Children and young people want to be centrally involved in developing more effective responses to domestic, family and sexual violence, according to Dr Tessa Boyd-Caine, CEO of Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS).
Boyd-Caine reports below on the recent ANROWS national conference, which had the theme, Listen, Learn, Act: Centring Children and Young People to End Violence.
Tessa Boyd-Caine writes:
If we’re serious about ending domestic, family and sexual violence in a generation, we must work with children and young people – not just consult them, but centre their experiences and act on their insights.
The 2025 federal election marked a generational shift: for the first time, voters under 45 outnumbered baby boomers. Their electoral power was clear.
Now their voices must shape the national agenda – including efforts to end gender- based violence.
The National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children, released in October 2022, sets an ambitious target: to end this violence in one generation.
Over the past year, a momentum has grown alongside deep concern about the pace of change. Protest movements and public debate have raised expectations – and rightly so.
Real progress demands a generational transformation of attitudes, systems and services. That transformation begins by listening to the voices of children and young people – as victims and survivors, and as changemakers.
At ANROWS’ recent national conference, Listen, Learn, Act: Centring Children and Young People to End Violence, young delegates made it clear: they are not passive recipients of support. They are experts in their own lives. They know what safety, healing and participation should look like.
Across youth-led sessions, the message was clear: use accessible language instead of jargon. Ensure continuity of care. Build safety through trust and relationships – not just policy and procedure.
Above all: don’t ask young people to speak if you’re not willing to act on what they say.
The stories shared were powerful and confronting.
One young person asked: “What happens when your mum or dad are the ones perpetrating violence?”
Their question underscores the complex realities that young people face – and the need for trauma-informed, consistent, flexible support.
Leading change
ANROWS research reinforces these insights. Nearly 90 percent of young people who use family violence as adolescents have themselves experienced abuse themselves.
Half of 16 to 24-year-olds have already experienced some form of intimate partner violence. These figures reveal that children are not bystanders – they are often victims.
With the right support, they can also be leaders in the change ahead.
We must act earlier, and we must intervene before trauma hardens and cycles of violence deepen.
That means investing in youth-focused services, especially for those at risk of using violence. It means embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led approaches for First Nations children and families.
And it means improving child-centred, violence-informed practices across healthcare, mental health, housing, education and justice.
Ending gendered violence in a generation is bold – and necessary. Achieving it means listening differently, acting with urgency, and sharing power with those most affected.
As one young delegate said: “I want to see lawmakers and organisations include us in designing the systems that are meant to help us.”
They are not asking for permission. They are ready to lead.
• Dr Tessa Boyd-Caine is CEO of ANROWS
See Croakey’s archive of articles on violence
