Domestic violence and sexual assault rates will be tackled in NSW by a women's safety commissioner, the first such appointment in any state or territory.
Hannah Tonkin, who previously held roles within the state's communities and justice department, has been appointed to the position.
She previously worked at the United Nations, as disability rights director at the Australian Human Rights Commission and as a barrister in London and Adelaide.
In NSW, domestic violence and sexual assaults are the only two of the 13 major crime categories that have showed an upward trend in the past five years.
Reported incidents for the crimes increased by 13.5 per cent and 29.8 per cent respectively.
Dr Tonkin will be responsible for providing whole-of-government oversight on domestic, family and sexual violence programs, monitoring existing strategies and services and promoting awareness and education to improve women's safety.
She will also be central to the implementation of the state's coercive control laws, which come into effect in mid-2024.
Dr Tonkin said domestic, family and sexual violence had a devastating impact on victim-survivors and the broader community.
"The creation of the standalone commissioner role will ensure that I am best positioned to deliver this significant remit and drive change to improve women's safety," she said.
Women's Minister Jodie Harrison said the government was bringing the state's domestic and family violence crisis to the fore.
"No one should have to live in fear, which is why we are continuing to invest in prevention and work across government to ensure the needs of victim-survivors are being heard and met," she said.
Her appointment came as a study by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research was released, showing no change in the number of victims of domestic and family assaults in the state over the past 12 years.
It used victim-survey data rather than incidents recorded by police and found the rate of domestic violence-related physical assaults remained stable from July 2010 to June 2022.
Bureau executive director Jackie Fitzgerald said measuring trends in domestic and family violence was complex as a significant number of incidents went unreported.
"Using data collected directly from victims who may, or may-not have reported to police, gives us a much more reliable and accurate way of measuring domestic and family violence trends in NSW ... over extended periods of time," she said.
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