Media Release
September 11 2008
A new child protection approach needed to avert a crisis
National
Child Protection week is an ideal time to highlight the critical
need for a new approach to child protection in order to avert a crisis,
according to the
Australian Centre for Child Protection.
Director of the Australian Centre for Child Protection at UniSA, Professor Dorothy Scott says awareness needs to be increased that the current child protection system is not sustainable, and a greater emphasis must be placed on the prevention of child abuse and neglect in the first instance.
“Australia is facing a crisis in child protection with around one in five children being the subject of a child notification by the age of eighteen and approximately 20% of these cases being substantiated,” she said.
“Child protection systems are overwhelmed. Finding the child who needs legal protection is like finding a needle in a haystack, which is why child protection workers often struggle to protect the most vulnerable children.”
Prof Scott says that bringing more children into State care is not the answer with the number of children in Australia in State care at approximately 30,000 - double that of a decade ago.
“Most children brought into state care are subjected to multiple foster placements. And there is now good overseas evidence to show that many children are more harmed by being removed from their families,” she said.
Prof Scott says that a public health approach to protecting children is essential for the future wellbeing of Australian children and families.
“A public health approach builds more fences at the top of top of the hill, by helping those parents who are at the greatest risk of not being able to nurture and care for their children,” she said.
“This approach would make support services more child and family focussed, in areas such as drug and alcohol treatment, homelessness, domestic violence, mental illness, as well as correctional services, refugee resettlement services, and services for parents with an intellectual disability.
“These services have not been designed or funded to work with whole families and we need to transform them so they all can respond to the needs of parents and children.
“These services need far more support so that they can help families stay together safely.”
Prof Scott says that the public health approach must be a major priority in the National Child Protection Framework of the Australian Government.
“To achieve this, we need strong leadership from the Prime Minister and Premiers as it cuts across a wide range of portfolios.
“This is the only way to tackle the scale of the problem of child abuse and neglect in this country, to help those children facing very real pain, suffering and adversity every day.”
As part of National Child Protection Week, Prof Scott is presenting a seminar on major policy and practice challenges in protecting children from abuse and neglect, at the State Library of Victoria, in conjunction with the Australian Institute of Family Studies.
Seminar details
Think Child, Think Family, Think Community. Building the capacity of adult services to respond to the needs of vulnerable children
11.30am, Thursday 11th September 2008
State Library of Victoria
Conference Centre, Village Roadshow Theatrette
Entry 3, La Trobe Street, Melbourne
Registration: www.aifs.gov.au/institute/seminars/seminars.html
Contacts for interview
- Professor Dorothy Scott office (08) 8302 4030 email dorothy.a.scott@unisa.edu.au
Media contact
-
Lisa McDonald mobile 0434 367 876
email
mcdonald.lisa@unisa.edu.au