Home » Publications » Examining Aspects of Family Violence Intervention Orders for Children and Young Adults: Stage 1 – Protection for Children Who Turn 18 While on a Family Violence Intervention Order » 2. What is family violence and what are the risks and impacts for children and young people?

2. What is family violence and what are the risks and impacts for children and young people?

In enacting this Act, the Parliament recognises … that children who are exposed to the effects of family violence are particularly vulnerable and exposure to family violence may have a serious impact on children’s current and future physical, psychological and emotional wellbeing.[58]

Family Violence Protection Act 2008 (Vic)

2.1​In the next two chapters, we look at how the Family Violence Protection Act 2008 (Vic) (the FVPA or the Act) responds to and seeks to prevent family violence through the family violence intervention order (FVIO) system.

2.2​This chapter examines how the law defines family violence and how family violence impacts children and young people in particular.

2.3​The case study, below, illustrates some of these impacts for one young person, Isaac. Isaac’s story also highlights the difficulties that some young people face seeking the protection of a FVIO beyond their 18th birthday, paving the way for our exploration of these issues in later chapters.

Case study from a community submission[59]

Isaac’s story (not his real name)

Growing up, my life was plagued by family violence. I grew up in regional Victoria, where there was and still is no specialist family violence court.

For years I was forced to live between two houses, but only one ever felt like a home. As I grew older, the violence from the perpetrator got worse to a point where I feared for my life. Desperate to protect us, my mum applied for a Family Violence Intervention Order (FVIO) with the support of Victoria Police.

I was not just a victim of the perpetrator’s violence—but also a victim of the court’s neglect to include me in the decisions that were being made about and around me.

At age 16, I was not allowed to sit in the courtroom with my mother while she sought protection for us. I was told to wait outside while decisions were made about my safety.

On another occasion, when there was a different magistrate, I went into the courtroom with my mum and was asked by the magistrate how old I was. I told him I was 17. He said, “Court is no place for children,” and made me leave.

As I walked out, with tears streaming down my face, I saw the perpetrator smirk. That image still stays with me—and depicts how in that moment, alongside many others, the court colluded with the perpetrator and again took away what his violence stole from me as a child—choice and control.

Attending court with my mum was symbolic; it was my way of standing up against the perpetrator and saying to him “you can’t treat me or us like this anymore”.

When I turned 18, I went to police to report a breach—only to be told that my intervention order had lapsed, and I was no longer protected. Before this, no one informed me. No one asked me.

Each time the matter was adjourned, I would carry that anxiety with me for weeks. I remember praying in the car on the way to court—asking that someone, maybe even God, would let us keep that one piece of paper that gave us a sliver of safety.

It’s hard to put into words how gut-wrenching that fear was. There were many times when I wanted to end my life. I thought it would be easier to die than interact with the perpetrator through the courts.

To me, every time we had to go back to court, I felt as though the perpetrator and court were teaming up against me and my family. Every time the matter was called, I remember having to let go of my mum’s hand and watch her walk in alone to face the perpetrator. The guilt this made me feel is indescribable. I wanted to be there next to her to support her, but the court excluded me from being able to do this.

I felt as though, to the court, I was not seen as a victim.

When my mother applied to extend the order, I was removed from it—without warning, without consent.

Later, I had to return to court and reapply myself. The perpetrator argued that because I was moving away for university, I no longer needed protection.

The magistrate seemed to accept this—ignoring the long history of stalking, not only of me but a then recent former ex-partner, persistent phone contact, and the fact that I would be coming home to visit my mum and brother regularly.

Just because someone is far away doesn’t mean they’re safe.

When I reapplied for the order, I was told by the magistrate, “You don’t know if you might want a relationship with [the perpetrator] later.”

There is a persistent belief that myself as a young person was too naïve to know what I needed. But trauma changes you. I knew I needed safety and protection.

I wasn’t silent—I was silenced by the court.

I was in Year 12 studying Legal Studies. For most of my peers, it was theory. For me, it was my reality.

Every court hearing meant confronting the person who hurt us. I had to justify my right to safety, while the perpetrator’s repeated breaches went unchallenged.

It was dehumanising. It was retraumatising.

My mum had to take time off work. She needed her own lawyer. It strained our relationships and shattered our sense of stability.

I was only provided support by a worker once I had turned 18. I wish I had received help way earlier.

I had to self-refer to Youthlaw Victoria, who provided representation and a funded barrister to fly to my regional town for my contested hearing. Without them, I would’ve had to represent myself or pay privately—at 18.

2.4​The Commission understands that Isaac obtained a FVIO in his own right after turning 18. Isaac’s family experienced the trauma and stress all over again when Isaac’s brother found out that his order also expired at 18. The family once again had to navigate the court system to ensure Isaac’s brother also remained protected beyond 18, and, in Isaac’s words, ‘unravel the trauma they had begun to process’.

