Recommendation 5

The Commonwealth and state and territory governments to adopt a strategic and coordinated approach to embedding the distinct experiences of children and young people in their own right. This includes through establishment of a Youth Taskforce under the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-2032 (National Plan), supported by the Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commission (DFSV Commission), to ensure implementation of the National Plan accelerates a focus on children and young people. 

This strategic work should be complemented by more immediate efforts to support children and young people who have experienced violence.

1. Support and recovery for young children, with a focus on programmatic responses which maintain and repair a relationship with the protective parent, including in the context of the family law system, as well as upskilling Independent Children’s Lawyers.
2. Developing tailored and developmentally appropriate service responses as well as youth-specific and informed, service responses for child sexual abuse, children and young people who have experienced family violence, young people using violence at home, and young people using and/or experiencing violence in intimate relationships, drawing on available evidence and practice frameworks available through Australia’s National Research. Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS)
3. In recognition that certain cohorts of young people will not be in the care of statutory child protection systems or a protective parent, develop and deliver an appropriate and tailored response to young people escaping violence and seeking financial support and safe housing.

(Responsible Commonwealth portfolio/s: Social Services, Attorney-General’s, Treasury)

Update as at 30 October 2025

The following measures were announced at the 6 September 2024 National Cabinet, as part of the $81.3 million package to support children and young people. Under this package, the Commonwealth Government is:

• Providing $40.6 million over six years from 2024–25 (and $10.7 million per year ongoing from 2030–31) to expand the Children Specific Counselling components in the Specialised Family Violence Service (SFVS). Children Specific Counselling services support children as victims in their own right and aims to place children at the centre of the service being provided (lead agency: Department of Social Services).
• In March 2025, the Government provided top‑up funding to 8 Relationships Australia organisations from 2024‑25.
• Providing $20.1 million over six years from 2024-25 (and $5.6 million per year ongoing from 2030-31) to expand and extend funding to four existing Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs) under SFVS from 2024-25 and fund up to an additional 15 ACCOs to provide culturally safe child-centred support to First Nations children and young people and their families under SFVS from 2026-27 (lead agency: Department of Social Services, in consultation with the National Indigenous Australians Agency).
• The Department of Social Services is in the early stages of consultation with stakeholders, including the Early Childhood Care and Development Policy Partnership co-secretariat and SNAICC – National Voice for our Children. A stakeholder engagement plan is being developed to ensure ACCOs, peak organisations and communities contribute to the design and national awareness of the new services.
• In March 2025, the Government provided top-up funding to the existing 4 ACCOs delivering SFVS from 2024-25.
• Providing $12.8 million over five years from 2024-25 to deliver small-medium grants to enable specialist and community support services to enhance and expand critical support services provided to victim-survivors of child sexual abuse and children at risk of, or who have displayed, harmful sexual behaviour (lead agency: Attorney-General’s Department).  
  • Grant applications closed on 28 July 2025 and successful applicants are expected to be notified in early November 2025.
• Providing $6.8 million over three years from 2025-26 to expand the Supporting Children After Separation Program (SCASP) to provide specialised, longer-term support for children of separated families affected by family violence who are already engaged in counselling support within SCASP, to avoid needing to transfer those cases to a SFVS (lead agency: Attorney-General’s Department).
• Working with sector experts and stakeholders to identify gaps in supports for children and young people who have experienced or witnessed FDSV, to inform the design and implementation of new and revised initiatives and interventions (lead agency: Department of Social Services).
• As at 30 September 2025, the engaged consultant (WhereTo) has provided a Landscape Review of the service needs of children and young people with lived experience of family and domestic violence.

All governments, First Nations representatives and the non-government sector are working together through Safe and Supported: the National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children 2021–2031 towards the shared goal of making significant and sustained progress in reducing the rate of child abuse and neglect and its intergenerational impacts. This works alongside the National Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Child Sexual Abuse 2021–2030 and the National Plan.

