Ahead of the Victorian Budget being handed down in May, we have highlighted opportunities for the Government to invest in evidence-based prevention and early intervention to break cycles of entrenched disadvantage, prevent violence and harm, and reduce social and economic costs.
Intervening early to disrupt disadvantage and break cycles of violence and harm
Jesuit Social Services’ vision is to build a just society where everyone has access to the opportunities and resources they need to thrive. Yet disadvantage persists for too many Victorians. A small number of communities experience a disproportionate concentration of disadvantage across multiple indicators, including housing insecurity, poor mental health, exclusion from education and employment, over-representation in the justice system and increased exposure to climate impacts.
A key theme underpinning our submission is the importance of early intervention to disrupt disadvantage and break cycles of violence and harm. Evidence shows that prevention and early intervention improve outcomes for individuals and communities, while reducing long-term demand for crisis and tertiary services.
However, current investment remains weighted towards downstream responses, including punitive approaches to youth offending, despite clear links between disadvantage, trauma and involvement in the justice system. This approach is costly and does not address the underlying drivers of harm.
We know from our own program data and experience that a high proportion of people involved with the criminal justice system are themselves victims of family violence or abuse. The vast majority of the reported experience was exposure to violence in childhood. Failing to acknowledge the links between victimisation and perpetration means we are missing crucial opportunities to intervene earlier with young people to disrupt intergenerational cycles of violence and set them on a path to living safer, more secure lives.
There is a significant opportunity to scale up evidence-based early intervention initiatives that are already demonstrating impact. The Early Intervention Investment Framework provides a mechanism to support this shift, but requires ongoing commitment, transparency and reinvestment of savings into the social services that underpin long-term change.
The recommendation below focuses on strengthening investment in early intervention through the Early Intervention Investment Framework, to deliver better outcomes for Victorians and reduce future demand on government services.
of children in detention are victims of abuse, neglect or trauma
Youth Parole Board Annual Report 2024-25
Our recommendation
Through the Early Intervention Investment Framework (EIIF), fund early intervention initiatives in the 2026-27 State Budget that will deliver better outcomes for Victorians and generate savings for government, and reinvest the avoided costs derived from successful EIIF initiatives into social services, including those delivered by community sector organisations.
Reducing youth offending by addressing the drivers of crime
Jesuit Social Services shares community concern about crime. Through our work with both victims and young people in the justice system, we see that community safety is best served by responses informed by data, research and evidence about what works, and grounded in engagement with affected communities.
While fewer children are committing crimes overall, there has been an increase in repeat offending by a small group of young people. These children often have complex histories of trauma, abuse and disadvantage, and are disproportionately from marginalised communities.
While we welcome the recent announcement of the Victorian Violence Reduction Unit, current investment remains heavily weighted towards punitive responses, including significant expansion of youth and adult custodial capacity and tougher bail and sentencing laws. Punitive responses do not address the underlying drivers of offending and is leading to poorer outcomes for young people and the broader community.
Evidence consistently shows that prevention and early intervention, diversion, restorative justice and community-based supports are more effective in reducing offending and improving community safety. These approaches are also significantly more cost effective than detention.
The recommendations below focus on rebalancing investment towards prevention and early intervention, strengthening community-based responses, and expanding evidence-informed alternatives that address the drivers of crime and reduce reoffending.
I know that my relationship with my mum has gotten a lot better. It’s improved just so much, as well as the relationship with the rest of my family. That was kind of another…[reason for doing] RESTORE - it was making those connections again.
RESTORE program participant
Our recommendations
Establish a flexible fund for the Violence Reduction Unit to invest in new and expanded initiatives to prevent and respond to youth offending.
Introduce and properly resource an evidence-informed, child-centred Alternative Service Model to support young people under 14 years to stay out of the justice system, based on four key elements: assessment; intensive and holistic support; therapeutic response; and community connection.
Invest an additional $12.78 million over four years in the Youth Justice Community Support Service to enable enhanced support to be provided to young people in contact with the criminal justice system, through lower caseloads for workers, embedded family, community and cultural support, and integrated after-hours support.