How the Family Violence Protection Act defines ‘family violence’

2.5​Family violence is behaviour by a person towards a member of their family that makes the family member unsafe or makes them feel unsafe.[60]

2.6​The FVPA defines a wide range of behaviours as family violence.[61] The definition of violence in the Act includes:

•​behaviour that is physically, sexually, emotionally, psychologically or economically abusive

•​threatening or coercive behaviour

•​behaviour that in ‘any other way controls or dominates the family member and causes that family member to feel fear for the safety or wellbeing of that family member or another person’.[62]

2.7​Family violence is defined to include economic abuse and emotional and psychological abuse.[63] The Act includes examples of these behaviours. This includes controlling someone else’s money or ability to work, stalking, and preventing a family member from making or keeping connections with their friends, family or culture. Further examples of forms of family violence, including technology-facilitated abuse, can be found at the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria website.[64]

2.8​The law defines a ‘family member’ broadly. It includes:

•​current and past spouses or intimate partners[65]

•​relatives or children of a perpetrator or victim-survivor[66]

•​other people who have a relationship ‘like a family member’.[67]

2.9​The broad definition of ‘family member’ in the FVPA is intended to ensure that people are protected from violence by a person within their immediate and extended family. It recognises that in contemporary society, what a family looks like may differ across cultures and communities.[68]

Children under the law

2.10​Children are defined in the FVPA as anyone under the age of 18.[69] This is consistent with many other areas of the law, which define 18 as the age of majority or the age that someone becomes an adult.[70] Once a young person turns 18, parental responsibility ends, and a person becomes legally independent. This is reflected by the end of parenting and child protection orders at 18.[71] At age 18, a person can vote, drink alcohol, gamble, enter into a binding legal contract and marry without anyone else’s permission.[72]

2.11​While the law generally recognises that children become adults at 18, the fear and risk of family violence does not necessarily end at 18. This report aims to clarify the law to ensure that more young people do not ‘age out’ of orders in keeping with the broader purposes of the FVPA, including maximising safety and preventing and reducing family violence.[73]

Children and family violence

2.12​The FVPA recognises that children are particularly vulnerable to family violence and its impacts and defines family violence towards children broadly.[74]

2.13​Children can experience family violence both directly and indirectly, by hearing, witnessing or otherwise being exposed to the effects of family violence.[75] Indirect exposure could include a child:

•​overhearing threats towards a family member

•​witnessing or hearing an assault on a family member

•​comforting or helping a family member after they have been abused

•​seeing or cleaning up family property which has been damaged

•​seeing police at their home after a family violence incident.[76]

2.14​Family violence against children is generally accepted as under-reported.[77] According to the Crimes Statistics Agency, in the year ending March 2025, children were recorded by police as present on a Family Violence Report (also known as a L17 form) in over a third of family violence incidents (35.2 per cent or 37,471 out of 106,247 total incidents).[78] However, out of the total 106,251[79] affected family members recorded by police, only 9,040 were recorded as children aged 17 or under. The true incidence of family violence against children is likely to be much higher.[80]

2.15​In the financial year 2023–24, in almost two-thirds (62.4 per cent) of family violence incidents involving young victim-survivors, the perpetrator was a child’s parent.[81]

2.16​Family violence also occurs between young people in relationships. This is also called intimate partner violence.[82] In the 2023–2024 financial year, 22.2 per cent of applications in the Children’s Court for a person under 18 were against a current or former partner.[83]

2.17​Melbourne City Mission Group runs a range of support programs for children and young people experiencing family violence, including a schools-based family violence program provided by Quantum Support Services. Representatives of Melbourne City Mission Group told us that they have seen a significant increase in rates of intimate partner violence among children at school since Quantum Support Services began in 2016:

People used to talk about IPV [intimate partner violence] as something which happens when you are older, or as something that involves possessiveness or toxic relationships. However, we are now seeing IPV involving serious physical, sexual and financial abuse, and coercive control. This coercion might look like ‘buy me lunch every day or I will share the nudes I have’.

Young people often don’t identify or disclose this kind of family violence until we have these bigger conversations. At times we have seen these kinds of violence dismissed as ‘puppy love’, not viewed as violence between partners. It is considered ‘disrespectful behaviour’ … The issue is not just parental violence.[84] 

2.18​Family violence is predominantly perpetrated by men against women and children.[85] According to the Crime Statistics Agency, in the year ending March 2025, three-quarters of affected family members recorded by police as present at a family violence incident were women and girls, and the other quarter was men and boys (26,563 male affected family members compared with 79,541 female affected family members).[86] Of affected family members aged 17 or under, roughly six out of every 10 were girls (61 per cent or 5,508 female affected family members compared with four out of 10 who were boys (38.9 per cent or 3,515).[87] See Table A below.