Youth advisory groups are becoming a common feature across jurisdictions. An example at the national level includes the Youth Advisory Groups run by the Office for Youth, including the Prevention of Gender-Based Violence Youth Advisory Group. These groups work with Ministers and government agencies on policies and programs that affect young people.

ANROWS held a conference on 14-16 May 2025 with the theme “Listen, learn, act: Centring children and young people to end violence”, focused on demonstrating the importance of centring children and young people in driving evidence-informed change in policy and practice addressing domestic, family and sexual violence”.

The DFSV Commission has established a Reference Group, which includes young people with lived experience and youth-focused organisations, to assist with this work. The Commission has previously held a Youth Round table co-convened with Chanel Contos and the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership. The Commission is also working with ANROWS Youth Advisory Group to develop and deliver a roundtable centring children and young people at which the Minister for Social Services will be a guest on 10 December 2025.

Recommendation 6

The Commonwealth Government, with states and territories, to develop a national, coordinated and co-designed approach to engaging with men and boys, and on healthy masculinities and violence prevention. This should include:

1. establishing intersectional, DFSV-informed advisory mechanisms for engaging with men and boys with multi-disciplinary expertise (e.g., health, education, tech), including the establishment of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Men’s Advisory Body;
2. adopting a strengths-based national definition and measurement methodology for healthy masculinities to guide future campaigns and/or program implementation;
3. developing or expanding DFSV-informed program responses across sectors, focusing on healthy relationships and masculinities throughout men’s life transitions, including school leavers, new fathers, separation/relationship breakdown and recent unemployment; and
4. developing a national response, attuned to the experiences of men and boys, responding to the rise of online misogyny and radicalisation through targeted investment in research to understand relevant risk factors and the extent of harm; collaboration with specialist frontline educators; and a focus on evidence-based tech-industry regulation.

(Responsible Commonwealth portfolio/s: Social Services, Health, Prime Minister and Cabinet, Communications, Home Affairs)

Update as at 30 October 2025

• During the May 2025 election, the Commonwealth Government committed to ‘take a coordinated approach to engaging men and boys in violence prevention’ (lead agency: Department of Social Services).
• The Office of National Intelligence, on behalf of the National Intelligence Community, is funding research on Australian data into the links between misogyny and radicalisation. Funded research is investigating the prevalence of misogyny in young Australians, the relationship between misogyny and violent extremism, risk and protective factors for self-radicalisation to violent extremism, and the role of digital pathways in this space (lead agency: Office of National Intelligence).
• In August 2025, the Women and Women’s Safety Ministerial Council discussed the impact of different community attitudes on achieving gender equality, as well as the challenges of emerging resistance to gender equality. Ministers agreed that a detailed, strategic discussion on this challenge will be the key focus of the next Council meeting (planned for November 2025) (lead agency: Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet).

This complements initiatives underway under the National Plan (including the Healthy Masculinities Trial and Evaluation, Movember Partnership and Men’s Wellness Centres, and Early Intervention Trial for Adolescent Boys) to support healthy masculinities, violence prevention and early intervention. These activities are in various stages of delivery. Updates will be provided through the 2025 annual update the National Plan Activities Addendum (lead agency: Department of Social Services).

The Government has also provided $12.7 million from 2022–23 to 2025–26 to continue funding No To Violence for a Men’s Referral Service (MRS) and Brief Intervention Service (BIS).

• The MRS offers confidential telephone counselling and referrals for perpetrators of domestic violence to help change their behaviour. In 2024-25 the MRS responded to 10,571 inbound calls and webchats from people seeking support related to men’s use of family and domestic violence.
• In 2024-25, 918 men engaged with the Brief Intervention Service, which provides multi-session telephone counselling support and referral options to men as they begin the behaviour change journey. 4,301 sessions were provided.

This funding also enables continued delivery of training to support frontline workers in their work with men using family and domestic violence and an independent review of funded services. In 2024-25, training was delivered to 502 practitioners and counsellors.

