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Current Issues
Who's Looking after the Kids? An Overview of Child Abuse and
Child Protection in Australia
E-Brief: Online Only issued 13 September 2002; updated 16
October 2002
Greg McIntosh,
Analysis and Policy
Janet Phillips,
Information/E-links
Social Policy Group
Scope of E-brief
This E-brief provides an overview of child abuse and child
protection in Australia, including relevant Internet links to a
variety of other sites. It only covers some of the main issues and
data related to child abuse and is in no way comprehensive or
all-inclusive. At the end of the e-brief there are links to some
overseas Internet sites that may be of interest to readers.
What is Child Abuse?
Increasing public attention and concern about child abuse has
seen an increasing role for governments with respect to child
protection policy. However, it is only comparatively recently that
this concern has been translated into systematic strategies and
programs designed to help alleviate the problem. Much has been
written about how child abuse and neglect (the latter often being
seen as a 'less serious' form of abuse) should, or could be
defined, but in the Australian context there seems to be a fairly
broad consensus as to what constitutes child abuse.
In Australia whilst there are some differences across the eight
State and Territory jurisdictions (who are primarily responsible
for policies to deal with child abuse) as to just how child
protection matters are defined, the broad categories of abuse and
neglect are essentially consistent. The four main categories of
abuse are physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect and emotional
abuse.
A National Child Protection Council Report from the early 1990s
(Preventing Child Abuse A National Strategy, page xv)
defined 'child abuse' as 'the term for a variety of acts or
behaviours which result in harm to children. It encompasses
physical abuse, sexual assault, emotional abuse and, neglect'.
An Australian Institute of Health and Welfare publication
(Australia's
Welfare 1997), explains how child abuse is defined and how data
is collected on child abuse:
The term 'child abuse and neglect' can mean very different
things to different people, depending on the context in which it is
used. For the purposes of collecting national information, however,
'child abuse and neglect' can generally be defined as occurring
when a child has been, is being, or is likely to be subjected to
physical, emotional or sexual actions or inaction's which have
resulted in, or are likely to result in significant harm or injury
to the child. In the main, it refers to situations where there are
protective issues for the child because the person believed to be
responsible for the abuse or neglect is a parent, family member or
some other person with responsibility for the care of the child; or
where the person responsible for the child is unable or unwillingly
to protect the child from abuse or neglect. Only incidents of abuse
or neglect notified to community services departments are included
in the national data collection on child abuse and neglect. (Page
190.)
Thus, it is important to note that the main published data on child abuse and neglect
only includes abuse and neglect that is reported via the various
departments of community services across Australia and to that
extent the data will not reveal the true extent of the problem. The
rate of 'non reporting' of child abuse and neglect is largely
unknown.
An excellent article on the history of child abuse in Australia
and how child protection measures have been developed over time is
Adam Tomison's
A History of Child Protection (Australian Institute of Family
Studies, Family Matters, no. 60, Spring/Summer
2001).
In this article Tomison argues that child protection policies
have tended to be 'cyclical' and that many present policies have
been tried by governments and other agencies over many years.
In recent years there has been much more awareness of child
abuse as an issue and the reporting and analysis of it is now much
more 'open' than has been the case in the past. This increased
awareness and reporting has meant that a number of institutions
(for example, sectors of the church, various institutions that
house or care for children and government departments responsible
for child protection), have increasingly come under the spotlight
for past and present practices that may have, or are, adversely
affecting children in their care.
A major trend over the past decade or so in terms of child
protection policy has been a move away from more punitive measures
to an increased emphasis on early intervention and educative
strategies. There is now a greater recognition of the complex
nature of the causes of child abuse and the advantages of
preventing child abuse before it happens as opposed to dealing with
it after it has occurred. A more 'holistic' policy framework is
being gradually developed whereby a whole range of areas including
employment, education, health and family relationships are
considered when child protection policies are being considered.
There are three main sets of data that are published to indicate
the extent of child abuse in Australia. These are notifications of
abuse; investigations of abuse and substantiations of abuse. The
following tables (adapted from Australian Institute of Health and
Welfare, Child
Protection Australia 2000 01, 2002) give data in each of these
areas for all States and Territories and for Australia as a whole.
Data is also shown on the types of abuse and neglect.
