Child-centred lens needed when assessing reform options
Parkerville Children and Youth Care is encouraging the Commonwealth Government to use a child-centred approach when considering reforms aimed at stopping perpetrators of family and domestic violence (FDV) from accessing their victims’ superannuation death benefits.
The Commonwealth Treasury is exploring options – via the Treasury Laws Amendment (Victims of Crime) Bill 2026 – to strengthen superannuation laws so people responsible for serious violence or homicide cannot financially benefit from the death of their victim.
Under current superannuation law, a fund may be required to pay death benefits to a person who used family and domestic violence against the deceased.
Parkerville CEO Kim Brooklyn commended the Treasury on its efforts to close loopholes in the current legislation and called on the Government to fully consider the potential impact on children when reviewing submissions (which closed on 15 April).
“In our submission, we emphasised that superannuation death benefit decisions are more than just financial matters, but can directly affect a child’s safety, stability and recovery following FDV-related death,” said Ms Brooklyn.
“We highlight the importance of clear, timely and predictable rules that prevent perpetrators from benefiting from their victim’s superannuation. The rules also need to reduce distress and delay for non-offending caregivers and avoid further system-based harm to children already experiencing profound loss.
“When FDV escalates to homicide, the effects on children are profound and enduring. They may lose not only a parent or caregiver, but also their home, community and sense of continuity, and in some cases their remaining parent to incarceration or criminal justice processes.
“Grief is often tied up with a complex interplay of fear, loyalty conflicts, shame, stigma and unanswered questions. In many cases, the homicide follows prolonged experience of violence, meaning the death represents both an acute tragedy and the culmination of a complex history of harm.
“In these circumstances, systems responses matter deeply. Administrative and legal processes following a death – including decisions about financial entitlements and superannuation death benefits – have immediate consequences for children’s safety and stability.
“Access to financial resources can determine whether children and young people remain securely housed, continue schooling with minimal disruption, and access therapeutic support at a time of extreme upheaval. Conversely, delay, uncertainty or outcomes experienced as unjust can compound trauma and entrench instability.”
Practice-based evidence from Parkerville’s work with families experiencing homelessness in the context of FDV illustrates how perpetrators’ access to systems can perpetuate harm long after physical separation has occurred.
Through Parkerville’s Support and Community Services program (supporting children aged 4-14 and their caregivers), fear of being located, monitored or accessed by perpetrators is a primary driver of isolation, instability and disengagement from services.
In the most recent reporting period, nearly three-quarters of families supported had current or recent experience of FDV, with stalking, surveillance and persistent attempts to locate victim-survivors an often-reported occurrence.
“We have also observed emerging patterns of systems abuse, in which perpetrators weaponise legal and administrative processes to maintain influence; including restricting access to legal assistance, exploiting conflicts of interest across services, and prolonging proceedings in ways that destabilise families and impede healing. These dynamics do not cease when violence results in severe injury or death,” said Ms Brooklyn.
“From a child-centred perspective, superannuation death benefit reforms must therefore be assessed not only for legal or technical coherence, but for their capacity to protect children from further harm, provide stability in the aftermath of loss, and prevent financial systems from becoming another avenue through which violence is perpetuated.
“For these reasons, Parkerville supports reforms that prioritise certainty where relevant court findings exist, minimise reliance on discretionary processes, and remove perpetrators from benefiting financially following the death of victim-survivors.”
Parkerville Submission to Commonwealth Treasury Consultation
Media enquiries
Peter Knight – Communications and Media Lead
Parkerville Children and Youth Care
E: peter.knight@parkerville.org.au
M: 0405 845 332