Table A: Number of affected family members present at family violence incidents by sex and age group, April 2024–March 2025[88]

Age

Male

Female

0–4 years

233

213

5–9 years

903

624

10–14 years

1,259

1,985

15–17 years

1,120

2,686

Total

3,515

5,508

Impacts of family violence on children and young people who have turned 18

2.19​Children are uniquely impacted by family violence because of their age, stage of development and their lack of power relative to adult perpetrators. Their needs may be different to those of adults, yet they are often neglected in the service system and legal response, which tends to focus on the primary affected family member (most commonly the mother).[89] For this reason, children and young people are often described as the ‘invisible’ or ‘silent victims’ of family violence.[90]

2.20​The impacts of family violence on children and young people are well-documented and wide-ranging. They may be ‘acute and chronic, immediate and accumulative, direct and indirect, seen and unseen’.[91] Some children carry the effects for the rest of their lives.

2.21​The 2015 Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence identified that these impacts may include:

•​suffering physical harm

•​feeling unsafe and fearful, and feeling anxious about family members’ and pets’ safety

•​becoming homeless, losing a sense of security and familiarity, losing access to siblings, pets and possessions

•​caring for younger siblings or an affected parent

•​blaming themselves for the violence

•​disrupted schooling from prolonged absences or from having to move to different schools

•​long-term physical and mental health problems, including depression, suicidal ideation, self-harm, anxiety, low self-esteem, impaired cognitive functioning, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other trauma-related symptoms, insomnia, flashbacks, nightmares, eating disorders, development delays, substance abuse, chronic pain, a distorted sense of identity and self-worth, and/or aggression towards themselves and others

•​learning and behavioural difficulties, including withdrawal, destructiveness, disobedience, lack of emotional control

•​increased risk of being violent in future relationships

•​difficulties with social interactions, forming relationships and trusting others, which can lead to social isolation.[92]

2.22​A 2015 review found that children who grew up in households where they experienced family violence were more likely to also experience other forms of child abuse, including sexual abuse, compounding trauma.[93]

2.23​Studies have identified a link between young people who are victim-survivors of family violence and those who go on to use family violence, although the Commission recognises that this is not always the case.[94] Concerns about the justice system’s response to this cohort of children were briefly referred to in Chapter 1.

Intersectionality and the impact of family violence on marginalised groups of children and young people

2.24​Family violence occurs in all communities and cultures, across all ages and socioeconomic groups. Nevertheless, some groups and communities—including First Peoples[95], those who identify as LGBTIQA+[96], those from a migrant or refugee background[97], and people with disability[98]—face distinct forms of family violence, and experience family violence at a much higher rate than other groups.

2.25​Some children and young people experience unique barriers, risks, and impacts that are exacerbated by overlapping disadvantage and discrimination because of racism, sexism, homophobia, and ableism.[99]

2.26​Family violence has been found to be a major driver behind young First Peoples’ over-representation in child protection, out-of-home care, and the youth justice system.[100]

2.27​Distrust of police as a result of over-policing, misidentification, and systemic racism contributes to lack of reporting of family violence in both First Peoples and migrant communities.[101] Other barriers to reporting common to both groups include poverty and isolation; lack of knowledge about rights and available supports; and community pressure/fear of being ostracised and isolation from the broader cultural community.[102]

2.28​We were told in consultations and submissions that the service and justice systems do not always understand or cater for neurodiversity, intellectual disability, and the distinct types of violence young people with disability experience.[103] Young people with intellectual disability navigating the FVIO system are particularly at risk of manipulation and systems abuse by perpetrators.[104]

2.29​Migrants on temporary visas are more vulnerable than others to certain forms of abuse. These include threats related to visa status and sponsorship, threats to family members in countries of origin, and control of the victim-survivor based on financial and social dependence, which perpetrators can use as a form of isolation and control.[105]

2.30​We heard that there is a lack of interpreters and a lack of culturally safe and in-language services, supports, and information to help young people from migrant and refugee backgrounds understand their rights, report family violence, apply for FVIOs, and manage trauma and other impacts.[106]

2.31​LGBTIQA+ young people can experience distinct forms of family violence[107] that may not be well understood by support services, as well as homophobia and bias when they try to access supports, when they go to the police, or in court proceedings.[108]

2.32​We were also told that there is a dearth of services and supports for young people experiencing family violence in regional, remote, and rural Victoria, including fewer court sitting dates and restricted access to a Children’s Court. Young people may also be ‘conflicted out’ of using lawyers in their area.[109]

2.33​We discuss the experiences of children and young people from marginalised backgrounds in the FVIO system further in Chapter 5.

Relevant family violence reforms

2.34​Significant family violence reforms have taken place in the last three decades, including the enactment of the FVPA[110] and the 2015 Royal Commission into Family Violence.[111] These reforms and recent inquiries have continued to raise the need for children and young people to receive recognition as victim-survivors in their own right in legal and service systems.

