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Child Protection in
Australia
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Child protection is taken very seriously in
Australia. It may not always have been systematic but there has
always been good intention to develop a nationwide cooperative
effort to ensure that the Children of Australia are kept safe
and protected from the many factors that may be detrimental to
their wellbeing and development.
The
main role for child protection or child abuse prevention in
Australia is undertaken by the federal government. The
Commonwealth funds the Department of Family and Community
Services to be the primary coordinating body in this service.
The states also have their various government departments,
albeit named differently, to carry out child protection in
Australia at a more local level. Contacts for these departments
are listed below:
A
very good article to refer to for those who are interested in
the history of child protection in Australia has been written
by Adam Tomison A history of Child Protection ((Australian
Institute of Family Studies, Family Matters, no. 60,
Spring/Summer 2001). Tomison points out child protection policies
have been tried and retried by various Australian governments
over the years.
However in the beginning of the
twenty first century there is an increasing awareness of the
need for child protection and that the key players need to work
cooperatively and by united in their attempts to stamp out
child abuse. Therefore the various government and non
government agencies are being increasingly being held more
accountable for the way in which they approach child protection
matters.
Another vital recognition by the Australian
agents is that punitive action against parents and wrong doers
for child abuse has only limited advantages in controlling
victimisation of children. This has remained important in more
serious cases but in less serious cases it is increasingly
being realised that issues dealing with child abuse are complex
and requiring intervention and educative strategies to prevent
child abuse before it actually happens. Rather then when it
actually occurs. Therefore a more holistic approach is being
taken including factors from education, health, policing,
housing, employment, family relationship and welfare. Special
attention is given to children with disabilities and minority
groups such as those from aboriginal
origins.
An
area of particular attention is child sexual abuse. Sexual
abuse arises more commonly in socially deprived and
dysfunctional families. Marital breakdowns, parental separation
and domestic violence are all related to higher risks of sexual
abuse of a child. Mixed families and poor parent-child
attachment are also connected to an increase in sexual abuse.
There is an overlap between physical, emotional and sexual
abuse. These factors separated or severally can lead to
psychological and physical maladjustments later in adult
life.
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