Amplify Pilot: The interim results are in!

New interim data reveals a missing piece of the puzzle of support for unaccompanied children and young people experiencing family violence in Victoria.

An interim evaluation of Melbourne City Mission’s (MCM), Amplify Pilot, Australia’s first dedicated family violence case management program for unaccompanied children and young people, has revealed it is filling critical gaps by providing better short- and long-term safety outcomes, an increase in engagement with education, greater access to legal assistance and improved financial safety for Victoria’s young people.

“The Amplify Pilot has been a revelation to everyone here at Melbourne City Mission. We hoped that it would become the missing puzzle piece for children and young people who had experienced both family violence and homelessness and it has delivered even better outcomes for young people than we had hoped,” said MCM CEO, Vicki Sutton.

The evaluation of the Amplify Pilot was conducted in October by RMIT’s Centre for Innovative Justice and used interviews with Amplify participants and data gathered through the Amplify Pilot project.

The Amplify Model achieves greater outcomes for young people by empowering them to recognise and name their experiences of family violence, often for the first time. It provides vital support in planning for their personal safety, staying engaged in school, and accessing critical resources and funding within the family violence system. Additionally, the program facilitates access to legal advice and supports, including assistance with obtaining intervention orders. A unique aspect of Amplify is its use of peer workers—young people with lived experience of family violence—who support participants navigate the system in a safe and relatable way.

Key outcomes

• Short- and longer-term safety outcomes:
  • 80% of participants were supported to leave violent situations
  • 97% of those participants have not entered new violent relationships or returned to violent households
• Engagement with education:
  • 25% of participants were actively supported to remain at school
  • 25% of participants were also supported to successfully re-engage with school
• Accessing vital legal assistance:
  • Over 30% of young people were supported to access legal assistance, including family violence intervention orders and family law orders
• Improving financial safety:
  • Almost 60% of participants were supported to access a family support package
  • More than 60% of participants were supported to access Centrelink’s Unreasonable to Live at Home Allowance

Interviews with participants found their experience in the program was often the first time they had felt listened to and validated by any community support service.

Conor Pall, survivor of family violence and member of the Amplify Pilot program, said when he reached out for support at 16 there was nowhere to go.

“The system hasn’t been designed with us in mind...the system relies on the children having a protective parent and we know that is not the case for so many children and young people.”

“There isn’t a dedicated service for children and young people, until the Amplify pilot was rolled out.”

“If we want to see an end to this violence...we need to be focusing squarely on the impacts of family violence on children and young people.”

With funding for the Amplify Pilot ending June 2025, Vicki Sutton warned that without continued investment from the Government, children and young people would simply be left to remain in or return to a situation of family violence.

“We are calling for this model to be rolled out across Victoria so that every child and young person has their basic human rights met irrespective of whether they are accompanied by a parent, under statutory care, or in this case, navigating the service system alone. Expanding the Amplify Model statewide offers the Victorian Government an opportunity to save young lives and transform thousands of lives for the better.”

Listen to Conor Pall and Vicki Sutton on Radio National.

About the Amplify Pilot

The Amplify pilot is designed to address service system gaps for unaccompanied victim-survivors of family violence aged 15-19 who become homeless. It was shaped by the living experiences of young people and was initiated from the Amplify Research project.

The full report from the Amplify Pilot Program is expected to be delivered in July 2025.

The pilot embeds family violence practitioners and youth family violence peer workers within MCM’s homelessness services, including the statewide service Frontyard. It provides youth-specific family violence case management to teenagers 15-19 escaping family violence. The assessed risk of significant harm or death determines eligibility.

In addition to case management, our practitioners also work across the social services sector and in partnership with specialist family violence services, Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations, mental health services, schools, and other homelessness services.

The Amplify pilot is funded by the Victorian Government under the National Partnership Agreement, and the outcomes it achieves will guide the development of the family violence system for children and young people. The results announced today are the first formal indication that the Amplify model is proving successful and is meeting a significant and distinct gap in the system; actively reducing the risks and harms experienced by highly vulnerable young people.