Youth-perpetrated interpersonal violence in Australia is a complex issue of significant scope and scale

Evidence suggests a correlation with individual, familial and social experiences of disadvantage and disconnection requiring a multisystemic response for effective prevention and intervention. To date, a largely unheard voice in the literature is that of frontline workers instrumental to these efforts.

Implications for intervention and prevention emphasise the importance of context in informing creative, collaborative, relationship-based and connection focused responses that are trauma-informed and culturally inclusive.

This paper, drawn from a larger study of young people’s disengagement with education and involvement in crime, presents findings from semi-structured interviews with 37 regional service providers regarding their work with young people before the Children’s Court for criminal matters.

Spanning multiple sectors, the majority of participants reported an increasing incidence of youth-perpetrated interpersonal violence within family, in out-of-home care and in peer group settings.