An anonymous survey filled out by 150 of the city's high school students returned an alarming response, with 63 per cent stating domestic and family violence was their greatest concern.

The survey comes as part of Wagga City Council's Community Safety consultation process ahead of an updated plan to address crime.

As a member of the Wagga Crime Prevention Group and a mother herself, Saba Nabi said the response was concerning.

"Of course this is really concerning when children should feel safe in their own homes, but the positive to come from such results means that action can now be taken," she said.

"It's promising to see more young people speaking up about such important issues and raising that awareness."

Dr Nabi said she felt the measures already in place in the Wagga community were working to help encourage young people to speak out.

"Our local police are really proactive and engage with youth, which is great, as well as the mayor and council with the DVproject:2650," she said.

"We also have organisations like PCYC who really help lead children on the right path."

While the survey was beneficial to hear the next generation's concerns, Dr Nabi said younger children should not be forgotten.

"I believe that age is just a number, and I think people really underestimate the awareness and concerns of younger children like those in primary school," she said.

"People assume they are too childish to have these informed opinions that high school students might be able to offer, but their innocence can actually see them raise really important issues because they haven't been taught to fear questioning or speaking out yet.

"So in that respect, I think future surveys like this would really benefit from asking younger children too."

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Break and enter, assault and the sale and use of illegal drugs followed closely behind domestic violence as a major concern for students.

Council's Director of Community Janice Summerhayes said the survey results were vital to be heard by community leaders.

"This is important feedback to adults, leaders and government on how serious young people feel and see this situation is in our community," she said.

"It highlights that when we are looking at crime in our city, this is the number one concern for young people, and how it is affecting their lives and the people around them."

Ms Summerhayes said it was also a promising step to see young people acknowledging domestic violence as a crime.

"Previous local studies have indicated that people don't always associate domestic and family violence as a crime category, however, our young people we spoke to recognise it as a serious and important crime issue to be addressed in our community," she said.