Victorian Law Reform Commission: Family Violence Intervention Orders for Children and Young Adults Issues Paper 1

Together with Safe and Equal, Women's Legal made a submission to the Victorian Law Reform Commission community law reform project examining aspects of family violence intervention orders for children and young adults 
affected by family violence. Issues Paper 1 focused on protection for children who turn 18 while on a Family Violence Intervention Order (FVIO).

FVIOs are a critical legal tool to protect victim-survivors of family violence. Children and young people are often profoundly affected by family violence – either as direct targets of abuse or through exposure. Children who experience or witness family violence must be appropriately recognised by justice and support systems as victim-survivors, with unique needs for protection and participation. At the same time, as acknowledged by the Victorian Law Reform Commission in Issues Paper 1, it can be traumatic for children to be involved in court processes, which must be handled with care.

Legislative reforms are needed to clarify that a magistrate can make orders listing a child or young person as a protected person that continue past the time that person turns 18 years of age, and that orders extending beyond a young person’s 18th birthday continue to be valid and enforceable when they are contravened. We know that the risk of family violence does not end when a young person reaches legal adulthood.1 Orders that arbitrarily end when a young person turns 18 place an unfair burden on that young person to seek their own protection of the law.

We recommend that any legislative or system reforms be accompanied by adequate resourcing for specialist frontline services, and capability development to better equip professionals working in the legal and justice systems to provide age-appropriate, trauma-informed and culturally appropriate support.