SAFE PATH CAMPAIGN

Safe Path: Making Trauma-Informed Forensic Care Non-Negotiable in NSW

Safe Path is a campaign led by WGG Australia to address a critical and longstanding gap in the New South Wales health system: the inconsistent and often inaccessible provision of trauma-informed forensic medical care for victims of sexual violence.

When someone presents to a hospital after sexual assault or domestic violence, time matters. Medical care matters. Evidence matters. And yet, across NSW, survivors are still encountering a fragmented and under-resourced system that fails to deliver consistent, trauma-informed responses at the point of crisis.

This is not a marginal issue. It is a systemic one.

The Gap in the System

Across NSW, survivors who attend Emergency Departments following sexual or domestic violence often face:

• No access to on-site forensic sexual assault kits

• Delays in accessing specialist forensic examiners

• Limited or no trauma-informed training among frontline staff

• Confusion about referral pathways

• Being turned away or redirected without clear guidance

A disconnect between hospital-level implementation and policy oversight within the NSW Ministry of Health has resulted in inconsistent service delivery across Local Health Districts. In practical terms, this means that whether a survivor receives appropriate forensic care can depend on which hospital they attend and who is rostered on that day.

For survivors, these gaps can mean:

• Lost or compromised forensic evidence

• Missed opportunities to preserve DNA within critical timeframes

• Delayed medical treatment

• Re-traumatisation during disclosure

• Abandonment at the exact moment support is most needed

Access to forensic medical care should never be a postcode lottery.

Why Forensic Access Matters

Forensic medical examinations are not only about evidence for potential criminal proceedings. They are about:

• Ensuring injuries are documented appropriately

• Providing immediate medical care, STI testing, and pregnancy prevention where required

• Creating a formal record that may support future legal action

• Giving survivors choice and control over whether evidence is collected and stored

Survivors should not be forced to choose between their safety and their ability to pursue justice later. Trauma-informed forensic care preserves that choice.

Listening to Survivors’ Experiences

At the heart of Safe Path is a simple but powerful truth: policy reform must be informed by lived experience.

We are calling on survivors across NSW to share what happened when they sought medical care after sexual or domestic violence. We want to understand:

• What occurred when you presented to hospital

• How you were treated by doctors, nurses, and emergency staff

• Whether forensic options were explained to you

• Whether evidence collection was available

• What barriers you encountered

• What you needed but did not receive

Statistics tell us there is a problem. Survivor stories show us how that problem manifests in real life.

These testimonies reveal the human cost of systemic gaps. They show how institutional disconnection becomes personal harm. They expose how silence within systems perpetuates inequality in care.

When survivors speak, patterns emerge. And when patterns emerge, reform becomes unavoidable.

From Story to Structural Reform

Safe Path is not simply a storytelling campaign. It is a reform campaign.

We are collating de-identified survivor experiences to:

• Map systemic failures across NSW hospitals

• Identify inconsistencies between policy and practice

• Advocate for mandatory availability of forensic sexual assault kits in all NSW hospitals

• Push for consistent trauma-informed training for Emergency Department staff

• Call for clear, statewide protocols that prioritise survivor dignity and choice

Our ultimate goal is simple but urgent:

No survivor should walk into a hospital in crisis and leave without care, options, and dignity.

Trauma-informed forensic access must be embedded as a mandatory, resourced standard of care — not an optional add-on.

This Is About Accountability

Survivors are entitled to appropriate medical and forensic care. That entitlement should not depend on geography, staffing, or luck.

Safe Path demands:

• Transparency

• Consistency

• Accountability

• Survivor-centred policy implementation

When systems fail the most vulnerable, reform is not optional — it is necessary.

Share Your Experience

If you feel safe and comfortable doing so, we invite you to share your experience with us.

You can:

• Complete our anonymous online form via the link in our bio

• Email us directly

• Send us a private message on social media

Your voice matters. Your experience matters. And together, our collective voices have the power to reshape the system.

When we speak together, silence no longer protects dysfunction — it demands change.