Recommendation 7

The Commonwealth to undertake further structural reforms to strengthen women’s economic equality, in recognition of the interconnectedness between lack of economic security and vulnerability to DFSV. This should include:

1. consistent with the recommendations of the Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce (WEET), abolishing the Child Care Subsidy Activity Test, as an immediate first step towards universal access to early education for Australian children, noting the current Activity Test limits flexibility in accessing child care for women in casual and insecure work
2. adopting in full the WEET recommendation to remove a major and escalating form of financial abuse against women seeking child support (recommendation 6.5)
3. expanding eligibility for the Low Income Super Tax Offset (LISTO), in order to increase women’s superannuation balances as they age
4. developing a successor plan to the National Plan to Respond to the Abuse of Older Australians (Elder Abuse) 2019-2023
5. undertaking further reforms including expanding eligibility to address the economic insecurity experienced by women on visas who are victim-survivors of DFSV
6. strengthening workplace health and safety laws to complement the positive duty on employers to prevent workplace sexual harassment, sex discrimination and harassment under the Sex Discrimination Act 1984

(Responsible Commonwealth portfolio/s: Education, Attorney-General’s, Social Services, Home Affairs, Employment and Workplace Relations, Treasury)

Update as at 30 October 2025

Women’s Economic Equality

• The gender pay gap is the lowest on record at 11.5 per cent, supported by increases in the minimum wage, and pay increases for the female dominated aged care and early childhood care and education workforces.

Child Care Subsidy Activity Test (lead agency: Department of Education)

• In December 2024, the Commonwealth Government announced it is investing $426.6 million to replace the Child Care Subsidy Activity Test to guarantee at least 3 days of subsidised early childhood education and care (ECEC) each week for children who need it.
• From January 2026, all families will be eligible for at least 72 hours of subsidised ECEC per fortnight regardless of their activity levels. Additionally, families can still get 100 hours of subsidised ECEC per fortnight if they meet activity requirements, have a valid exemption, or are caring for a First Nations child.
• The average family receiving Child Care Subsidy will save around $4,400 as a result of reforms.
• This change was announced alongside the $1 billion Building Early Education Fund, which was established to build ECEC centres, including in the regions and outer suburbs.

Addressing weaponisation of the child support system

• Through the Commonwealth Systems abuse audit further work is being done to change the child support system to prevent weaponisation.

Expanding eligibility for the Low Income Super Tax Offset (LISTO), in order to increase women’s superannuation balances as they age

• On 13 October 2025, the Government committed to increase the low income superannuation tax offset (LISTO) from $500 to $810 and raise the eligibility threshold from $37,000 to $45,000 from 1 July 2027.
• The majority of people who will benefit from changes to the LISTO are women. Around 1.3 million Australians will benefit, including around 750,000 women and around 550,000 young people under the age of 30, with a potential benefit at retirement of around $15,000.
• The LISTO changes builds on paying superannuation on Commonwealth Paid Parental Leave from 1 July, which will see eligible women’s superannuation balances be around $4,250 higher at retirement; and on Payday Super reforms which from 1 July 2026 will see superannuation contributions paid at the same time as salary and wages. This will particularly benefit women who are more likely to work in casual and insecure work most at risk of late or non-payment of superannuation contributions.

Developing a successor National Plan to respond to elder abuse (lead agency: Attorney-General’s Department)

• On 15 August 2025, the Standing Council of Attorneys-General agreed to progress approval by all governments of the National Plan to End the Abuse and Mistreatment of Older People 2025-35 as a priority.

Leaving Violence Program – Eligibility (lead agency: Department of Social Services). The Leaving Violence Program supports people who are victim-survivors over 18 years of age, experiencing intimate partner violence, regardless of visa status, gender or sexuality.

