SUBMISSION

ANROWS Submission: Call for inputs on the impact of mental health challenges on the enjoyment of human rights by young people

ANROWS provided a submission to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights call for inputs on the impact of mental health challenges on the enjoyment of human rights by young people.

ANROWS’ submission demonstrates the connection between domestic and family violence (DFV) and mental health challenges among children and young people in Australia. It draws together evidence on how DFV affects mental health, safety, housing, education and other rights, and highlights the need for coordinated, child-centred and trauma-informed responses.

This submission outlines the evidence on how experiences of DFV affect young people’s mental health and wellbeing, including the compounding impacts for populations already facing structural disadvantage. It also identifies key system barriers – such as fragmented services, unmet demand and adult-centric responses – and points to the need for integrated policy and service reform.

The evidence shows that DFV is a major determinant of youth mental health and should be recognised as such in policy, service design and advocacy. It also shows that current responses often fail to meet children and young people’s needs early enough, despite the significant and lifelong impacts of violence.

This submission makes the following recommendations:

• Ensure mental health policy and advocacy recognise and resource the link between mental health challenges and DFV and adopt coordinated, rights-based, DFV-informed responses across systems.
• Adopt a strategic, systematic, evidence-based approach to address the mental health challenges faced by children and young people by working collaboratively across health, education, social welfare, child protection, law, public health law, justice and beyond, with alignment across all levels of government and broader society.
• Recognise the systemic barriers – particularly fragmented services, unmet demand, and the absence of developmentally appropriate responses –as human rights concerns, and adopt coordinated, trauma‑informed pathways that centre children and young people as rights‑holders.
• Encourage integrated funding approaches that recognise young people’s mental health needs as inseparable from intersecting domains, including DFV.

This submission provides insights into the impact of DFV on young people’s mental health and will be of interest to practitioners working with children and young people as well as policymakers working in areas related to children and young people.

Download the full submission to explore the evidence and recommendations in detail.

 

Suggested citation

Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety. (2026) Re: Call for inputs on the impact of mental health challenges on the enjoyment of human rights by young people [Submission no. 2]. ANROWS.