Submission to National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children Second Action Plan
August 2026
Download the Submission [pdf]
Overview of the Submission
SNAICC welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the development of the Second Action Plan under the National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children. We are committed to preventing family, domestic and sexual violence (FDSV) through strengthening culture, family and community. Most of all, we are committed to keeping Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children safe from harm and promoting healing for those who have experienced or witnessed violence.
Despite efforts to improve systems and supports through the First Action Plan, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and children continue to experience disproportionately high levels of violence and its impacts compared to non-Indigenous women and children. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children experience disproportionately high levels of and exposure to FDSV, child protection intervention, intergenerational trauma and systemic disadvantage. These experiences result from historic and continuing discrimination, racism, disempowerment and over-surveillance, increasing the risk of child removal, homelessness, mental health issues and trauma, disconnection from education, and barriers to disclosure, healing and justice.
The Second Action Plan must better capitalise on existing policy frameworks, intergovernmental commitments and the sound evidence base to address this over-representation. It must align with and reinforce Our Ways – Strong Ways – Our Voices, Safe and Supported, the National Child and Family Investment Strategy and the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.
A key message in the submission is that reducing FDSV requires a shift from crisis-driven responses towards self-determined prevention, culturally safe healing and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community control. Addressing violence requires holistic responses that strengthen families and communities, improve housing security, reduce poverty, increase culturally safe access to holistic support services, and reduce child removal and child protection system contact. ACCOs must be recognised as primary partners in prevention, early intervention, healing and victim-survivor support, with investment supporting the transition of decision-making, funding and service delivery to the Aboriginal community-controlled sector.
A key focus is recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children as victim-survivors in their own right. Children who experience or witness violence are too often treated as witnesses or supported as extensions of their parents, rather than recognised as victim-survivors themselves. Recognition must be accompanied by a funded entitlement to independent assessment, an independent support person and participation in decisions, alongside tailored, trauma-informed supports and dedicated safety and healing plans.
The submission also emphasises that self-determination is protective. Evidence consistently demonstrates that services designed and delivered by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities improve engagement, trust, disclosure and outcomes. The Second Action Plan must therefore prioritise investment in ACCOs and drive the transition of decision-making, funding and service delivery to the Aboriginal community-controlled sector. Where mainstream services continue to play a role, this must occur through respectful partnerships with ACCOs and ensure access to holistic, culturally safe support.
Children and young people must also have a meaningful role in decisions that affect their lives. SNAICC calls for their voices and lived experience to be prioritised in the development and implementation of the Second Action Plan, with participation grounded in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led approaches and properly resourced. This must go beyond consultation to support shared decision-making and self-determination.
Finally, the submission highlights significant gaps in data, research and evaluation about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children’s experiences of FDSV. It calls for improved national data measures, culturally relevant evaluation, measures of children’s own reported experience of safety, and the application of Indigenous Data Sovereignty and Indigenous Data Governance principles.
The submission calls for the Second Action Plan to embed self-determination, invest in ACCOs, recognise children as victim-survivors in their own right, strengthen culturally safe prevention and healing, and establish clear accountability through children and young people’s participation, system reform, and Indigenous-led data, research and evaluation. These are essential to ensuring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children grow up safe, connected to culture and free from violence.
Related resources
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