The Government has invested $925.2 million over five years to establish the Leaving Violence Program as ongoing financial support program for victim-survivors leaving a violent intimate partner relationship. The Leaving Violence Program is not a crisis payment, but provides financial support packages to victim-survivors who are planning to leave, or have recently left, a violent intimate partner relationship.

• As at 1 July 2025, eligible victim-survivors, including those on temporary visas, are able to apply for support through the Leaving Violence Program.
• The Leaving Violence Program support workers help victim-survivors with referrals to appropriate services based on their safety plan and needs assessment, this can include legal and migration support. The Program will work with the sector to support relationships and linkages between the Leaving Violence Program and support services in the sector
• As part of establishing the Leaving Violence Program, an Expert Advisory Panel, connected to the sector and representing lived experience, has been engaged to ensure the program remains trauma-informed, culturally responsive, ethical and accountable, and continues to meet the needs of victim-survivors.

Sex Discrimination Act’s positive duty - making workplaces safer (lead agency: Australian Human Rights Commission)

• The Australian Human Rights Commission (the Commission) is taking action to make Australian workplaces safer for everyone. The Commission has started formal inquiries, developed proactive compliance strategies, and worked with organisations and businesses to meet their legal obligations to prevent and respond to work-related sexual harassment, sexist behaviour, sex discrimination and related victimisation.
• In the 2025–26 financial year, the Commission will proactively focus on two high-risk industries: Retail Trade and Accommodation & Food Services. These industries employ large numbers of workers who face significant risks of work-related sexual harassment.

On 11 March 2025, the Commonwealth introduced the Work Health and Safety (Sexual and Gender-based Harassment) Code of Practice 2025 to help employers and workers prevent and respond to sexual and gender-based harassment in Commonwealth workplaces.

Under work health and safety laws, duty holders must manage risks and hazards to both physical and psychological health, including the risks of sexual and/or gender-based violence and harassment. The Code of Practice provides practical guidance for duty holders on how to meet these obligations.

Action Plan Addressing Gender-based Violence in Higher Education

• On 25 August 2025 the Universities Accord (National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence) Bill 2025 (the Bill) passed Parliament.
• The Bill creates a power for the Minister for Education to make a National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence (National Code) as a legislative instrument to:
  • reduce the incidence of gender-based violence
  • proactively strengthen prevention efforts
  • improve the response to gender-based violence; and
  • hold higher education providers accountable for their performance, including in student accommodation.
• Introducing a National Code was one of seven key actions of the Action Plan Addressing Gender-based Violence in Higher Education.
• The National Code requires higher education providers to prioritise safety and proactively address the factors that drive and contribute to gender-based violence in their communities.
• The National Code will commence from 1 January 2026.
• Students can also now escalate complaints to the National Student Ombudsman about the actions of their higher education provider.

The National Student Ombudsman can receive and investigate complaints about a broad range of issues, including student safety and welfare, and experiences of gender-based violence.

Recommendation 8

The Commonwealth and state and territory governments to expand the evidence base on how to build capability of family and friends to identify and respond to DFSV as “natural responders” in their relational contexts with victim-survivors and perpetrators. In the immediate term, the Commonwealth should resource Lifeline’s DV-alert to expand its current community-focused program offering, prioritising increased reach and frequency of facilitator-led delivery to regional and remote areas, as well as delivery virtually.

(Responsible Commonwealth portfolio/s: Social Services)

Update as at 30 October 2025

DV-alert is a free, nationally recognised training program that is available, at no cost, to all health, allied health and frontline workers who are most likely to encounter people experiencing or at risk of domestic and family violence. DV-alert is available as general or Indigenous face-to-face workshops, via e‑learning or awareness sessions. DV-alert can also tailor workshops to the needs of individual organisations. A 2-hour DV-aware workshop is open to the general public, aiming to enhance awareness and knowledge of family and domestic violence (FDV). Lifeline delivered 429 workshops to 6,274 individual clients in 2024-25 (lead agency: Department of Social Services).

Government is further considering how this recommendation could be addressed.