax rebate for contractor GP wages to be provided to clinics with bulk-billing rates above 80% in metropolitan Sydney, and above 70% in the rest of the state.

The Bulk-Billing Support Initiative will help address the significant cost-of-living pressures felt by families and households across NSW. A recent survey revealed that:

• 72% are quite concerned or extremely concerned about the cost of healthcare.
• 48% of adults are cutting back on healthcare appointments due to affordability.
• 37% of parents are cutting back on appointments for their children due to affordability.

For the last 5 years, medical peak bodies have been warning that failure to address the issue could see GPs charge patients as much as an additional $20 per appointment.

This resolves uncertainty around the applicability of payroll tax on contractor GPs, which first arose in 2018 under the previous Liberal-National state government.

The initiative also addresses the unique and unprecedented cost pressures GPs are under after the former Liberal-National Commonwealth Government froze bulk-billing indexation for a decade.

To relieve pressure on GPs, in September 2023, the Minns Labor Government legislated a 12-month pause on payroll tax audits for GP practices and tax penalties and interest accrued on outstanding debts.

Since the pause was enacted, the government worked closely with Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) and Australian Medical Association (AMA) to develop the support initiative.

NSW will be the first state to legislate a full retrospective waiver for past unpaid payroll tax liabilities for contractor GP wages. This will save local clinics.

The former Liberal-National Government’s failure on this issue particularly impacted regional and rural GP clinics. In providing a targeted rebate for those clinics, we can protect primary care for families and households in those communities.

Maintaining a consistent approach to payroll tax is an important objective of the NSW Government. The introduction of this support initiative recognises the overriding public interest in GPs delivering care for families and households.

This is part of a budget that will prioritise rebuilding essential services – ensuring we have the essential services the people of NSW rely on and that keeps our communities safe.

NSW Budget 2024-25: New and More Reliable Public Tra

The Minns Labor Government is building better communities with city-shaping projects that are supporting more homes for people across the state.

The 2024-25 NSW Budget invests $22.09 billion to build and improve transport services.

In Western Sydney, $2.1 billion is being provisioned for Parramatta Light Rail Stage 2 construction to accelerate the delivery of better-connected communities in Western Sydney. 

This will connect the growing communities in Western Sydney along the 12-kilometre alignment between Ermington, Melrose Park, Parramatta and Olympic Park, and includes:

• 14 new stops between at Camellia and Carter Street, Olympic Park.
• Dedicated 8.5km active transport corridor.
• New river crossings.

The iconic NSW made Tangara trains will also receive critical upgrades, while the Minns Labor Government forges ahead with a Future Fleet Program to return domestic manufacturing to NSW and build the next generation of Tangaras here.

$447 million will keep the current Tangara fleet on the tracks for approximately 12 more years to ensure passengers have safe and reliable services while the new fleet is built.

An additional $17.5 million will fund the Future Fleet Program, developing a Strategic Business Case to build the next generation Tangara fleet here in NSW.

The 2024-25 Budget also commits $75.2 million to the continued reliability, resilience, and future of the rail network across NSW. 

Funding focuses on the key areas of procurement, safety and the workforce, this includes: 

• A new digital train radio system.
• The Illawarra Rail Resilience Plan.

A further $24.7 million will boost bus services in Western Sydney. This will specifically target bus service improvements in areas including Penrith, Mount Druitt, Blacktown, St Marys, Kemps Creek, Eastern Creek and Arndell Park to deliver bus services that communities can rely on. 

$23.8 million is allocated to a State-Wide Medium Term Bus Plan and supporting business case to identify future bus network enhancements. 

The funding also supports service improvements to bus routes in regional areas to improve access to key destinations. 

The reliability of bus services will be improved across the Opal network, with $91 million allocated to a new Bus Transport Management system. This will improve real-time information for passengers and make buses more accessible, with onboard audio and visual next stop information. 

The Minns Labor Government is building better communities by investing a total of $3.5 billion in Climate Change and Energy in the 2024-25 Budget, to ensure we have the reliable, secure energy system we need.

The Minns Labor Government is taking action to help NSW households save on their energy bills by allocating $238.9 million in the 2024-25 Budget for the forthcoming Consumer Energy Strategy.

The Consumer Energy Strategy will support households to upgrade their homes to be more energy efficient and cheaper to run, which will also make them more comfortable to live in year-round.

Key Budget Allocations

• $128.5 million over two years to upgrade roads and infrastructure from Port of Newcastle to Renewable Energy Zones in regional NSW, enabling transportation of critical components required for the construction of renewable energy infrastructure. The initial road upgrades will prioritize the route to the Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zone near Dubbo.
• $435.4 million in 2024-25, including a boost of $100 million, to increase the value of energy bill rebates to assist households with the cost of living. This includes $10 million to launch a pilot program providing debt relief for people in critical need.
• $15.8 million allocated to make our energy system safer, more reliable, and better equipped to manage an increase in households investing in new energy-saving technologies. Measures include increasing electrical safety inspections of home energy installations by the NSW Building Commission.
• $87.5 million over four years to make energy-saving upgrades to social housing properties, keeping homes warmer in winter and cooler in summer.
• $39.3 million over seven years to speed up biodiversity assessments for crucial renewable energy and housing projects, supporting the NSW Government’s housing and emissions reduction targets.
• Funding to create the Energy Security Corporation, seeded with $1 billion to accelerate private sector investments in clean energy projects, improving the reliability, security, and sustainability of electricity supply.

