Why Child-Centred Approaches Matter in Family Violence Prevention

National Domestic Violence Remembrance Day, held on the first Wednesday of May, marks the beginning of Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Month.

Across Australia, the month provides an opportunity to reflect on the lives lost to domestic and family violence, honour victim survivors, and continue important conversations about prevention, accountability, healing and recovery.

Representatives from Kids First attended the Safe Steps Candlelight Vigil alongside community members, sector partners and services. The vigil was a reminder that domestic and family violence continues to have profound and long-term impacts on children, victim survivors, families and communities.

For Kids First Australia, this work is closely connected to Caring Dads.

Introduced in Australia through Kids First Australia and sector partnerships, Caring Dads is an evidence-based 17-week program that supports fathers to understand the impact of violence and harmful behaviours on their children and families, strengthen safer relationships, and take accountability for change.

Importantly, the program centres the safety and wellbeing of children and their mothers. It recognises that children do not simply witness violence. They experience its impacts directly through fear, instability, disrupted attachment and ongoing trauma.

Supporting safer futures for children and their mothers also means working directly with fathers through accountable, evidence-informed approaches.

Through a combination of group work and integrated case management, Caring Dads supports behaviour change, reduces risk and strengthens child-centred parenting practices. The program works alongside broader family violence and child protection systems, recognising that meaningful change requires coordinated responses, accountability and ongoing support for children and victim survivors.

This approach reflects a broader shift across the sector toward earlier intervention, integrated practice and responses that prioritise safety, accountability and long-term behavioural change.

As a national provider working across prevention, intervention and recovery, Kids First Australia continues to see the importance of evidence-informed, child-centred approaches within family violence prevention and response systems.

Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Month is a reminder that ending family violence requires collective effort across communities, services and systems. It also reinforces the importance of continuing to invest in prevention, accountability and recovery to support safer futures for children, victim survivors and families.

If this topic has raised anything for you, support is available through Kids First Australia services and dedicated family violence support services including Safe Steps Australia and 1800RESPECT.