2.35​The 2015 Royal Commission into Family Violence made 227 recommendations to improve Victoria’s family violence response.[112] Key actions to implement the Royal Commission recommendations have included:

•​expanding Specialist Family Violence Courts across Victoria[113]

•​establishing The Orange Door, the statewide intervention service for victim-survivors and perpetrators.[114] The Orange Door receives referrals from Victoria Police and other agencies, as well as people affected by family violence, and connects people to appropriate support services and programs[115]

•​developing the Family Violence MultiAgency Risk Assessment and Management Framework (MARAM) and information sharing scheme.[116] MARAM risk assessment addresses things like how to identify family violence, how to respectfully and safely engage with victim-survivors, how to undertake a family violence risk assessment and how to share information between agencies to protect victim-survivors of family violence and manage the risks they face[117]

•​funding to support service providers, counselling, refuge and crisis accommodation services to meet the needs of children and young people.[118]

2.36​Following the Royal Commission, the MARAM Framework has been expanded, and in 2025 it is expected to include child and young people-focused MARAM practice guidance, to support prescribed organisations to respond to children and young people as victim-survivors with unique experiences and needs.[119]

2.37​Further work is being delivered through government strategies and partnerships, such as the DhelK Dja: Safe Our Way – Strong Culture, Strong Peoples, Strong Families (2018) partnership between the Victorian Government and Aboriginal communities. The Agreement focuses on addressing the disproportionate impact of family violence on First Peoples, particularly women and children.[120]

2.38​At a national level, the National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children 2022–3032 (National Plan) focuses on state and Commonwealth actions to prevent, intervene, respond and support recovery from family violence.[121] The Plan recognises children as both indirect victims of violence and people who experience violence directly.[122]

2.39​We heard from the Federal Commissioner for Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence that:

The response to family violence at a national and jurisdictional level needs to focus more on children and young people and the way the system responds to them as victim-survivors in their own right. This is a key part of the First Action Plan 2023–2027, under the National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children 2022–2032.

Children are frequently not listened to, not asked about their experiences, not believed when they do speak out, and not provided with their own support or service response.[123]

2.40​A 2024 Federal Inquiry into Family Violence Orders made recommendations to support children’s safety in state and federal legal system responses.[124] The Inquiry’s 11 recommendations included a recommendation that states and territories allow children and young people to apply for intervention orders in their own right, and called for greater consistency in intervention order systems across jurisdictions generally.[125]

2.41​The Federal Inquiry observed that the dual state-based intervention order and Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Family Court) systems could be ‘time consuming, confusing, costly and retraumatising for victim-survivors’ and could ‘put victim-survivors in harm’s way by granting perpetrators access to children’ through family law proceedings.[126]

2.42​Most recently, the Legal and Social Issues Committee’s 2024–25 ‘Building the Evidence Base: Inquiry into capturing data on people who use family violence in Victoria’ identified significant gaps in service responses and data collection for children and young people who experience or use family violence.[127]

2.43​This report focuses on reform to address the specific issue of ‘ageing out’ while on a FVIO. However, we acknowledge the concerns about the limitations of family violence responses for children and young people to date, and what has been identified as a ‘maze of contradictory expectations and requirements’ for young people in the family violence system.[128] Some of the broad concerns raised in national and state enquiries will be considered in Stage 2 of our review and are discussed further in Chapter 7.

  1. ​Family Violence Protection Act 2008 (Vic) Preamble.

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  2. ​Submission 12, Stage 1 (Name Withheld).

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  3. ​Family Violence Protection Act 2008 (Vic) s 5.

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  4. ​Ibid.

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  5. ​Ibid s 5(1)(a)(iv).

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  6. ​Ibid ss 6, 7.

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  7. ​‘Family Violence Intervention Orders (FVIO)’, Magistrates’ Court of Victoria (Web Page, 15 April 2025) <https://www.mcv.vic.gov.au/family-matters/family-violence-intervention-orders-fvio>; ‘What Is Family Violence’, Victoria Police (Web Page, 28 January 2025) <https://www.police.vic.gov.au/technology-facilitated-abuse> ‘Technology facilitated abuse’.

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  8. ​Family Violence Protection Act 2008 (Vic) ss 8(1)(a)-(b).

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  9. ​Ibid ss 8(1)(c)-8(1)(e), 10. Children who live with, or have previously lived with, an affected family member are also considered ’family members’: at s 8(1)(d).

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  10. ​Ibid s 8. This includes a person that a victim-survivor regards as ‘like a family member if it is or was’ reasonable to do so. Whether or not a person is a family member is based upon the relationship in its entirety: at s 8(4).

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  11. ​Victoria, Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly, 26 June 2008, 2645 (Robert Hulls, Attorney-General).

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  12. ​Family Violence Protection Act 2008 (Vic) s 4.

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  13. ​Age of Majority Act 1977 (Vic).

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  14. ​Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) s 65H; Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 (Vic) s 3. The Family Division of the Children’s Court may make some orders which continue after a child turns 18, such as therapeutic treatment orders: at s 3(ad). We note that in 2021, the Victorian Government expanded access to out-of-home care supports for young people from the previous cut-off of 18 years old to 21 years old. See; Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (Vic), ‘Home Stretch’, Services: Young People – Leaving Care (Web Page, 3 April 2025) <https://services.dffh.vic.gov.au/home-stretch>.

