New Victoria Legal Aid research shows that school related disputes, such as one-off physical fights and cyber-bullying between schoolmates, are driving an increase in intervention orders against children and young people, with most applications being taken out by parents of the other child.
The report ‘Feeling supported, not stuck – rethinking intervention orders for children and young people’ details how intervention orders against children and young people are rising, but they often don’t change children’s behaviour or leave families feeling safer.
Victoria Legal Aid looked at available data from courts, police and legal aid services for the past six years. We also reviewed closed legal files from children responding to Family Violence Intervention Orders and Personal Safety Intervention Orders (PSIO) and spoke to children and families who had gone through the legal process.
From 2018 to 2024 there was a 34% increase in the number of child respondents coming to Victoria Legal Aid for help with intervention orders, with a notable increase in PSIOs.
Victoria Legal Aid data shows that children who are victim survivors of family violence, who live with disability, neurodiversity, or mental health issues, and those with past involvement with child protection, are significantly more likely to be respondents to intervention orders. One third of our child clients with intervention order applications against them were aged between 10 and 14 years.
Intervention orders were mostly designed for adult family violence situations or stalking and harassment. They can be useful in situations where respondents can understand the orders and the rules they need to follow. But the Victoria Legal Aid research found they are inappropriate for children under 14, and that many can’t understand the order.
Intervention orders can lead to disengagement from school
Children need to be safe at school and get a good education to set them up for life.
The number of Victoria Legal Aid’s young clients responding to PSIOs almost doubled from 243 in 2018-19 to 472 in 2023-24.
When Victoria Legal Aid looked closely at files in these cases, we saw that these disputes sometimes started after bullying experienced by the child responding to the intervention order. Our file review also showed 36% of young people placed on intervention orders suffered disruptions to their schooling. This included missing school, changing schools or leaving school altogether.
This is concerning because education is a protective factor in a child’s life. School exclusion is also highly linked with contact with the criminal justice system. Excluding these young people from school does not address the underlying issues driving their behaviours and, in many cases, makes them worse.
For disputes between children, mediation or approaches that are restorative can have ongoing benefits such as understanding the root causes of the dispute and learning conflict resolution skills. However, the PSIO legal response does not address the drivers of the conflict or help students to resolve their disputes.
Intervention orders can have serious impacts on a young life
The Victoria Legal Aid research found that many intervention orders are made without the young person present at court and without them having the chance to get legal advice. This puts them at increased risk of breaching the order, which is a criminal offence. This can have a devastating impact on a child’s life. We know that the earlier a child comes into contact with the justice system, the more likely they are to reoffend.
Support, not court
Children and teenagers can thrive when they have the right support. However, the Victoria Legal Aid research found the intervention order system rarely links children and young people in with support services.
Some court-based support services are available for young people in the criminal justice system but not available for young people responding to intervention order applications. For example, the Education Justice Initiative (EJI), run by the Department of Education, provides an information, referral and advocacy service to young people involved with the criminal justice system to re-engage with education. Unfortunately, the service is not available to children and young people responding to PSIOs or FVIOs as these matters are heard in the civil jurisdiction.
Lawmakers envisioned that mediation would be a key part of the approach to managing school related PSIOs, but court-based mediation services are largely inaccessible for children and young people facing intervention order proceedings.
While there are a handful of innovative restorative practice programs available at government schools, our research found there is not enough support being offered to schools to mediate disputes and offer restorative options for students.
Victoria Legal Aid recommends the Victorian Government provide greater support to schools to resolve disputes and to further invest in programs to support children to stay in school.
These are the kinds of responses that change behaviour, strengthen families, and keep schools safe. They also cost far less than the revolving door of court orders, breaches and youth detention.
Instead of pushing our most vulnerable young people into the justice system through intervention orders, we can choose to invest in what works: support, connection, and age-appropriate accountability.
Read more on Victoria Legal Aid website
Where to get help
Children and young people should always receive legal advice if they are going to court. If an intervention order has been taken out against your child, here is a list of where they can get help.
Lawyers
- Victoria Legal Aid, free legal advice, 1300 792 387, Monday to Friday, 8 am to 5 pm, or webchat at www.legalaid.vic.gov.au
- Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service (VALS), a free legal service for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, 1800 064 865, vals@vals.org.au
Support services
- Melbourne Youth Support Service, Frontyard, for help with accommodation, 19 King St Melbourne, 1800 800 531
- Kids Helpline, phone support and counselling, 24 hours a day, 1800 551 800, www.kidshelpline.com.au
- Headspace, mental health support and counselling, 1800 650 890, www.headspace.org.au/eheadspace
- QLife, support service for LGBTIQA+ young people, 1800 184 527, 7 days a week, 3 pm to 12 pm, www.qlife.org.au