Hope Street Youth and Family Services have welcomed the release of the Royal Commission into Family Violence: Report and Recommendations.

Hope Street made a submission to the hearings and says the recommendations that focus on young people and children highlight the need for specialist youth focused responses and are particularly critical for this cohort of people in our community experiencing family violence.

Hope Street’s CEO Donna Bennett said that:

in our experience young people are often voiceless in the family violence space falling through the gaps; largely the focus is on women and their children (as it should be) but not the adolescent who leaves home without a parent or siblings. Effective responses must be aimed right across the continuum of client cohorts and young people need to feature significantly in this response.

In April 2015, Hope Street conducted a snapshot survey seeking the main reason why young people sought assistance from Hope Street. Of the 95 young people surveyed, 87% reported they had experienced family violence.

Download