Invest in an expansion of the Maribyrnong Community Residential Facility model to support more adult men exiting prison and/ or an adaptation of the model for different cohorts, including young people aged 18-25 and women, to reduce the number of people exiting prison into homelessness.
Invest $1.57 million in capital funding to support the establishment of a second campus of the Ignatius Learning Centre (ILC) in Melbourne’s western suburbs with capacity to enrol 40 students – to expand availability of intensive engagement and education for boys aged 15-17 in Melbourne’s west who are involved in the criminal justice system.
Increase schools’ capability to prevent disengagement, conflict and violence among students as a way of intervening earlier to address drivers of crime, including investing $1 million over four years to establish ReEngage in ten schools.
Invest in therapeutic and restorative options for children and young people subject to or at risk of intervention orders to divert them from the criminal justice system, support healing and address their underlying needs – including $3.04 million over four years to re-establish RESTORE.
Working with men and boys to prevent violence
Despite sustained policy and investment over the past decade, domestic, family and sexual violence and child abuse remain at unacceptable levels. At the same time, the nature of harm is evolving, with growing risks in online environments, including exposure to harmful pornography, digital surveillance and image-based abuse.
Evidence consistently shows that many young people who use violence have themselves experienced violence, highlighting the need to scale up therapeutic and restorative responses for victim-survivors of violence, especially children and young people, as well as the need to intervene earlier to disrupt pathways into violence.
While efforts to engage men and boys in prevention have expanded, they remain fragmented, short-term and do not yet match the scale of the problem. There is a critical need to strengthen the evidence base on what works in prevention and early intervention with men and boys, translate this into practice, and scale up promising initiatives, including by building the capability of workforces across systems to respond to the drivers of violence, such as harmful gender norms.
The recommendations below focus on embedding masculinities research into policy and practice, strengthening therapeutic and restorative responses for victim-survivors, scaling up early intervention with at-risk boys and young men, and improving data and evaluation to support a more coordinated and effective approach to preventing men’s violence.
Our recommendations
Continue to strengthen violence prevention efforts by ensuring that school-based programs and initiatives (including Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships education), alongside other youth-focused prevention efforts, reflect adolescents’ lived experiences; and that adults are equipped to work with young people to address contemporary issues highlighted in the Adolescent Man Box research.
Invest $3 million over three years to translate the Adolescent Man Box research into practice through design, implementation and evaluation of a range of interventions to address key areas of concern identified in the Adolescent Man Box report.
Invest $985,000 in 2026-27 and $800,000 per annum ongoing to support the proposal from the Women’s Health Services Network, Jesuit Social Services (The Men’s Project) and Safe + Equal partnership, to build the capability of the prevention and early intervention workforces to integrate knowledge on masculinities and engaging men and boys into their work.
Better meet the needs of children and young people who have experienced or been impacted by violence or abuse through a substantial additional investment in targeted, traumainformed interventions and support services, focused on healing and recovery, as well as capability-building of other service systems (such as child protection, youth justice and homeless services) to better respond to the specific needs of children and young people who have been victims of violence.
Scale up early intervention work with at-risk boys and young men to prevent violence by addressing underlying needs, including building the capability of other service systems (such as child, youth and family services, youth justice and homelessness services) to identify opportunities to intervene earlier.
Invest $5.971 million over four years to continue the Change Makers program with boys and young men at greater risk of using violence by decreasing risk factors for violence, including harmful gendered beliefs, and increasing protective factors.
Invest $2 million over 2.5 years to develop, pilot and evaluate a first-of-its-kind national anonymous and free online early intervention service focused on reducing problematic and harmful sexual behaviours among young people, to be called What’s ok? Australia.
Foster accountability and strengthen service provision by further developing capacity to monitor and report on (unmet) demand for family and sexual violence services (with a focus on children and young people who experience violence or abuse), including committing to and reporting on targets.
Make key risk assessment (MARAM) and other risk and needs assessment data available to guide the prioritisation and design of additional research and early intervention efforts.
