Patricia Stephenson (Social Democrats)

I appreciate the intervention of Senator Comyn, but the legal age for children is 18 for a reason. We deem anyone under 18 as a child and it is not appropriate for us to make a distinction between a younger or older child when they are witnessing domestic abuse. A boy of 17, an example the Senator gave, watching his mother being abused will suffer long-term psychological trauma. We spoke about hypervigilance, coercive control and a child perhaps being abused but there being no evidence that can be brought forward in a case. The exclusion of children because we deign them to be older children is deeply inappropriate. A 17-year-old as a child in law for a reason.