Australians are turning a blind eye to the impact of family violence on young people's suicide risk, prompting experts to call for an overhaul of the country's systems.
Tash Anderson was a teenager when they lost their 18-year-old brother to suicide.
Family violence was "barely a factor" in a coroner's final report about their brother's death, despite Tash and their siblings being placed in child protection because of family violence and sustaining lifelong mental health conditions.
Tash's advocacy over almost a decade has helped inform a report which highlights family violence as the leading cause of youth homelessness, and suicide as the leading cause of death for young people aged between 15 and 24 in Australia.
Two in four children and young people grow up experiencing adult family violence, says the report titled Missing Figures: The Role of Domestic and Family Violence in Youth Suicide.
"The long-term repercussions of family violence never go away and I'm still supporting my (other) siblings ... but now we're looking at physical and mental disorders that are lifelong because the right support wasn't there sooner," Tash said.
The report - helmed by Griffith University, Monash University, the Melbourne City Mission and Berry Street Y-Change - found the fatal impact of family violence was often hidden behind other issues including substance abuse.
It pointed out an absence of any statewide or national specialist responses for young victim-survivors of family violence who were seeking help alone.
That group was more likely to be at greater risk of suicidal ideation and death by suicide if they were not supported during early childhood development, the report said.
Published on Thursday, the report recommended Australia establish a specialised service system for victim-survivors aged between 12 and 24, along with evidence-based policy reform.
It also recommended more information-sharing between services including coroners to ensure histories of childhood trauma were not missed, and trauma's role later in life was recognised.
"The impacts of family violence on children and young people are being overlooked and downplayed through responses designed to address adult intimate partner violence," report co-author Shorna Moore from Melbourne City Mission said.
"This failure to support young victim-survivors and link young deaths by suicide with the family violence they endured has fatal consequences and keeps the problem hidden."
Leaders developing the first five-year Action Plan for Australia's National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children must include the safety and service needs of young victim-survivors, co-author Kate Fitz-Gibbon added.
Tash urged young people who wanted to share their experiences with systems related to family violence and suicide to reach out to the organisations behind the report.
1800 RESPECT: 1800 737 732
13YARN: 13 92 76
Lifeline: 13 11 14
Kids Helpline: 1800 551 800
MensLine: 1300 789 978
Rainbow Door: 1800 729 367
InTouch: 1800 755 988