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  15. ​Youthlaw, Becoming Independent (Fact Sheet, June 2023) <https://youthlaw.asn.au/learn-about-the-law/becoming-independent/>.

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  16. ​Family Violence Protection Act 2008 (Vic) s 1.

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  17. ​Ibid Preamble.

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  18. ​Ibid s 5(b).

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  19. ​‘Family Violence Intervention Orders (FVIO)’, Magistrates’ Court of Victoria (Web Page, 15 April 2025) <https://www.mcv.vic.gov.au/family-matters/family-violence-intervention-orders-fvio>; Family Violence Protection Act 2008 (Vic) s 5(1)(b) ‘Examples’.

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  20. ​Victorian Government, ‘Presentations of Family Violence in Different Relationships and Communities’, MARAM Practice Guide: Foundation Knowledge Guide (Web Page, 21 July 2021) <https://www.vic.gov.au/maram-practice-guides-foundation-knowledge-guide/presentations-family-violence-different>.

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  21. ​Crime Statistics Agency (Vic), Family Incidents (Web Page, March 2025) T1. Family Incidents: Family incidents recorded and rate per 100,000 population by child present flag, year ending March 2025 <https://www.crimestatistics.vic.gov.au/crime-statistics/latest-victorian-crime-data/family-incidents-2> (accessed 9 July 2025).

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  22. ​Ibid T3. AFM Sex and Age: Affected family members and rate per 100,00 population by sex and age, year ending March 2025 (accessed 9 July 2025). According to information provided to the Commission by the Crimes Statistics Agency (26 May 2025), there are slightly more total affected family members (106,251) than family violence incidents (104,247) because in rare cases, police will list multiple affected family members for one incident.

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  23. ​This figure does not account for all incidents of family violence against children and young people as it only reflects the number of young victim-survivors recorded by police on a Family Violence Report (a risk assessment and risk management tool for front-line police, also known as a L17 form). This means the true incidence of family violence against children and young people is unknown.

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  24. ​Crime Statistics Agency (Vic), Family Violence Dashboard (Web Page, 4 December 2024) Linked Justice System Data: Victim Survivors of Family Violence <https://www.crimestatistics.vic.gov.au/family-violence-data/family-violence-dashboard> (accessed 9 July 2025).

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  25. ​A nationwide study found that around 30% of adolescents aged 18-19 had reported an incident of violence by an intimate partner in the preceding 12 months. Of those surveyed, 25% had experienced emotional abuse, and between 8.5-12% had experienced physical or sexual abuse. O’Donnell, Karlee et al, Intimate Partner Violence among Australian 18–19 Year Olds (Growing Up in Australia Snapshot Series – Issue 11, Australian Institute of Family Studies, October 2023).

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  26. ​Crime Statistics Agency (Vic), FVIO Applications in Victorian Courts Involving Young Applicants, July 2020 – June 2024 (Unpublished Data Provided to the Victorian Law Reform Commission, July 2025) This figure includes applications against a current or former domestic partner or a person with whom the applicant had an intimate personal relationship, representing 277 of 1,246 total applications. As people under 18 are generally expected to apply for a FVIO in the Children’s Court, only 0.8% of applications in the Magistrates’ Court for the same group and financial year were against a current or former domestic or intimate partner (284 of 34,651 applications).

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  27. ​Consultation 11, Stage 1 (Melbourne City Mission with Quantum Support Services Gippsland and the Amplify Family Violence Program).

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  28. ​Australian Bureau of Statistics, Personal Safety, Australia, 2021-22 Financial Year (Web Page, 15 March 2023) <https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/crime-and-justice/personal-safety-australia/latest-release>.

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  29. ​Crime Statistics Agency (Vic), Family Incidents (Web Page, March 2025) T3. AFM Sex and Age: Affected family members and rate per 100,000 population by sex and age, year ending March 2025 <https://www.crimestatistics.vic.gov.au/crime-statistics/latest-victorian-crime-data/family-incidents-2> (accessed 9 July 2025).

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  30. ​Ibid.

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  31. ​Ibid. (Table created by the Commission from Crimes Statistics Agency data). Data relates to the number of affected members present at an incident, not the number of FVIOs sought by police which include a child.

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  32. ​The Royal Commission observed: ‘The Commission was told that children are “frequently marginalised” in current responses to family violence. Although a child’s safety and welfare are often intrinsically linked to the mother’s safety and welfare, a child’s needs can differ from, and at times even conflict with, a parent’s rights. The [Royal] Commission was also told that there is a need for more (and more comprehensive) services specifically focusing on the needs of children and young people.’ Victorian Government, Royal Commission into Family Violence: Summary and Recommendations (Parliamentary Paper No 132 (2014–16), March 2016) 101 <http://rcfv.archive.royalcommission.vic.gov.au/MediaLibraries/RCFamilyViolence/Reports/RCFV_Full_Report_Interactive.pdf>; The MARAM Foundation Guide notes: ‘Children and young people are often not considered to be victim survivors in their own right, instead being considered primarily or solely through their relationship to an adult victim survivor, leading to inappropriate or inadequate responses.’ Victorian Government, MARAM Practice Guides: Foundation Knowledge Guide (Report, February 2021) 68 <https://www.vic.gov.au/maram-practice-guides-foundation-knowledge-guide>.