Table 1: Number of notifications and substantiations,
Australia, 1995 96 to 2000 01
Note: Missing years not shown due to lack of data
Source: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Child
Protection Australia 2000 01, 2002, Tables 2.3 and 2.4, pp. 13
14.
Table 1 shows that the number of reports or notifications of
child abuse has been increasing over the period 1995 96 to 2000 01.
In the latter year there were over 115 000 notifications of
abuse, compared to a figure of almost 92 000 in 1995 96.
However, these figures in themselves do not necessarily mean that
the rate of abuse is increasing. The increasing number of
notifications may well be due to a greater awareness of child abuse
over the period reviewed and the fact that some of the States and
Territories have changed the way they report on matters of child
abuse. As well, the amount of non-reporting of child abuse is not
known.
Table 1 also shows the number of substantiations over the period
1995 96 to 2000 01 and the line indicates that substantiations have
in fact declined slightly over the period covered from 29 800
in 1995 96 to 27 300 in 2000 01. According to the Australian
Institute of Health and Welfare the reason for the decline in
substantiations over the period is more to do with changes in
administrative procedures related to child abuse in some of the
States and Territories rather than a reduction in the amount of
abuse.
Table 2: Number of notifications, by State and
Territory, 1995 96 to 2000 01
Notes:
- Data for the 1996 97 financial year were not available from New
South Wales.
- Data for the 1998 99 financial year were not available from the
Northern Territory.
- Data for Queensland 1996 97 refer to the calendar year 1996,
rather than the financial year.
- The number of notifications in 1999 00 in the Northern
Territory was higher than in previous years due to the introduction
of a new information system that enabled improved reporting of all
reports received.
- In 2000 01 the classification of notifications in South
Australian was changed to exclude reports that did not meet the
criteria of reasonable suspicion of child abuse or neglect.
Source: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare,
Child Protection Australia 2000 01, 2002, Table
2.3, p. 13.
Table 3: Number of substantiations, by State and
Territory, 1995 96 to 2000 01
Notes:
- Data for the 1996 97 financial year were not available in New
South Wales.
- Data for the 1998 99 financial year were not available from the
Northern Territory.
- Data for Queensland 1996 97 refer to the calendar year 1996,
rather than the financial year 1996 97.
Source: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare,
Child Protection Australia 2000 01, 2002, Table
2.4, p. 14.
Tables 2 and 3 show notifications and substantiations by State
and Territory over the period 1995 96 to 2000 01. The same
qualifications noted for Table 1 apply to these two Tables.
Table 4: Substantiations, by main type of abuse or
neglect and State and Territory, 2000 01
Notes: The category 'other' used for New South Wales comprises
children identified as being at hight risk but with no identifiable
injury or harm
Source: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare,
Child Protection Australia 2000 01, 2002, Table
2.5, p. 16.
Table 4 shows substantiations by State and Territory by the main
type of abuse. The Table shows that child neglect is the highest
category of abuse in Western Australia, South Australia and
Queensland whilst physical abuse is the largest category in New
South Wales. In Victoria the most reported category is emotional
abuse. Again, according to the Australian Institute of Health and
Welfare the differing results by jurisdiction is more likely to be
with the way the types of abuse are defined and reported rather
than real differences in terms of the type of abuse.
The following summary of some of the effects of child abuse
comes from the web site of the Abused Child
Trust, a Queensland based professional organisation that
provides specialised treatment programs for abused children and
their families:
The long-term impact of child abuse and neglect cannot be easily
predicted. Many factors must be taken into account, including the
degree and duration of abuse, the perpetrator, family structure and
support, types of interventions, and resiliency factors of those
involved (Cicchetti & Toth, 1995; Edari & McManus, 1998).
Current research tends to conceptualise child maltreatment in a
developmental framework.
Research has indicated that child abuse and neglect can have the
following consequences on subsequent growth and development:
Personal
- Retarded cognitive development
- Poor self development
- Poor language development
- Diminished verbal skills
- Possible psychiatric disorders
- Lower self esteem
Interpersonal
- Inability to form meaningful relationships
- Lower in social maturity
- Diminished life coping skills
Increased likelihood of:
- Poor health
- Self destructive behaviours
- Homelessness & depression
- Abusing own children
- Future delinquency
- Adult crime - violence
- Substance abuse
- Personality abnormalities
- Youth suicide
- Violence or aggressive behaviour
- Sexual adjustment
These events have a significant impact upon an individual's
ability to function within society, specifically with employment,
educational attainment, relationship development, and
parenting.
