Young people are turning to pop culture and porn for relationship advice, leaving them dangerously misinformed about family and domestic violence.
They are doing so because their parents think discussing healthy relationships is less important than talking about drugs or unemployment, a submission to the Royal Commission for Family Violence says.
A lack of education in schools about gender equality and respectful relationships is also contributing to their misinformation, the Youth Affairs Council of Victoria says.
"As a result, young people were left with dangerously little in the way of relationship guidance, and were left to get much of their information from popular culture and the porn industry," the submission states.
The council wants the commission to investigate youth relationship violence to prevent it happening in the next generation.
YACV chief executive Georgie Ferrari told AAP that adult men who are violent towards their partner often exhibit warning signs from their very first relationship.
"We have to teach young women to tell people when they feel threatened or controlled and we have to teach young men that those attitudes are not OK," Ms Ferrari said.
The YACV's submission includes research showing that 76 per cent of young Australians see family violence as common or very common, while 59 per cent feel the same way about relationship violence.
A quarter think it is normal for a man to pressure a woman for sex or don't think it is serious when a man harasses a woman in the streets.
A third don't consider exerting control over someone to be a form of violence.
The submission also focuses on young people as both victims and perpetrators of violence in the home.
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