Protecting Children

Topics

Child Protection and Family Law

• Family Law and Child Protection - Final Report (2002) Family Law Council report to the Attorney-General. This Report arises from the work of the Family Law Council on the interaction between the state and federal systems when child protection issues arise in cases under the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth). The ability of the Family Court of Australia and the Federal Magistrates Service to properly assess child abuse allegations is a matter of great public concern. Wrong decisions in this area can have tragic long-term consequences for children and families. 

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Child Protection and Out of Home Care 

• Fatally flawed: the child protection crisis in Australia, Jeremy Sammut (2009). This report argues that it is not underfunding or large workloads that has caused child protection services to fail, but the failure to investigate reports and remove children in danger.
• Protecting children: Where to from here?, Dr Adam M. Tomison (2009). This presentation discusses key policy and practice shifts in Australia and other western democracies, focusing on the key drivers for change, including the role of child death and other inquiries in changing practice, child protection evidence-base and lessons that can be learned from the development of culturally appropriate service systems for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
• Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Child Protection Australia 2006-07 provides information on State and Territory child protection and support services. As well as data for the year 2006-07, the report documents trends in child protection notifications, investigations and substantiations, children on care and protection orders and children in out-of-home care.
• NSW Commission for Children and Young People: From a child protection system to a system for protecting children (2008). Submission to the Special Commission of Inquiry into Child Protection Services in NSW: Dr Judy Cashmore, Professor Dorothy Scott, Commissioner Gillian Calvert
• Australian Institute of Family Studies 'Getting the big picture': A synopsis and critique of Australian out-of-home care researcg (2007), Leah Bromfield and Alexandra Osborn. In Australia and internationally, while the need for foster carers has been rising, there have been decreasing numbers of individuals willing to foster. This report reviews Australian out-of-home care research identified prior to and since the 'Audit of Australian out-of-home care research' in 2004.
• Children in state care: commission of inquiry report (2008), Ted Mulligan/Commission of Inquiry into State Care, Government of South Australia. This final report of a commission released in April 2008 found that many of these children were sexually abused while in state care.
• Inverting the pyramid: Enhancing systems for protecting children(2009)- Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY). This report was launched following a comprehensive review of Australia’s child protection systems and international models. The Report describes a systems-based approach to child protection by examining the ways that systems and organisations can collaborate to deliver the best outcomes for children. 
• Report into the cost of child abuse and neglect in Australia (2003), released in September 2003 by the Kids First Foundation.
• Australia's children: safe and well, Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. The federal government is developing a national framework for protecting children. This discussion paper canvasses ideas on what should be included. Source: Australian Policy Online.
• A national approach for child protection: project report (2008), Leah Bromfield and Prue Holzer, National Child Protection Clearinghouse. The purpose of this report is to provide high-level descriptions of key processes and approaches to the delivery of child protection services across Australia. Source: Australian Policy Online.
• Protecting children is everyone's business: National Child Protection Framework (2009)- COAG. The Council of Australian Governments long anticipated Child Protection Framework has been released setting out an ambitious long term approach to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of Australian children. The Framework includes the development of ambitious National Standards for Out-of-Home Care. 

Child Abuse Prevention and Child Protection in Indigenous Communities

• Children on Anangu, Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytjatjara Lands Commission of Inquiry: a report into sexual abuse, Children in State Care Commission of Inquiry. This 2008 report of an inquiry to examine the incidence of sexual abuse of children on the Lands, the nature and extent of that abuse, and to report as to measures which should be implemented to prevent sexual abuse of the children and to address the consequences for the communities. Source: Australian Policy Online.
• Little Children are Sacred: Report of the Inquiry into Protecting Aboriginal Children from Sexual Abuse (2007), Northern Territory Government. The Board of Inquiry into the Protection of Aboriginal Children from Sexual Abuse was established on 8 August 2006 and was Co-Chaired by Ms Patricia Anderson and Rex Wild QC. The purpose of the Inquiry was to find better ways to protect Aboriginal children from sexual abuse.
• Child welfare approcahes for Indigenous communities: international perspectives (2004) by Terri Libesman (no.20)
• Child abuse and neglect in Indigenous Australian communities (2003), by Janet Stanley, Adam M.Tomison and Julian Pocock (no.19).
• Australian social policy (2008), Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. Produced annually.  The major articles in this edition are: Mortality of Children and Parental Disadvantage, by Peng Yu; and Benchmarking the Indigenous Sub-Sample of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, by Boyd Hunter. Source: Australian Policy Online.

      See also Indigenous Families and Communities

Child Abuse Prevention

• Intra-familial adolescent sex offenders: psychological profile and treatment, Australian Institute of Criminology (2009). The sexual abuse of children by other children or adolescents constitutes a significant proportion of sexual offending against children. This report examines the psychological profile and treatment of these offenders. 
• Responding to online child sexual grooming: an industry perspective, Kim-Kwang Raymond Choo (2009). This paper discusses non-legislative measures including initiatives taken by those operating social-networking sites and the financial services industry to address online child exploitation, in particular, the grooming of potential victims for sexual abuse.
• A stitch in time saves nine: Preventing and responding to the abuse and neglect of infants, Jordan and Sketchley, AIFS (2009). Some issues addressed in this paper include: how to ensure infants protection; how to respond to those who have suffered neglect or abuse; how to create a society that reduces these risks; and how to deal with the limits and failures of such endeavors.
• The effectiveness of parent education and home visiting child maltreatment prevention programs (2006), by Prue J Holzer, Jenny R Higgins, Leah M Bromfield, Nick Richardson and Daryl J Higgins (no.24).
• Family group conferencing in Australia 15 years on (2008), by Nathan Harris. 
• AWARE: A model for estimating applicant and workplace risks in NSW for child-related employment background checking (2009), NSW Commission for Children and Young People. AWARE stands for applicant and workplace risk estimate. This report discusses the current system to support the wellbeing of children in organisations, focusing on the part of the system known as background checking. It encourages organisations not only to develop and implement policies, procedures and mechanisms for identifying and managing risks and assuring quality, but also mechanisms that create a culture and environment that promotes openness, makes children feel welcome and facilitates disclosure of children at risk issues.

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