With more than 40 per cent of our country's young people under the age of 16 being exposed to family and domestic violence[1], Safe Steps will hold its Adelaide launch of Unanswered Calls – a short documentary that highlights the plight of this group of vulnerable Australians.
In Unanswered Calls, two young people bravely share their lived experience of family and domestic violence. Their stories are accompanied by insights and commentary from leading industry experts and community safety champions, including:
- SA Minister for Women and the Prevention of Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence & Minister for Children Protection, The Hon Katrine Hildyard; and
- South Australia's Commissioner for Children and Young People, Helen Connolly.
Unanswered Calls will have its Adelaide premiere on Wednesday 26 March 2025 (5:30pm to 8pm) at Capri Theatre in Goodwood. There will be a number of screenings available to the public to ensure the message is circulated far and wide. It will also be shown in Brisbane next month, with Perth to follow.
Safe Steps CEO Dr Chelsea Tobin said that this is not just a film – it's a wake-up call needing to be urgently answered.
"It's more than 10 years since the murder of Luke Batty shocked the nation. This documentary highlights how we have built response systems for adults experiencing family violence, but not children," Dr Tobin said.
"Our system still largely views children as extensions of their protective parent in family violence situations, and young Australians are telling us it's unclear where to find support that's relevant to them.
"Young people are in critical stages of cognitive, emotional and social development, making them particularly vulnerable to the effects of trauma. If not addressed, this can become intergenerational trauma.
"We need to actively support them so they can have a life free from violence and know that fear is not love.
"We need dedicated national services for youth, to ensure they have somewhere to turn to escape family violence. We need to ensure their voices are heard."
Minister for Women and the Prevention of Domestic, Family & Sexual Violence Katrine Hildyard said the documentary highlights the pressing importance of listening to, amplifying and acting on the voices of young people who have experienced domestic and family violence.
"Their stories and insights are crucial to our prevention efforts, to shaping effective responses and support mechanisms and to advancing systemic change that makes a lasting difference in young people's lives," Katrine said.
"Unanswered Calls is not just a film – it's a wake-up call for all of us to do better, a call to start, grow and intensify our conversations and a call to action for every one of us."
Commissioner for Children and Young People Helen Connolly said that from her work it's clear children and young people experience and respond to family violence differently to adults, however their voices are often missing from these conversations.
"Young people are not having their voices heard and their views are not being considered when decisions are made that impact them," Helen said.
"We must adopt a doing 'with' not 'to' approach and build a system of support that provides more youth-focused violence prevention strategies taught at school and in the community.
"We want to invite more opportunities to consider the young person's needs - not just those of their parents/carers - and help build trusting relationships with helping agencies."
Interested parties can register to attend a free premiere screening here.
Safe Steps is calling for a dedicated, national response that works with young people to co-design a future where they have the supports they need, at the time and in the places they need it – particularly on the digital platforms they use.
In the documentary, one young person explains: "I also needed someone to sit me down and tell me I wasn't the problem, because throughout my whole experience, that's all I've ever felt, that I was the problem."
Safe Steps is Victoria's only 24/7 family violence crisis response service, delivering support and pathways to safety for people experiencing domestic and family violence. Safe Steps provides information, safety planning and risk assessment, and access to crisis accommodation. It also delivers part of the national 1800 RESPECT support service. Safe Steps makes and takes over 130,000 calls every year – which can be up to 400 calls a day – to assist people fleeing family or domestic violence. Last year, Safe Steps provided 33,000 nights of secure accommodation for people who were not safe to go home.
[1] The Australian Child Maltreatment Study – www.acms.au
About us:
Background
