9 years on … the same reforms remain desperately needed for children as victim-survivors of family violence in their own right.

9 years ago today Dr Wendy O’Brien and I wrote an article for The Conversation highlighting the Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence finding that children are the ‘silent victims’ of family violence.

📚 At the time we overviewed the Royal Commission’s findings that as a legacy of limited or incomplete data-gathering, siloed responses, and complicated referral processes, children were being overlooked as victims of family violence. We noted that in 2016, as a result, children were enduring harm without access to specialised supports to address their trauma.

💡We noted, with enthusiasm, that there were recommendations made by the Royal Commission to address this. You can read that article here: https://theconversation.com/silent-victims-royal-commission-recommends-better-protections-for-child-victims-of-family-violence-56801

💔 Never did I think that in 2025 we would still be calling for the same reforms. That I would still be describing a system design by and for adults that fails to see and respond to children as victim-survivors in their own right. There are absolutely some examples of better practice in Victoria and elsewhere across Australia but they do not come close to meeting demand.

💡As the former Victorian Children’s Commissioner for Children and Young People Liana Buchanan and I recently wrote for The Herald Sun, ‘not enough has changed in the way we respond to family violence and to protect children from abuse.’

👉🏼 You can read our recent article here: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/opinion/kate-fitzgibbon-in-australias-response-to-domestic-violence-kids-remain-invisible/news-story/06bbf3406e6121502384109efc552e1d

We remain a long way from delivering a child-centred whole of system response for children as victim-survivors of family violence in their own right.