Royal Commission into Family, Sexual and Domestic Violence

A group of SAYF members were invited to join Natasha Stott Despoja, Commissioner for the Royal Commission into Family, Sexual and Domestic Violence, for a one-off workshop session facilitated alongside the Commissioner for Children and Young People, Helen Connolly. Members came to the table to share their perspectives, stories, and views on family, sexual, and domestic violence as young people with lived experience of the issues the Royal Commission was examining. It was not a formal written consultation, it was a genuine conversation, the kind where what young people say in the room directly informs the thinking of the people doing the work. SAYF members shared important points and insights that contributed to the broader body of evidence and perspective being gathered by Natasha across the commission. Being invited into a Royal Commission process as young contributors, rather than as subjects or statistics, is exactly what meaningful youth inclusion in serious policy work looks like.