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  33. ​Victorian Government, Royal Commission into Family Violence: Summary and Recommendations (Parliamentary Paper No 132 (2014–16), March 2016) 23 <http://rcfv.archive.royalcommission.vic.gov.au/MediaLibraries/RCFamilyViolence/Reports/RCFV_Full_Report_Interactive.pdf>; Tanya Corrie and Shona Moore, Amplify: Turning up the Volume on Young People and Family Violence (Research Report, Melbourne City Mission, 2021) <https://www.mcm.org.au/advocacy/our-priorities/family-violence>; Stephanie Convery, ‘“Young People Are Invisible”: Family Violence Survivors Falling through Cracks at Crisis Services’, The Guardian (Australia) (online, 2 July 2022) <https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jul/03/young-people-are-invisible-family-violence-survivors-falling-through-cracks-at-crisis-services>; Grant McArthur, ‘“Invisible Victims”: Calls for Reform as Family Violence System Fails Children’, The Age (online, 3 May 2025) <https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/invisible-victims-calls-for-reform-as-family-violence-system-fails-children-20250501-p5lvtu.html>.

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  34. ​North and West Regional Children’s Resource Program, Through a Child’s Eyes: Children’s Experience of Family Violence and Homelessness (Report, Merri Outreach Support Service, 2013) 8.

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  35. ​See Victorian Government, Royal Commission into Family Violence: Summary and Recommendations (Parliamentary Paper No 132 (2014–16), March 2016) Vol II, Ch 10, 106-117 <http://rcfv.archive.royalcommission.vic.gov.au/MediaLibraries/RCFamilyViolence/Reports/RCFV_Full_Report_Interactive.pdf>.

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  36. ​Monica Campo, Children’s Exposure to Domestic and Family Violence: Key Issues and Responses (CFCA Paper No. 36, Child Family Community Australia, 2015) 8 <https://aifs.gov.au/sites/default/files/publication-documents/cfca-36-children-exposure-fdv_0.pdf>; See also Australian Bureau of Statistics, Personal Safety, Australia, 2021-22 Financial Year (Web Page, 15 March 2023) <https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/crime-and-justice/personal-safety-australia/latest-release>.

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  37. ​Research by ANROWS has found that young people who had both witnessed violence between other family members and been directly subjected to abuse were 9.2 times more likely to use violence in the home than young people who had not experienced any child abuse, 2.7 times more likely to use violence in the home than young people who had witnessed abuse between other family members (but had not been subjected to targeted abuse) and 2.3 times more likely to use violence in the home than young people who had been subjected to targeted abuse perpetrated by family members (but had not witnessed violence). Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS), Adolescent Family Violence in Australia (Fact Sheet, 2022) <https://www.anrows.org.au/resources/fact-sheet-adolescent-family-violence-in-australia/>; However, Campo et al. observed that, while there is a correlation between childhood exposure to family violence and future use of family violence, there is debate about whether this alone is a factor in future perpetration. Some studies suggest that gender roles, stereotypes and violence-supportive attitudes may also be factors in use of violence. Monica Campo et al, Children Affected by Domestic and Family Violence: A Review of Domestic and Family Violence Prevention, Early Intervention and Response Services (Report, Australian Institute of Family Studies, 14 August 2014) 2, 10 <https://dcj.nsw.gov.au/documents/children-and-families/family-domestic-and-sexual-violence/programs-grants-and-funding/resources/PDF-6_Final_Report_Children_affected.pdf>.

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  38. ​Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, ‘Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People’, Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence (Web Page, 28 February 2025) <https://www.aihw.gov.au/family-domestic-and-sexual-violence/population-groups/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-people>; Our Watch, Changing the Picture: A National Resource to Support the Prevention of Violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women and Their Children (Report, 2018) 6–7 <https://assets.ourwatch.org.au/assets/Key-frameworks/Changing-the-picture-AA.pdf>.

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  39. ​Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, ‘LGBTIQA+ People’, Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence (Web Page, 28 February 2025) <https://www.aihw.gov.au/family-domestic-and-sexual-violence/population-groups/lgbtiqa-people>.

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  40. ​Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, ‘People from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Backgrounds’, Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence (Web Page, 15 February 2024) <https://www.aihw.gov.au/family-domestic-and-sexual-violence/population-groups/cald>; Gemma Tarpey-Brown et al, ‘Domestic and Family Violence Affecting Children and Young People from Culturally and Racially Marginalized Migrant Backgrounds in Australia: A Scoping Review of Child Experiences and Service Responses’ (2024) 25(5) Trauma, Violence & Abuse 3872 <https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/15248380241265386>.

