As the crisis of women experiencing domestic, family and sexual violence increases across Australia, it is their children who are also left silenced. It is the unfortunate reality that children exposed to domestic and family violence are at the greatest risk of being exposed to a myriad of detrimental impacts to their development, mental and physical health, and general wellbeing.

Within the Department of Human Services’ Child and Family Support System (CFSS), Safer Family Services works with children and families experiencing child protection risk. An overwhelming number of these vulnerable families, many who are faced with complex intersectionality, have domestic, family and sexual violence as part of their lived experience.

Safer Family Services applies a child-centred approach to ensure children’s voices are a central element of practice when responding in a context of active domestic, family and sexual violence. Children are seen as active participants in their family; it is often the children’s voices that have the most impact on supporting parents to make behavioural changes.

This presentation will provide an overview of the practice response that Safer Family Services has implemented to prioritise a child-centred approach when working with families experiencing active domestic, family and sexual violence. The presentation will also include an overview of the data and evidence that is being collected through the department's Early Intervention Research Directorate to understand the impact of domestic and family violence within the families who are being referred to Safer Family Services, and the outcomes that are being achieved in working with these children and their families.

Key Learnings:

1. Prioritising child safety and child voice needs to be a key consideration when we are working with domestic and family violence.

2. When children have their voices heard, this can be extremely empowering and can help shape their self-worth, and ultimately their immediate and long-term wellbeing.

As the crisis of women experiencing domestic, family and sexual violence increases across Australia, it is their children who are also left silenced. It is the unfortunate reality that children exposed to domestic and family violence are at the greatest risk of being exposed to a myriad of detrimental impacts to their development, mental and physical health, and general wellbeing.

Within the Department of Human Services’ Child and Family Support System (CFSS), Safer Family Services works with children and families experiencing child protection risk. An overwhelming number of these vulnerable families, many who are faced with complex intersectionality, have domestic, family and sexual violence as part of their lived experience.

Safer Family Services applies a child-centred approach to ensure children’s voices are a central element of practice when responding in a context of active domestic, family and sexual violence. Children are seen as active participants in their family; it is often the children’s voices that have the most impact on supporting parents to make behavioural changes.

This presentation will provide an overview of the practice response that Safer Family Services has implemented to prioritise a child-centred approach when working with families experiencing active domestic, family and sexual violence. The presentation will also include an overview of the data and evidence that is being collected through the department's Early Intervention Research Directorate to understand the impact of domestic and family violence within the families who are being referred to Safer Family Services, and the outcomes that are being achieved in working with these children and their families.

Key Learnings:

1. Prioritising child safety and child voice needs to be a key consideration when we are working with domestic and family violence.

2. When children have their voices heard, this can be extremely empowering and can help shape their self-worth, and ultimately their immediate and long-term wellbeing.

3. The rate of active domestic and family violence within families accessing intensive support services in South Australia is extremely high (over 50%).