A child-centred approach for long-term impact

McAuley’s new Children’s Strategy will ensure children’s needs are at the centre of our family violence and homelessness responses.

Babies, children and young people, often referred to as ‘secondary victims’ in the context of family violence, are too often invisible within the systems that support them – because those systems have been designed with the assumption that if we can support the adult, they will be able to support their child.

Yet decades of evidence tells a different story. Children are not passive observers; they live with the violence, absorb its impacts and carry trauma in ways that can leave lasting emotional, social and developmental scars.

With the support of philanthropy, in 2025, McAuley developed a Children’s Strategy that prioritises the needs and experiences of babies, children and young people – who make up almost half of those supported by McAuley – in our responses to family violence and homelessness.

“This strategy is about ensuring that babies, children and young people are provided with the resources to have agency in their own lives. We are actively committing to protecting and nurturing children, fostering their resilience and promoting their ability to thrive in safe, connected and culturally responsive environments.”

– McAuley CEO Jocelyn Bignold OAM.

Grounded in human rights and trauma-informed, culturally safe, and strengths-based practice, the strategic plan prioritises the safety and wellbeing of children and young people, ensuring their voices and experiences inform all aspects of support and intervention here at McAuley.

“We are in a strong position to drive significant change in children’s outcomes,” Jocelyn said.

“Our integrated services span emergency accommodation, education, individualised support, and mental health so we are well-placed to lead a child-centred, wraparound response.”

Aligned with key national and Victorian frameworks that address child wellbeing and safety, the strategic plan outlines several key areas of focus for McAuley.

These include:

• co-designing programs with children and young people
• enhancing education and learning outcomes for students
• ensuring responses are culturally appropriate and support children and young people to remain connected to their families and communities
• improving mechanisms for ongoing monitoring of outcomes

“This strategy will further enhance the support available through our existing long-standing children’s programs, including the work of our children’s practitioners in refuge and McAuley Learning Support, and will ultimately build our capacity to develop our response,”  Jocelyn said.