THIS PAPER explores the issue of children, young people and domestic violence. It comprises five sections. The introduction describes the ways in which children and young people experience domestic violence and outlines the available data on the prevalence of this issue in the lives of Australian children and young people. The second section, impact on children and young people, provides an overview of research about the impact of domestic violence on children and young people, and discusses frameworks within which these impacts are being understood. Section three describes efforts to improve ways of working with children and young people in counselling, support and prevention, with an emphasis on Australian initiatives. Section four argues that the problems documented cannot be addressed solely through counselling, and that a ‘multi-system response’ (Peled, Jaffe & Edleson 1995) is required.