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  41. ​Centre of Research Excellence in Disability and Health (CRE-DH), Nature and Extent of Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation against People with Disability in Australia (Research Report, Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability, March 2021) <https://disability.royalcommission.gov.au/system/files/2021-11/Research%20Report%20-%20Nature%20and%20extent%20of%20violence%2C%20abuse%2C%20neglect%20and%20exploitation%20against%20people%20with%20disability%20in%20Australia.pdf>.

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  42. ​Victorian Government, ‘Presentations of Family Violence in Different Relationships and Communities’, MARAM Practice Guide: Foundation Knowledge Guide (Web Page, 21 July 2021) <https://www.vic.gov.au/maram-practice-guides-foundation-knowledge-guide/presentations-family-violence-different>.

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  43. ​Yoorrook Justice Commission, Yoorrook for Justice: Report into Victoria’s Child Protection and Criminal Justice Systems (Report, 2023) 18–28 <https://cdn.craft.cloud/06ad3276-b3d9-4912-bcbb-37795aade9a8/assets/documents/Yoorrook-for-justice-report.pdf>.

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  44. ​Ibid 261–2; University of Technology Sydney, National Justice Project, National Justice Project Position Statement: Discriminatory Policing (Report, 2022) <https://www.justice.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022.07.12_NJP_Position_Statement_Discriminatory_Policing-.pdf>.

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  45. ​Aboriginal Family Violence Prevention and Legal Service Victoria, Submission to the Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence (Report, 2015) 23 <https://djirra.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/FVPLS-Victoria-submission-to-Royal-Commission-FINAL-15Jul15.pdf>; Consultation 6 (Consultation 6 – Stage 1 – InTouch Multicultural Centre Against Family Violence).

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  46. ​Consultations 11, Stage 1 (Melbourne City Mission with Quantum Support Services Gippsland and the Amplify Family Violence Program); 12, Stage 1 (Berry Street). These include: abuse based on disability; threats of institutionalisation, abandonment, withdrawal of care and health information disclosure; taking away medication, care and other assistance; interfering with mobility aids, equipment and medication; medical exploitation, including forced psychiatric interventions and reproductive violence, such as forced sterilisation, abortion and contraception; the use of restraints and seclusion; and having movement and finances controlled. See: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, ‘People with Disability’, Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence (Web Page, 28 February 2025) <https://www.aihw.gov.au/family-domestic-and-sexual-violence/population-groups/people-with-disability>.

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  47. ​Consultation 12, Stage 1 (Berry Street).

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  48. ​Consultations 6, Stage 1 (InTouch Multicultural Centre Against Family Violence); 13, Stage 1 (Centre for Multicultural Youth). ‘Supporting People from Migrant and Refugee Communities’, Safe and Equal (Web Page) <https://safeandequal.org.au/working-in-family-violence/tailored-inclusive-support/migrant-refugee-communities/>.

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  49. ​Consultations 6, Stage 1 (InTouch Multicultural Centre Against Family Violence); 13, Stage 1 (Centre for Multicultural Youth).

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  50. ​Such as: pressure to conform to gender norms and belittling and targeting because of gender; restricting access to gender affirming care; corrective rape (a hate crime in which the victim is raped because of their perceived sexual orientation); threats to ‘out’ the child or young person’s gender, sexuality or intersex status; being kicked out of home; being forced into conversion therapy for intersex children and young , body shaming, forced and coercive medical interventions. See Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, ‘LGBTIQA+ People’, Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence (Web Page, 28 February 2025) <https://www.aihw.gov.au/family-domestic-and-sexual-violence/population-groups/lgbtiqa-people>; Brandy Cochrane, Research Brief – Family Violence and the LGBTIQ Community (Report, Monash Gender and Family Violence, Monash University, 2017).

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  51. ​For a broader discussion about these and other concerns for LGBTIQA+ people including the historical framing of family violence as violence against women and the examination of the impact of gender assumptions and stereotypes see: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, ‘LGBTIQA+ People’, Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence (Web Page, 28 February 2025); Lusby, Stephanie et al, Opening Doors: Ensuring LGBTIQ-Inclusive Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence Services. (Research Report, Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University, October 2022) <https://rainbowhealthaustralia.org.au/media/pages/research-resources/opening-doors-ensuring-lgbtiq-inclusive-family-domestic-and-sexual-violence-services/2724729652-1709686055/arcshs_openingdoorsresearchreportfa.pdf>; Brandy Cochrane, Research Brief – Family Violence and the LGBTIQ Community (Report, Monash Gender and Family Violence, Monash University, 2017).

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  52. ​Consultations 1, Stage 1 (Victim Survivors’ Advisory Council (VSAC)); 4, Stage 1 (Victorian Community Legal Centres’ Rural Regional Remote Network Roundtable); 12, Stage 1 (Berry Street).

