Nearly half of young Australians aged 16 to 24 have already experienced intimate partner violence, according to research by Australia's National Research Organisation for Women's Safety (ANROWS). For adolescents who have used violence at home, the vast majority-89%-have themselves been victims of abuse.
With domestic, family and sexual violence at the forefront of national concern, ANROWS is convening its 2025 National Conference from 14-16 May to confront a critical challenge: how to centre the voices, experiences, and leadership of children and young people in efforts to end gender-based violence.
Under the theme, "Centring Children and Young People: The Key to Ending Violence in a Generation," the conference brings together researchers, policymakers and practitioners to help realise the vision of the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-2032.
"We know that early experiences of violence can shape lifelong patterns, but young people also have valuable insights into prevention," said Dr Tessa Boyd-Caine, CEO of ANROWS. "If we are serious about ending gender-based violence in a generation, we must centre young people's voices and experiences. They are not only victims and survivors, they are also agents of change in their own right."
The conference follows a federal election where millennials and Gen Z voters outnumbered baby boomers at the ballot box for the first time-underscoring not only the political power of younger generations, but the urgent need to centre their experiences in Australia's policy response to violence.
Conor Pall, a youth advocate and lived experience speaker at the conference, said: " "Children and young people have spent too long being talked about, not to and with. If we want to end violence in a generation, we need to stop shutting young people out. We're ready to lead-but we need to be given space to step in and be part of the solution."
The conference will confront some of the most urgent-and often overlooked-issues facing young people today, including:
- The complex realities of sexual violence experienced by young people, both within relationships and in peer or online contexts, and the pressing need for justice system reform
- The role of dominant masculine norms in driving violence, and how redefining masculinity is critical to effective primary prevention
- How young people's uses of violence is often rooted in their own histories of trauma and victimisation-and what it means to respond with care and accountability
- The unique ways children and young people experience coercive control, and how to design responses that recognise their needs and voices
- The dual role of schools as both protective and potentially harmful environments-and how to transform them into safer, more inclusive spaces for all students
Dr Boyd-Caine added: "For too long, our systems have treated children and young people as witnesses to violence rather than as people directly affected. We need to act on the evidence and support children and young people to recover, heal, and lead."
