6 October 2006
The National Research Centre for the Prevention of Child Abuse at Monash University and the Australian Childhood Foundation have described Australia's child protection system as a national disgrace.
In a joint report, 'The State of Child Protection: Australian Child Welfare and Child Protection Developments 2005', the two bodies reveal major deficiencies in child protection systems right around Australia.
The report's principal author, Dr Max Liddell, a Senior Research Fellow at the National Research Centre for the Prevention of Child Abuse, said there are serious problems in all jurisdictions, despite expansion and reform in some states.
Almost 2,000 extra child protection staff have not solved the problem. "Workers in several states have continued to complain, rightly, about unmanageable workloads. Industrial action has been threatened or carried out in some states," Dr Liddell said.
"While an expanded child protection workforce may be needed in the short to medium term, Australia 's neglect of prevention and early intervention is a national disgrace," he said.
The report also states that the rates of intervention in the lives of indigenous children and their families are still several times higher than for the rest of the community, and renewed effort by all parties is required.
"Also, those states which have been courageous enough to investigate have found that their out-of-home care systems are in crisis. Foster carers are overburdened, and many cases of abuse of children in such care have been found," Dr Liddell said.
Children who have already been abused are being further abused by systems which fail them. Our systems lack national consistency, transparency, reliable statistics, and independent research into their effectiveness. This is in spite of a proliferation of independent or allegedly independent bodies scrutinising child protection systems."
For more information contact Ms Robyn Anns, Media Communications on +61 3 99059317 or 0417 568 781.
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