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  53. ​The FVPA was enacted following the Commission’s 2006 Review of Family Violence Laws and implemented many of the Commission’s legislative recommendations. See: Victorian Law Reform Commission, Review of Family Violence Laws Report (Report, 1 March 2006) <https://www.lawreform.vic.gov.au/project/family-violence/>.

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  54. ​Victorian Government, Royal Commission into Family Violence: Summary and Recommendations (Parliamentary Paper No 132 (2014–16), March 2016) <http://rcfv.archive.royalcommission.vic.gov.au/MediaLibraries/RCFamilyViolence/Reports/RCFV_Full_Report_Interactive.pdf>.

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  55. ​Victorian Government, ‘About the Royal Commission into Family Violence’, VIC.GOV.AU (Web Page, 27 September 2023) <https://www.vic.gov.au/about-royal-commission-family-violence>.

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  56. ​Victorian Government, Royal Commission into Family Violence: Summary and Recommendations (Parliamentary Paper No 132 (2014–16), March 2016) <http://rcfv.archive.royalcommission.vic.gov.au/MediaLibraries/RCFamilyViolence/Reports/RCFV_Full_Report_Interactive.pdf>.

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  57. ​Victorian Government, ‘The Orange Door Network’, Family Violence Reform Rolling Action Plan 2020-2023 (Web Page, 19 April 2021) <https://www.vic.gov.au/family-violence-reform-rolling-action-plan-2020-2023/orange-door>.

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  58. ​Victorian Government, ‘The Orange Door Annual Service Delivery Report 2022-23’, VIC.GOV.AU (Web Page, 1 May 2024) <https://www.vic.gov.au/orange-door-annual-service-delivery-report-2022-23> In 2022-23, the last year for which data is available, the Orange Door network received nearly 158,000 referrals, primarily (55.4 %) via police. Almost half of all referrals received included at least one child.

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  59. ​Victorian Government, ‘Evidence-Based Risk Factors and the MARAM Risk Assessment Tools’, MARAM Practice Guides: Foundation Knowledge Guide (Web Page, 21 July 2021) <https://www.vic.gov.au/maram-practice-guides-foundation-knowledge-guide/evidence-based-risk-factors-and-maram-risk>.

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  60. ​MARAM was introduced through amendments to the FVPA outlining legislative obligations of organisations working in family violence. See Family Violence Protection Act 2008 (Vic) pt 11.

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  61. ​Victorian Government, Report of the Family Violence Reform Implementation Monitor – As at 1 November 2020 (Report, 6 May 2021) 143 <https://www.fvrim.vic.gov.au/report-family-violence-reform-implementation-monitor-1-november-2020>.

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  62. ​Victorian Government, ‘MARAMIS Quarterly Newsletter July-September 2024 Quarter 1 2024-25’, VIC.GOV.AU (Web Page, 4 December 2024) 3–4 <https://www.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-11/MARAMIS-Quarterly-Newsletter-PDF-version-Q1-2024-25-.pdf>.

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  63. ​Victorian Government, ‘Dhelk Dja – a Partnership with Aboriginal Communities to Address Family Violence’, VIC.GOV.AU (Web Page, 16 October 2020) <https://www.vic.gov.au/dhelk-dja-partnership-aboriginal-communities-address-family-violence> Dhelk Dja contributes to Victoria’s commitment under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap (the National Agreement), which includes a target of reducing the rate of all forms of family violence and abuse against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and children by 50% by 2031, with a target of a 50% reduction by 2031.

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  64. ​Department of Social Services (Cth), National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-2032 (Report, Commonwealth of Australia, 28 November 2024) 19 <https://www.dss.gov.au/system/files/resources/national-plan-end-violence-against-women-and-children-2022-2032.pdf>.

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  65. ​Ibid 44.

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  66. ​Consultation 5, Stage 1 (Micaela Cronin, Federal Commissioner, Domestic Family and Sexual Violence Commission).

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  67. ​House of Representatives, Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs, Parliament of Australia, Inquiry into Family Violence Orders Report (Report, February 2025) 1–2 <https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/committees/reportrep/RB000426/toc_pdf/Inquiryintofamilyviolenceorders.pdf> The inquiry was initiated by the Attorney-General to assess how access to family violence orders could be improved across states and territories, and how the family law system could be improved to better protect victim-survivors of family violence.

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  68. ​Ibid xix. See Chapter 4 for further discussion of different approaches to this issue in Australian states and territories.

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  69. ​Ibid iii.

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  70. ​Legislative Assembly Legal and Social Issues Committee, Parliament of Victoria, Building the Evidence Base: Inquiry into Capturing Data on People Who Use Family Violence in Victoria (Final Report, April 2025) <https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/news/justice/family-violence-data/>.

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  71. ​Submission 13, Stage 1 (Centre for Innovative Justice RMIT).

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1. Introduction: Protecting children who turn 18 while on a family violence intervention order
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