Community Safety
Everyone should feel safe, but right now too many people don’t.
Labor and the Liberals take the same failed approach of just reacting to crime, instead of preventing it in the first place.
Safer communities come from making sure people can afford the basics and get support early – that means housing, mental health care, drug and alcohol rehabilitation and support services.
But Labor has cut crime prevention programs, underfunded support services and is demolishing public housing while homelessness gets worse.
If we want safer communities, we need real solutions backed by evidence – not fear campaigns and short-term politics.
Explore our plan for Community Safety
- Give kids real options, and somewhere to go
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Young people at risk need support services, not criminalisation.
The Greens want to see more funding for programs like the Venny playground in Kensington, which is staffed by youth workers, and the homework and basketball clubs which engage kids while helping them access mental health specialists, nutritionists, mentors, drivers and homework tutors.
- Invest in prevention
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The safest communities have stable housing, access to education and strong social services. When we tackle inequality and support people early, we can prevent crime before it happens.
But Labor has cut crime prevention funding in half and underfunded homelessness, drug and alcohol services. They’re spending billions on new prisons, while cutting billions from public education and social support services.
The Greens will build safer communities by addressing the root causes of crime.
We will reduce homelessness by doubling public housing. We will strengthen mental health care, drug and alcohol treatment, family violence prevention, out of home care and youth justice programs. We will fully fund public schools, so all children can stay in school and access quality education.
And we will tax extreme wealth and big corporations, so we can pay for the services which give everyone a fair go and real options in life.
- De-escalate mental health emergencies
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When someone is having a mental health emergency, it should be health workers, not police, leading the response.
The Greens want to ensure mental health emergency responses are led by health professionals who are trained to de-escalate crises in the community, connect people with support and prevent problems before they get worse.
- Fund frontline and prevention family violence services
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We are in a family violence epidemic, with one woman killed every single week due to domestic and family violence in Australia.
Frontline services supporting victim-survivors are stretched to their limits doing critical work with limited resources. Without proper investment in both frontline support and primary prevention, we risk failing those most in need and undermining long-term efforts to break the cycle of violence.
This includes the expansion of culturally appropriate services. We know that women from culturally diverse communities experience more social isolation, visa abuse and multiple barriers to accessing services.