Family violence prevention needs to be taught in every Australian school as early as kindergarten, Australian of the Year Rosie Batty has told Victoria’s Royal Commission into Family Violence.

Ms Batty’s son, Luke, was killed by his father Greg Anderson at a cricket ground south-east of Melbourne in February last year.

Anderson was shot dead by police soon after.

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Luke’s death is seen as one of the catalysts for the royal commission, which was established by the Victorian Government earlier this year.

On a day focused on how cultural change is needed to prevent partner abuse, Ms Batty told the inquiry action needed to be taken as soon as children started school.

“It can’t just be a video that’s stuck in a recorder and we sit and watch it and continue what we’ve always done,” she said.

“It needs to be in every school, from as young as kinder throughout the entire school journey and it needs to be in every school, in every state in Australia.”

Ms Batty said the gaming culture had given children inappropriate views on sex and violence, and schools played a critical role in changing those attitudes.

“That is a culture that is really hard to protect your children from so I think schools are an absolutely critical part towards prevention,” she told the inquiry.

Since becoming Australian of the Year, Ms Batty said she had spoken to more than 40,000 people at events across the country about family violence.

She told the inquiry that people were still shocked to learn about the prevalence of violence against women.

“People are still surprised to understand that it is up to two women a week being murdered and that one in three women are affected by violence, and one in four children,” Ms Batty said.

“Those are the statistics that I always repeat because that seems to shock people genuinely.”