Many of these consequences also incur a significant cost to the
community. For example, it costs $60 000 per year to maintain
one prisoner in a high security jail cell.
In terms of child sexual abuse a recent study, Long Term Effects of
Child Sexual Abuse, (Paul Mullen and Jillian Fleming,
Australian Institute of Family Studies, Issues in Child Abuse
Prevention, no. 9, Autumn 1998), found that it is
widely held that child sexual abuse is a major cause of mental (and
other) health problems when these children are adults.
According to the study:
Child sexual abuse is not randomly distributed throughout the
population. It occurs more frequently in children from socially
deprived and disorganised family backgrounds Marital dysfunction,
as evidenced by parental separation and domestic violence, is
associated with higher risks of child sexual abuse, and involves
intrafamilial and extrafamilal perpetrators Similarly, there are
increased risks of abuse with a step-parent in the family, and when
family breakdown results in institutional or foster care. Poor
parent-child attachment is associated with increased risk of child
sexual abuse, though it is not always easy to separate the impact
of abuse on intimate family relationships from the influence of
poor attachments on vulnerability to abuse There is also a
considerable overlap between physical, emotional and sexual abuse,
and children who are subject to one form of abuse are significantly
more likely to suffer other forms of abuse There is now an
established body of knowledge clearly linking a history of child
sexual abuse with higher rates in adult life of depressive
symptoms, anxiety symptoms, substance abuse disorders, eating
disorders and post-traumatic stress disorders.
The findings of this study are supported by Professor Kim Oates
(Chief Executive of the New Children's Hospital in Sydney) who has
carried out extensive research on the long term effects of child
abuse. Professor Oates says that:
almost half of sexually abused children are sad or depressed,
have low self-esteem and higher level of anxiety five years after
the incident nine years after the abuse, victims still had low
levels of self-esteem, were depressed, anxious, felt despair, had
behavioural problems and were more likely to have had adverse life
experiences. They also were significantly more likely to have been
involved in self-induced vomiting and binge eating, as well as
amphetamine, cocaine and ecstasy use. It is quite clear that the
sexual abuse of children is something which in addition to the
initial adverse effects on the child and family has serious ongoing
effects for many of the children These include suicide and other
cause of death, behavioural problems, low self-esteem, depression,
and anti-social behaviour. Treatment efforts should be directed
towards these areas in the hope of ameliorating some of the adverse
consequences of abuse and neglect. (As reported in the West
Australian, 'More Children Victims of Abuse and Neglect', 18
October 1999.)
The Response of the Church to
Child Abuse
In recent times there has been media coverage of alleged child
abuse by the Church and discussion of how child abuse matters are
dealt with by various parts of organised religion in Australia.
Below is a selection of church related Internet links that give
some background information on this area, including examples of how
some denominations are responding to child abuse.
- Anglican Church of Australia's news page with
links to an apology to child abuse victims, 21 February 2002, and
their Child Protection Committee's progress
- Anglican
Diocese of Brisbane site links to the inquiry into past
handling of complaints of sexual abuse
- Anglican Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn
pastoral letter on child abuse
- Anglican Diocese of Sydney pastoral
letter on child abuse
- Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference Towards
Healing report, 2000, including an apology to victims in the
introduction
- Australian Catholic Bishops Conference sexual
abuse page
- Pope's
apology to victims of sexual abuse, 22 November 2001, (in 'Life
of the Ordained' section)
- Uniting Church in Australia letter to all
congregations on child abuse, 2002.
One key response to child abuse in recent times has been the
introduction by most of the States and Territories of mandatory
reporting of child abuse. This means that medical practitioners,
and often other professionals such as teachers, police and health
workers, are required by law to report any suspected or actual
cases of child abuse to the relevant authorities for an overview of
the mandatory reporting regime across Australia see Appendix 4 of
the AIHW publication Child
Protection Australia 2000 01.
(a) States/Territories
The basic framework of protection and support services aimed at
preventing child abuse and helping children and families affected
by child abuse is essentially a State responsibility. In essence
there are two direct strands of policies aimed at preventing and
reducing child abuse child protection services (the receiving and
assessment of abuse cases, provision and referral of clients to
support services and the use of statutory responses where
necessary) and supported placement services (essentially 'out of
home' services to remove the child from harmful situations). The
various Departments of Community Services (or similar) in each
State and Territory provide the bulk of the services and support
aimed at preventing and reducing child abuse. According to the
Report on
Government Services 2002 (Productivity Commission) there was
recurrent expenditure of $712 m in 2000 01 across Australia on
child protection and supported placement services.
