End the Silence 2026

A free live webinar on victim-survivor experiences and challenges, the impact on children and exploring prevention through collaboration

Live webinar featuring presentations by:

Followed by a panel discussion including:

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About the speakers:

Alcohol Change Victoria is a cross-sector coalition of leading organisations united in their calls for progress on tackling alcohol harms in Australia.

 

Jonathan Meddings, Policy and Engagement Manager at Monash Addiction Research Centre, Australia, will speak about the series of roundtable discussions carried out by Alcohol Change Victoria between May 2025 and May 2026, with leading researchers, lived experience experts, policy professionals, and service providers from the alcohol and other drug (AOD) and domestic, family, and sexual violence (DFSV) sectors.

 

These roundtables were thought-provoking and insightful, with many common themes coming out of the discussions. The work was intended as a conversation starter to orient future discussions, with the aim of working toward enhanced collaboration between the AOD and domestic, family, and sexual violence sectors to tackle violence by people who use alcohol.

 

This report reveals the complex interplay between alcohol and domestic, family and sexual violence and makes a series of recommendations to address this intersection.

See more here

 

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In the UK, the National Centre for Domestic Violence (NCDV) analysed over 63,000 civil protection witness statements to share evidence-based insights into domestic abuse and use of alcohol. The aim was not to determine causation, but to understand how alcohol appears in lived experience, how it is described by applicants, and how it intersects with abusive behaviour.

 

Charlotte Hazell-Caldwell, Head of Training & Development at NCDV, will talk about how this dataset offers an unprecedented insight into the risks, patterns, and lived realities disclosed by victim survivors at the point of seeking legal protection. By examining recurring themes, including alcohol use, threats to kill, non-fatal strangulation, risks to children, child contact disputes, use of weapons, and other markers of coercive control, the aim was to translate survivor testimony into evidence that can inform policy, professional practice, and frontline response, with the commitment of turning real voices into shared insight, and insight into action.

 

See more here

Official launch of wide-ranging AAI report on parental problem alcohol use and its harms to children

 

Chaired by Ailbhe Smyth, this free event marks the launch of the latest report from Alcohol Action Ireland (AAI) through its Silent Voices initiative.

 

Joining AAI CEO Dr Sheila Gilheany in the discussion will be:

According to research from the Health Research Board, one third of children in Ireland have at least one parent who regularly binge drinks or is dependent on alcohol. Harmful alcohol use by a parent or caregiver has been shown to have a range of detrimental consequences for children, including negative health, educational, and social outcomes.

 

The seriousness of this is compounded due to the close connection between alcohol and crime and violence. With such high rates of hazardous and binge drinking, it is likely that hundreds of thousands of children are living in homes with alcohol-fuelled violence, with impacts that can devastate both childhoods and adulthoods and last a lifetime.

 

The experiences of children affected must be put to the forefront of policy making and the role of alcohol can no longer be ignored. There is a need for government coordination across multiple departments to recognise the role alcohol plays in devastating childhoods and respond with progressive policies to address it.