Preface

This report, examining the issue of ‘ageing out’ of family violence intervention orders (FVIOs), is the first of two reports for the project Examining Aspects of Family Violence Intervention Orders for Children and Young Adults.

This project was generated by the Commission as a community law reform project. The idea was brought to us by young victim-survivors of family violence adversely impacted by their family violence intervention orders expiring at 18.

Overwhelmingly, we heard in consultations and submissions that it should be possible for FVIOs to extend beyond an 18th birthday and for children and young people to be able to have their views about the duration of orders that affect them taken into account.

This report recommends simple legislative changes to clarify the law and to guide magistrates in making decisions about the duration of orders for children and young people. Ultimately, magistrates should retain the discretion to tailor orders to suit individual circumstances.

During this project we heard stories and concerns from young people who felt silenced or ignored during family violence intervention order proceedings, leading to re-traumatisation and loss of faith in the justice system. These narratives set the scene for the second stage of this project, which will examine children’s participation in the system. The powerful stories of the young victim-survivors showcased in this report underscore the importance of pursuing law reform that centres and upholds the rights of children.

This report would not have been possible without the valuable contributions of all those we consulted. In particular, we acknowledge the contributions of people with lived experience of family violence who not only brought the topic to our attention, but also generously contributed their time and insights despite the heavy personal cost associated with re-telling their stories. We hope this report does them justice. We also wish to acknowledge the generosity of the community legal sector, who we relied on heavily to provide critical insights into practice in the field.

We wish to thank the research team led by Emma Cashen, with Senior Research and Policy Officers Hannah Withers and Kate Robb, for their hard work completing this report to an unusually short deadline. We also thank our fellow Commissioners, Kathleen Foley SC, Professor Bernadette McSherry, Dan Nicholson and Dr Vivian Waller, who, as always, carried out their work on this project with tremendous collegiality. Collectively, Division members’ guidance and contributions have made this report more compelling, rich and considered.

The research team could not have completed the work of this project without the excellent and patient assistance of Communications Manager Victoria Kyriakopoulos and Information and Communications Officer Natalie Young.

We also wish to thank staff who work behind the scenes at the Commission for their hard work and essential support. In particular, we acknowledge CEO Merrin Mason PSM for her guidance over the course of the project, as well as the administrative staff: Jeniffer Joyner, Monika George, Emma Zanaty and Srichi Sundaram.

The recommendations in this report aim to clarify the law in support of the aims and purposes of the Family Violence Protection Act 2008. We hope this report goes some way to elevating the voices of young victim-survivors who have felt sidelined and silenced in the family violence intervention order process.

The Commission looks forward to working with the community on Stage 2 of this project.

The Hon. Anthony North KC

Chair

Victorian Law Reform Commission

The Hon. Jennifer Coate AO

Acting Chair (31 January 2024 – 31 March 2025)

Victorian Law Reform Commission

August 2025