We need to recognise children as victims of domestic and family violence in their own right

Today in Parliament, Abigail passed a motion calling on the NSW Government to commit to supporting the specific health, safety and recovery needs of child victims of domestic and family violence through dedicated policy and legislation.

Abigail said:

I move:

(1) That this House notes that according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) in a report entitled “Health service use among young people hospitalised due to family and domestic violence” published on 21 August 2024:

on average, one child a day has a domestic and family violence related hospital stay in Australia,
one third of these children are First Nations,
54% of children are girls and 46% are boys, with boys typically being younger than girls at their first hospital stay,
37% had their first family and domestic violence related hospital stay before the age of five, and 18% had their first hospital stay before the age of one,
parents are identified as the most common perpetrator at 62%, with another family member second most common at 25%,
children and young people who are victims of domestic and family violence experience unique barriers to accessing support, including fear of not being believed, previous negative experiences with police and legal systems, fear of withdrawal of support by their caregiver, lack of understanding or recognition of the abuse or its seriousness, perceived or actual reliance on the perpetrator of violence especially when it is a parent or carer, being unable to express or communicate the abuse, lack of appropriate targeted institutional supports and more, and
health services are critical points of intervention for responding to domestic and family violence. Understanding how children and young people who experience family and domestic violence interact with the health care system, as well as their outcomes, can provide evidence for potential intervention and screening points.

(2) That this House affirms that children and young people who experience domestic and family violence are victim-survivors in their own right, and it’s critical that we recognise this in order to establish targeted supports that meet their health, safety, healing and recovery needs.

(3) That this House calls on the NSW Government to commit to recognising children as victims of domestic and family violence in their own right and embed this within policy and legislative decisions, to take proactive action to remove barriers faced by child victims, and to improve support for health staff to better identify and respond to child victims of domestic and family violence.

Read the full transcript in Hansard.

24 September 2024

A UNIVERSAL WELLBEING PAYMENT FOR NSW

No matter who you are or what you do, everyone has the right to share in the wellbeing of our country.

But at the moment the essentials so many of us need – a place to call home, food on the table, and everyday essentials like electricity, internet, medicine and water – are simply out of reach.

Instead of supporting us, our government is choosing to prop up huge corporations with massive subsidies, and to give away our collective wealth through record tax cuts for the wealthy. Meanwhile, the rest of us are left to live paycheck to paycheck or trapped in the dehumanising bureaucracy of our existing welfare system.

Now, in the midst of a pandemic, and following quickly on the heels of the bushfire crisis, more of us than ever before are experiencing what it’s like to lose our jobs, be without a home, or worry about where the food for our next meal will come from.

It’s time for us to choose to prioritise the wellbeing of everyone.

And that’s exactly what the Universal Wellbeing Payment will do.

It’s a regular payment made to each of us to ensure our minimum standard of wellbeing. No means testing, no bureaucracy, no strings attached.

It’s the amount you’re owed simply for being a participant in our society.

It means you are free to live your life and contribute to society as you see fit, whether you’re a carer, an artist, a student, a parent, an entrepreneur – you can get on with what you need to do, knowing that you will always be supported regardless of your income.

It means that we’re choosing to structure our economy for the benefit of all of us, not using our collective wealth to prop up the interests of big business and the wealthy few.

It means you will always have what you need to live a good life, no matter what.

The Universal Wellbeing Payment is for everyone. Help us make it happen.

For more information, head to universalwellbeingpayment.com.au

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We need to recognise children as victims of domestic and family violence in their own right

A UNIVERSAL WELLBEING PAYMENT FOR NSW

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