Seen Safe Supported

REPORT LAUNCH

FVREE is excited to launch the Seen Safe Supported report.

Seen, Safe, Supported is a new, youth‑informed blueprint calling for a shift in how systems respond to young people experiencing family violence. Addressing the challenges young people face requires moving beyond crisis driven, adult centric models towards responses that build trust, continuity and capability around young people.

Grounded in lived experience and frontline practice, the report calls for stronger integration across family violence and adjacent services, statutory responses and education systems. It highlights the need for increased capability and resourcing to safely identify and respond to family violence wherever young people seek help.

This report elevates the voices of young people with lived experience who have been generous and clear about what they require for a service response to be safe, accessible and flexible.

It calls for bold leadership and ongoing investment to ensure young people are truly seen, safe and supported.

SOCIAL MEDIA KIT (PDF)

WHAT WE HEARD

Through extensive consultation with young people and services, we explored real‑world experiences to identify gaps and shape practical solutions. Here is what we heard:

• Young people experiencing family violence need to be acknowledged as victim survivors in their own right rather than being responded to primarily as part of a family unit
• Many young people do not seek help because systems feel unsafe, inaccessible or are not designed with them in mind
• The family violence and youth-focused sectors shows strong willingness to do better, but lack the structural support, integration and resourcing needed to respond consistently
• Earlier, youth‑centred and relational responses will reduce risk and improve the long‑term outcomes into adulthood
• The system is ready for change; what is needed now is leadership, investment, partnership and sustained commitment
• Seen Safe Supported provides a clear, practical blueprint for action at both service and system levels

THE MODEL

Our findings point to both a clear need and a genuine opportunity for system reform.

Seen, Safe, Supported is a youth-informed service blueprint that proposes a new way of working, one that can operate at both service and system levels. It aims to shift the conversation from understanding the problem to implementing responses that meaningfully improve safety, access and long term outcomes for young people experiencing family violence.

The blueprint is built around three core pillars:

• SEEN – Raising awareness among adults and young people of the unique signs and dynamics of family violence experienced by young people
• SAFE – Bringing specialist family violence expertise into the places and spaces where young people already are
• SUPPORTED – Providing peer based and therapeutic support that enables healing, recovery and long term safety

Together, these pillars provide a clear and achievable pathway to shift the system towards responses that are relational, sustained and genuinely youth focused, so that young people experiencing family violence are no longer left to navigate harm alone, but are truly seen, safe and supported.

What YOUNG people TOLD US