The following links direct you to the relevant Departmental
sites in each State and Territory and also to a copy of the main
legislation that covers child protection in each jurisdiction.
(b) Commonwealth
In recent years there has been a trend towards a more systematic
and national approach with respect to child abuse issues and as a
consequence the Commonwealth has become more involved in the area
of child abuse prevention and child abuse monitoring. The role of
the Commonwealth in this area can perhaps be best divided into two
parts an indirect role and a direct role.
The Commonwealth's Indirect Role in Child Abuse
Prevention
Many of the mainstream programs that the Commonwealth funds and
administers in the field of human and community services can be
viewed as indirectly impacting on the goal of child abuse
prevention. These programs all help to indirectly (and in some
cases directly) protect children. For example:
- health (early prevention programs, immunisation programs)
- social security (the payment of an array of benefits to those
in need)
- housing (rent assistance, programs under the Commonwealth-State
Housing Agreement and other joint programs like the Supported
Accommodation Program)
- disability services (programs funded under the
Commonwealth-State-Territory Disability Agreement)
- family policy (the 'Stronger Families Strategy' and various
activities of the Attorney General's Department and the Family
Court that are designed to help and strengthen families)
One of the major reasons why child abuse occurs is because
families are under some sort of stress (poverty, unemployment,
illness or disability etc.). The mainstream programs that the
Commonwealth funds all are designed to help individuals and
families 'cope' better and be more able and equipped to raise their
children in a caring environment. Thus, much of what the
Commonwealth does in a whole range of portfolio areas can be viewed
as at least having some impact on protecting children. This impact,
because it covers such a wide range of activities, is essentially
impossible to quantify or measure in any meaningful way.
The Commonwealth's Direct Role in Child Abuse
Prevention
The main role in child abuse prevention directly carried out by
the Commonwealth is via programs funded by the Department of Family
and Community Services. As well, to help provide advice to the
Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, there is the
Australian Council for Children and Parenting that provides a
community perspective on issues relating to children and parents,
including child abuse prevention.
In 2001 02, the Commonwealth, via the Department of Family and
Community Services, outlaid about $4 million on direct child abuse
prevention projects. According to information provided to a recent
Estimates Committee (Community Affairs Legislation Committee Budget
Estimates 2002 03, August 2002, Volume 1, p. 81), these projects
were divided into three broad categories:
- Early Intervention Parenting ($3.4m) a range of projects run by
community groups aimed at child abuse prevention and improved
parenting
- Good Beginnings Prototype Projects ($157 000) further
projects aimed at preventing child abuse
- National
Child Protection Clearinghouse ($359 000) a major 'one
stop' shop on research and background on child abuse in
Australia.
Tomorrow's Children A National Plan of Action
Against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children
The Commonwealth has also recently undertaken a National Plan to
help stop the commercial sexual exploitation of children. On 9
August 2000 the Federal Minister for Community Services, Larry
Anthony, launched
Tomorrow's Children Australia's National Plan of Action against the
Sexual Exploitation of Children, to help reduce the incidence
of sexual exploitation of children. Among the various
recommendations contained in the Plan are:
- the need for early intervention programs to help prevent the
risk factors that lead to sexual abuse
- the need to constantly review existing legislation to ensure
that the new technologies are not an avenue for sexual
exploitation
- the need to ensure that children are aware and understand what
sexual exploitation is
- the need for Australia to continue efforts at international
cooperation so that those who sexually exploit children are caught
and dealt with
- that Australia continue to help countries where such
exploitation is rife with a view to lessening its incidence.
At the launch of the plan, Mr Anthony said that Australia had
recently strengthened the legislation dealing with pornography on
the Internet and also with respect to Australians engaging in sex
with children whilst overseas. (The Age, 10 August
2000.)
An excellent Internet site containing a wealth of material and
useful links related to child abuse is that of the National Child
Protection Clearinghouse. The Clearinghouse is a key
information and research resource on child abuse and is part of the
National Strategy for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect. It
is funded by the Commonwealth Department of Family and Community
Services (FACS).
Child Protection Links
Commonwealth
General
International
For copyright reasons some linked items are only
available to Members of Parliament.
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