There can be both medium- and long-term consequences for children who are not listened to. The immediate effects include feelings of isolation and loneliness, anxiety and fear, sadness, confusion, anger, and difficulty coping with stress. Longer-term effects include a deterioration in closeness in parent-child relationships, feeling of loss, and loss of trust in parents and adults. The bill will help us avoid these outcomes. Its purpose is to reinforce the expectation that a child should have reasonable opportunities to participate in decisions affecting their care and welfare, (2) ensure that lawyers appointed to represent children in proceedings are suitably qualified to represent the child and that they can explain proceedings to them, (3) require lawyers to facilitate the efficient resolution of disputes in order to minimise harm to children, families, and whānau, and (4) reinforce the need for the court to respond appropriately to family violence, particularly its impact on children.