Nearly three years on from a meeting that helped changed the way the ACT responded to domestic and family violence, survivors, sector staff and politicians will sit down again to focus on how abuse affects the next generation.
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The ACT government's peak advisory body on domestic and family violence, the Domestic Violence Prevention Council, will convene an extraordinary meeting on April 4.
In a joint statement, Minister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family violence Yvette Berry and the Domestic Violence Prevention Council chair Marcia Williams said the meeting would address the needs of children and young people impacted by family violence.
"It is recognised that children and young people can be profoundly impacted by violence in the home even when the violence is not directed at them, and that children can be lost in the complex response to family and domestic violence," the statement said.
"It is also acknowledged that long term trauma and impacts of violence are not widely understood by parents or the service system.
"This meeting is an opportunity to share knowledge and expertise about what works to enhance the safety and security of children and young people who have experienced or witnessed family violence, or who may be exposed to violence in the future.
The meeting will examine findings from the the Insights report from the Family Safety Hub co-design, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, the Council's 2016 Death Review Report and the Third Action Plan of the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children 2010-2022.
Key players from the Education, Justice and Community Safety and Health directorates are set to sit down with the Human Rights Commission, ACT Policing. members of the ACT Legislative Assembly, domestic violence support workers and survivors.
It follows historic gathering in 2015 which led to the $21 million package to wipe out domestic violence in 2016 and the introduction of a $30 levy on all ACT households to help fund it.
That meeting also led to the creation of a specific portfolio for the prevention of domestic violence, and highlighted the need for a whole-of-government approach to the problem.
