Youth Laws governing the management of information about people involved in family violence, and the safety and wellbeing of children have changed.

Part 5A of the Family Violence Protection Act 2008 (External link) (Vic)(FVPA) and Part 6A of the Child Wellbeing and Safety Act 2005 (External link) (Vic)(CWSA) with their supporting regulations, permit a number of organisations to share current and previously collected information relating to family violence risk and the wellbeing or safety of children – to keep people safe and perpetrators of violence in view.

Youth Justice is a prescribed Information Sharing Entity under both schemes, along with a number of other agencies and their funded or contracted organisations.

Placing a request for Youth Justice information

Requests may be made by prescribed Information Sharing Entities (ISEs) for Youth Justice information by emailing YJ-FVISS/CISS@justice.vic.gov.au (External link)

Please provide the following details:

  • name and job title of the requestor and confirmation that they are authorised by their employing ISE to make requests under the Family Violence Information Sharing (FVIS) or Child Information Sharing (CIS) scheme
  • whether the ISE is prescribed as an ISE or Risk Assessment Entity (RAE) under the Family Violence Protection (Information Sharing) Regulations or as an ISE under the Child Wellbeing and Safety (Information Sharing) Regulations 2018
  • which Act the ISE is making the request under (Part 5A of the FVPA or Part 6A of the CWSA)
  • whether the individual (subject of the request) is a:
    • young person (under 18 years) who uses violence in the home
    • alleged young person (under 18 years) who uses violence in the home (RAEs only)
    • adult perpetrator (over 18 years)
    • alleged perpetrator (RAEs only) (over 18 years)
    • adult victim survivor (over 18 years)
    • child victim survivor (under 18 years)
    • adult third party
    • child or children (wellbeing/safety issue)
    • adult (wellbeing/safety issue)
    • third party (wellbeing/safety issue)
  • the names of other parties to the incident/s (for example, for requests about perpetrators, the name/s of the victims, for requests about a child’s safety, the names of the parents)
  • any factors indicating the request is particularly urgent and should be prioritised
  • if a child or young person under 18 years is involved, whether their views have been sought or grounds for determining that it was not safe, reasonable or appropriate to do so.

Family Violence Information Sharing (FVIS) scheme only

Please also include in your email:

  • the grounds for determining that the person is a perpetrator or victim survivor to enable Youth Justice to form a reasonable belief when asking for information for a protection purpose
  • confirmation that the requesting ISE has obtained valid consent from the adult victim survivor or adult third party to request that Youth Justice release information under Part 5A of the FVPA (or a statement indicating why this consent has not been sought and obtained) OR confirmation that the risk is serious and consent is not required.

Child Information Sharing (CIS) scheme only

Please also include in your email:

  • the grounds for determining that the information will promote a child or children’s wellbeing or safety, and what activity the information will be used for:
    • providing a service relating to a child or group of children.
    • making a decision, an assessment or a plan relating to a child or group of children.
    • initiating or conducting an investigation relating to a child or group of children.
    • managing any risk to a child or group of children.
  • confirmation that the requesting ISE has sought the views of the child or parent/relevant family members to request that Youth Justice release information under Part 6A of the CWSA.

We will endeavour to respond to your request within five days, however in periods of high demand or complex requests it may take longer.

More information

For more information on the Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme, please visit the Family Violence Reform webpage (External link) or email infosharing@familysafety.vic.gov.au (External link)

For more information on the Child Information Sharing Scheme, please visit information page on the Child Information Sharing Scheme webpage (External link) or email ChildInfoSharing@edumail.vic.gov.au (External link)