Violence against children in Australia is at a crisis point. We must start listening to kids before our most vulnerable slip through the cracks

‘Children fundamentally need love. They need an infrastructure of care, people and services that wrap their arms around them as they grow, recognise when something is wrong and stay beside them before their lives reach crisis point,’ writes Satara Uthayakumaran. Photograph: Sol de Zuasnabar Brebbia/Getty Images

The day I turned 14, two of my sister’s friends were found dead.

They were 10 and 11 years old. Both had significant disabilities and attended the special-needs school my sister with severe disabilities also attends. Slowly, details emerged: their father had planned a murder-suicide, killing both children, his wife and himself.