Establish a dedicated evaluation fund to enable community service organisations to participate in high quality evaluations of priority programs, including randomised controlled trials, with evaluation findings shared publicly and used to inform policy and investment and drive evidence-based expansion of programs that demonstrate reductions in violence by men and boys.
Building strong foundations to support those most in need
Jesuit Social Services works with people experiencing multiple and intersecting forms of disadvantage, including family violence, homelessness, contact with the justice system, mental ill-health, substance use and the impacts of climate change. Many also experience additional marginalisation, including disability and discrimination based on cultural, racial and LGBTIQIA+ identity. These overlapping challenges often create significant barriers to accessing support, even within systems designed to respond to complex needs.
Across our programs, we see people excluded from both the NDIS and state-funded services due to the complexity of their needs, alongside declining access to psychosocial disability supports. At the same time, non-specialist services are playing a critical but under-recognised role in providing ongoing, intensive support to victim-survivors of family violence and helping people navigate multiple systems.
While our service model is designed to respond flexibly to complexity, including through wraparound support, after-hours assistance and assertive outreach, our capacity is constrained by funding shortfalls and fragmention. Current funding does not reflect increasing demand and complexity or the true cost of delivering integrated support, and short-term contracts continue to undermine workforce stability and service continuity.
More broadly, structural pressures, including housing insecurity and climate impacts, are compounding disadvantage. Access to safe, secure and affordable housing remains a critical foundation for stability, recovery and participation, yet supply continues to fall short of need, particularly for people with complex needs. At the same time, climate change is intensifying existing inequalities, with the greatest impacts felt by communities already experiencing disadvantage.
The recommendations below focus on strengthening the sustainability and effectiveness of the social service system through adequate and flexible funding, addressing gaps in psychosocial disability support, reforming commissioning, investing in place-based and community-led climate adaptation, and expanding access to safe, secure and supported housing for those most in need.
Our recommendations
Provide specific funding allocations to community sector organisations, recognising the significant costs associated with transitioning to new SCHADS award requirements, and make provision for supplemental indexation of funding that reflects actual growth in costs, including rising labour costs and increases in demand and complexity.
Expand access to psychosocial disability support to address unmet need in Victoria until an intergovernmental solution is agreed and implemented.
Implement reforms to the commissioning of social services, including:
- longer contract terms (minimum five years), enabling stability, workforce retention and innovation;
- greater flexibility in funding, particularly for cohorts with multiple and complex needs;
- a stronger focus on outcomes-based contracting; and
- mechanisms to facilitate better coordination and collaboration between service providers, such as longer application lead-in times.
Establish a climate adaptation fund for community service organisations and Aboriginal Community-Controlled Organisations to support community-led, place-based climate adaptation, with a focus on communities experiencing the most significant climate impacts.
Implement Recommendation 45 from the Yoorrook for Transformation report to enable and support the development of a First Peoples’ Climate Justice Strategy (led by First Peoples), with perpetual funding, for Traditional Owner groups to deliver environmental projects on their Country which will assist in mitigating, adapting and/or responding to climate change.
As part of any redevelopment of Melbourne’s public housing towers, commit to:
- a 30 per cent uplift in social housing dwellings, including a 10 per cent uplift in public housing dwellings;
- designated social housing places, coupled with practical tenancy support, for populations facing high levels of disadvantage and vulnerability, including young people and those with complex needs such as: people leaving prison; young people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness; women and children escaping violence; and people with complex needs, including mental ill-health and cognitive disabilities; and
- meeting climate-resilient design standards to protect residents from extreme heat and high energy costs and support safe and healthy living conditions.
Offer a financial subsidy to community housing organisations to provide housing for people on the lowest statutory incomes (Jobseeker and Youth Allowance) and people with complex needs, such as those exiting custody, with mental health conditions, and histories of rough sleeping and addiction.
Invest in supported housing for people with complex needs who do not have the capacity to live independently, including young people exiting out-of-home care, young people and adults exiting custody (see also recommendation 5), and people with complex mental health issues or developmental disability.