Domestic, family and sexual violence (DFSV) is a significant issue in the lives of the young people we support at Youth Off The Streets. Last year, 70 per cent of students attending our alternative high schools had been directly impacted by DFSV.
That’s why prevention and early intervention are embedded into our everyday practice. We operate the only schools in Australia with dedicated DFSV workers on the ground. Led by Kylie Sharp, Education DFSV Prevention and Support Team Lead, this team of six DFSV specialists ensures our students can access support when they need it, not just in moments of crisis.
This work aims to interrupt pathways into homelessness and long-term disadvantage, with DFSV a leading driver of both issues. In 2025 alone, 177 students at our schools received tailored support from the DFSV team.
“There aren’t any programs that we can look at as a model, so we’ve had to create what we think is right for our students,” says Kylie.
At the centre of this early intervention approach is Power Within, a 10-week education program delivered in Youth Off The Streets high schools. Through the program, students learn to recognise the cycle of violence, understand warning signs and develop strategies for safety and communication.
The program is intentionally responsive to the realities young people are navigating.
“Every year we incorporate trends that might be going on in the young people’s lives to keep it relevant,” says Kylie. Topics can include healthy relationships, consent, gender dynamics, the influence of social media and pornography and Apprehended Domestic Violence Orders (ADVOs).
Making every interaction count
Knowledge alone isn’t what makes Power Within effective – it’s the support that surrounds the young people who participate in it.
“Many schools have asked me to deliver Power Within at their schools,” says Kylie. “There are other programs that will go into a school for four days, talk to 1,500 students about DFSV and then walk away. That’s not something I want to do.”
These programs are at risk of “opening up a can of worms”, without trained staff to adequately respond to the DFSV disclosures that follow.
“The reason Power Within works is because we’ve got workers on the ground every day waiting for those conversations,” says Kylie. “They know how to identify; they can sense a change of demeanour in a young person and know that something has probably happened at home the night before.”
Access to Youth Off The Streets’ DFSV Prevention team allows for a continuum of care throughout the delivery of Power Within.
Not having this continuum of care can have serious consequences.
“Sometimes we only get one chance with a young person,” says Kylie. “If the person that young person discloses to doesn’t act, then we’ve lost them.”
This is why, Kylie says, it’s essential for all school staff to be trained in DFSV responses, not just specialist DFSV workers.
“Often, it’ll be a teacher or youth worker that first receives a disclosure,” says Kylie. “If they don’t report it, we don’t have the chance to respond until the young person is in crisis mode and the situation is a lot more complex.”
To address this, school staff are trained in how to respond safely and effectively to DFSV disclosures. Through Safe Conversations and our Taking Action Creating Change Together (TACCT) program, staff are equipped to hold trauma-informed conversations and respond appropriately to disclosures.
Read more: Why training the youth services sector saves lives
“We’re not a band-aid; we provide continuous support.”
Seeing the impact
“There’s this powerful moment when something shifts in a young person,” says Kylie. “They go from being defensive to starting to feel seen and understood.”
Negative behaviours, continues Kylie, come from not being able to express what’s happening at home, so that anger is directed to others at school. Instead of being met with care, young people are often met with punitive responses.
“By the time they reach us, these young people can carry years of unspoken trauma,” says Kylie. “When someone finally does listen, it opens a door and the real work begins.”
The impact extends beyond the young people to their families and communities, too.
“We’re seeing more students recognising abuse at home and helping their parent name it,” says Kylie. “Even while living through trauma themselves, these young people are determined to help their parent get out.”
Closing the gaps in support
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), a major barrier to children and young people seeking assistance for DFSV is a lack of appropriate supports.
“The thing that makes early intervention more difficult is that any child or young person between the ages of 12 and 16 that isn’t involved with the Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) doesn’t have system support,” says Kylie.
The result is a critical gap in care.
“We have young people who tell us that they’re experiencing domestic violence and there’s no service we can refer them to,” says Kylie. “We have youth-specific services for mental health and drug and alcohol misuse – but they deal with the branches of the tree, not the roots of it.”
The lack of age-appropriate support recognising children and young people as victim-survivors in their own right – rather than ‘secondary’ to a parent experiencing DFSV – means that the team must think beyond traditional responses to help young people stay safe.
When a young person makes a disclosure, a DFSV worker works with them to develop practical safety plans tailored to their situation and home environment. This is supported by Power Within, which builds awareness of warning signs before situations escalate. Last year, 48 safety plans were created with young people to help them stay safe in active domestic violence situations.
“If we know that the young person’s dad gets paid on Thursday night, we know that Thursday night is a drink up and that things can get violent,” says Kylie.
Without system-level support, the focus shifts to practical strategies that reduce risk in real time.
“We talk to the young person about their dad’s drinking habits and at what point in their drinking things start to change,” says Kylie. “Then we have an understanding that after so many drinks, the young person needs to have a plan – whether it’s going to the police station, staying in a certain part of the house or going to a relative’s house.”
“It’s not ideal, but until we get more services it’s all that we can do.”
Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Month highlights the critical role of prevention and early intervention in keeping young people safe.
We are calling on the Australian Government to acknowledge young people as victim-survivors of violence in their own right and explicitly include them across all areas of the National Plan to End Violence Against Woman and Children.
Greater investment in education, prevention and early intervention is also essential to ensure young people are supported before the point of crisis. Without this, they will continue to fall through gaps in systems not designed for their needs.