Renewable Energy and Environmental Protection Investments

The 2024-25 NSW Budget includes $3.1 billion to help deliver NSW’s Renewable Energy Zones – getting more clean energy into the grid while creating secure jobs for communities across the state.

The Budget includes a total of $2.4 billion for the Environment and Heritage Portfolios, with investments such as:

• $75.1 million to maintain our national parks, boosting nature-based tourism and encouraging more exploration of the almost 900 parks and reserves across NSW.
• $43 million for the Environment Protection Authority to boost the transformation of the waste and recycling industry in NSW, including grants to expand our capacity to recycle plastics and organics and to support other strategic waste infrastructure initiatives.
• $87.5 million for the Environmental Trust to provide grants for restoration and rehabilitation, education, research, and waste activities, benefitting conservation, culture, and tourism.
• Investing in the continuation of the Blue Plaques Program to recognize and celebrate our rich and diverse heritage in NSW.
• Protection of the Butterfly Cave Aboriginal Place with the purchase of land in the Hunter, to be part of the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service reserve.

Legislative and Regulatory Actions

The NSW Government is prioritizing work to fix legislation to better protect the environment. In 2024-25, this includes new laws delivering on election promises to fix the biodiversity offsets system and strengthen environmental protections, with reforms to the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 and Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997.

NSW is accelerating work on the circular economy, including holistic waste infrastructure planning, consultation on the waste levy, and action on plastics.

The Minns Labor Government will deliver up to 30,000 new homes with an unprecedented intervention in the housing market by leveraging surplus government land and public housing construction to build more homes more quickly.

Housing affordability and availability is the biggest single pressure facing the people of New South Wales.

In fact, a US study released just last week has found Sydney is among the least affordable cities in the world.

Without action now, we are at risk of being a city with no young people.

The NSW Labor Government has been working on a comprehensive plan to address the housing crisis.

Having a safe home is foundational to a person’s wellbeing, and the 2024-25 NSW Budget is a blueprint to build the housing the people of New South Wales need.

Building Homes for New South Wales

The NSW Government will deliver up to 30,000 well-located homes, close to infrastructure and transport, with amenities and work opportunities, with surplus land to be made available for housing over the next four years.

The NSW Government has been conducting an audit of government land to identify surplus sites that are suitable for social, affordable or market housing.

This audit has identified an initial 44 sites not being used by government that are suitable for housing.

In many cases these sites have been left unused for years despite being located close to transport and other essential infrastructure.

The Government will make these sites available for housing with Homes NSW and Landcom, the government’s developers, to have the first choice of sites for the delivery of social, affordable, essential worker and market housing.

Other sites will be developed into housing in partnership with the private sector.

The Government will explore options to accelerate the delivery of housing on surplus sites where housing is to be developed in partnership with the private sector.

Measures will be determined on a site-by-site basis and may include streamlined planning processes, conditional contracts of sale or project delivery agreements.

Any proceeds from these sites will be reinvested into new public housing construction.

The locations of these sites will be made public over the coming weeks and months as they are transferred to housing delivery agencies or brought to market.

Building Safe, Affordable and Accessible Homes for New South Wales

The New South Wales Government will invest $5.1 billion to deliver new public housing that will prioritise at least half of the homes built for victim-survivors of family and domestic violence.

This is the biggest investment in public housing in NSW history.

This program will build 8,400 public homes.18,255 people or 38% of those seeking specialist homelessness services in 2022-23 reported family and domestic violence as the main reason they were seeking assistance – higher than any other category – but tragically close to half of those were turned away because of a lack of accommodation support.

In a major step to help those escaping family and domestic violence, the Government will prioritise over 50% of new homes built for women and children fleeing family and domestic violence.

This means, at least 3,100 vulnerable people leaving abusive relationships will have access to a new home under this program.

An additional $1.0 billion will be invested in 33,500 homes for critical maintenance to bring homes back online and prevent disrepair under this program.

The New South Wales Government is also investing over $527.6 million for emergency housing and homelessness support services, supporting vulnerable people in crisis transition into stable housing.

Building Homes for Essential Workers in New South Wales

The New South Wales Government knows that too many suburbs have become unaffordable for our state’s essential workers, like nurses, teachers, police officers, paramedics and firefighters.

This budget includes $650.1 million to build essential worker housing.

This plan includes:

• $450 million for a Key Worker Build-to-Rent Program to be delivered by Landcom across Sydney.
• $200.1 million for key health worker accommodation across rural and regional areas of the state.

Under the Key Worker Build to Rent Program over 400 homes will be built for essential workers in metropolitan Sydney, while approximately 500 health workers will benefit in regional areas of the State.

This program will also support the Minns Labor Government’s election commitment to recruit and retain essential workers.

Building a Better New South Wales

Addressing the housing crisis requires a long-term plan and investment.

Today’s budget prioritises building better homes for NSW, to ensure we continue to address the housing crisis for renters, people wanting to enter the housing market, and the most vulnerable members of our community.

It is a Budget which prioritises building better communities for NSW, by ensuring the homes we build are well located, with access to transport infrastructure and essential services.

We are determined to pull every lever available to address the housing crisis, with the package outlined in this Budget being the biggest investment in public housing construction in the State’s history.

This complements the government’s major reforms to the planning system to build more homes and rebalance housing growth across Sydney.

The Minns Labor government will continue to make responsible, better choices on how and where we spend the public’s money, so we can continue to our work to build a better New South Wales.