Our Mission
There can be no doubt that child abuse and neglect is a serious problem within our communities. The current best available evidence suggests that 5-10% of Australian adults experienced physical abuse while growing up and 4-8% of males and 7-12% of females experienced penetrative child sexual abuse. Abuse and neglect can cause major difficulties for children such as developmental delay, difficulty forming relationships, physical health problems, behavioural problems, educational difficulties and serious lifelong mental health problems. The effects of abuse and neglect can last a lifetime and have been associated with suicide, eating disorders, drug and alcohol abuse, high-risk sexual behaviour, violence and criminal offending, homelessness and tragically, the abuse and neglect of one’s own children.
In
Australia today the problem of abuse and neglect remains prevalent
and serious, however there are some encouraging signs for the
future. The latest statistics from the Australian Institute of
Health and Welfare show that the number of reports to child
protection services in Australia has been slowly but steadily
declining over recent years. Part of this decline may be from
greater investment in prevention strategies, which was advocated in
the 12-year National Framework for Protecting Australia’s children.
This framework was endorsed by the Council of Australian Governments
in 2009 and provided the foundation for national reform. The
Australian Centre for Child Protection played a lead role in
developing this framework, with its research cited in the outcomes.
Our vision
The Australian Centre for Child Protection seeks to become and remain Australia’s premier knowledge centre for preventing and responding to child abuse and neglect.
There are three primary goals of the Centre:
1. Excellence in Scholarship on high-risk/vulnerable children and families and those in the child
protection system;
2. Excellence in Teaching of students and Training of professionals
for high quality work in the area of child protection; and
3. Excellence in Service to the child and family welfare sector,
academic arena and the community.
Our University location
As a national research centre, the Australian Centre for Child Protection was founded by the University of South Australia and the Australian government in 2005. Centre funding is received from the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research.
With a multidisciplinary team, the Centre is able to work in partnership with world-class academics from across the wide range of schools and divisions within the University of South Australia.