Family violence victim survivors better supported by changes

The Justice Legislation Amendment (Family Violence, Stalking and Other Matters) Bill 2025 (also known as the Women’s Safety Package) passed the Victorian Parliament last week.

‘We welcome the changes to Victoria’s family violence legislation that will provide better support for those who have experienced or are experiencing the harms of family violence, particularly children and young people,’ said Acting Executive Director Eila Pourasgheri from our Family Youth and Children’s Law team.

Changes recognise the harms of misidentification on victim-survivors of family violence

They include requirements for police officers and magistrates to consider key factors that increase the risk of incorrectly identifying victim-survivors as the primary aggressor of family violence.

‘Misidentification of victim-survivors diminishes their trust in the system and can have devastating consequences, including being separated from family and excluded from home,’ said Eila.

‘We know through research and our daily work in courts that some in our community are much more likely to be misidentified. This includes women – particularly First Nations and culturally diverse women– members of the LGBTIQA+ community, children and people who live with disability and mental health issues.’

Under the changes, the law will require police and courts to consider age, race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability before making a family violence intervention order or a family violence safety notice.

‘We support earlier detection of this issue and are hopeful this will lead to fewer cases of misidentification. We were pleased to see careful consideration of lived experience by government and for the opportunity to work closely with the sector throughout the drafting process. We will continue to advocate for clearer pathways to rectify misidentification, including improving system-wide data collection,’ Eila said.

Continuation of intervention orders for young people turning 18

Young people will now continue to have the protection of a family violence intervention order (FVIO) after they turn 18.

This change is important for our clients like Jess (not their real name). At 17 years old, Jess was contacted by police to advise her that a family violence intervention order protecting her from her stepfather was due to expire. Jess had to go through a difficult court process to extend her order.

Jess’s story was included in our submission to the Victorian Law Reform Inquiry into the Protection for Children Who Turn 18 While on a Family Violence Intervention Order.

‘Support would be great, especially going from teen to adult … trying to keep up with all this court stuff, it's very difficult,’ she said.

Stronger protections for young respondents to intervention orders

The changes also include stronger provisions for young respondents to FVIOs, partially adopting recommendations from our report Feeling supported, not stuck – rethinking intervention orders for children and young people.

The report found most of our young clients responding to FVIOs are victim-survivors of family violence in their own right. A quarter had a disability, neurodiversity or a mental health issue.

‘Our research found that in 39 per cent of cases, families were not supportive of a family violence intervention order being made against their child and that intervention orders against children are being used instead of supports for families in crisis. We recommend a shift away from legal responses towards prevention and support to tackle underlying needs,’ said Eila.

The increase in the minimum age for respondents to these intervention orders to 12 is an important step. However, we consider that a minimum age of 14 would more appropriately align with children's development stages and reduce the risk of harmful justice system involvement.

Consideration of a child’s ability to understand an intervention order a welcome inclusion

We’re pleased that consideration of a child respondents’ ability to understand the nature and effect of an interim or final intervention order will now be included in the Family Violence Protection Act 2008.

Our report also found that many orders are being made against children and young people before they have a chance to get legal advice and when they are not present at court. This puts them at risk of breaching an order they may not understand and means their voices and perspectives on the incident are not heard when important decisions are made.

We will continue to work with stakeholders to ensure young people receive legal advice at the earliest opportunity, to reduce the number of child respondents who do not attend at Court and enable decision makers to consider a child’s ability to understand an intervention order.