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New AIHW Report: Australia's mothers and babies 2005
Play a Part gets a Green Light
NAPCAN endorses ASH Australia
NAPCAN's first Media Conference for 2007
Behind Closed Doors
The Queensland Department of Child Safety Annual Report 2005-6
Commitment to Young Australians
Senate Discusses Child Protection
"Towards a better future for children: preventing child abuse and neglect"
Wellbeing Australia website
Bowen & Collinsville, Qld. Pamphlet on Child Protection
Myths and realities of Aboriginal life
HREOCs 2006 personal essay competition and art competitions
Supporting Best Practice - launch of the new Children's Rights segment
NAPCAN Submission to NSW Parliament Inquiry - Children, Young People and the Built Environment
Intuitive Mothering, a fresh approach to raising children
NAPCAN launches Child Friendly Community Campaign 2006
Mission Australia's 2006 Survey of Australia's Young People
Raising Children Network: New Parenting Website
The Australian Childhood Foundation: Out of Sight, Out of Mind Report
Create Foundation Health Report Card
Fashion Forces Unite to Prevent Child Abuse and Neglect
Australia 's mothers and babies 2005 is the fifteenth report providing information on births in Australia from perinatal data collections for each state and territory. The report presents demographic, pregnancy and childbirth factors of women who gave birth in 2005 and the characteristics and outcomes of their babies. This edition includes a chapter on socioeconomic status of mothers. The report is produced by the AIHW National Perinatal Statistics Unit based at the University of New South Wales and can be used by researchers, academics, students, policy makers and health service planners, and those providing services in reproductive health. MORE |
NAPCAN has received a one million dollar grant from the Queensland State government to implement its Play A Part Program and other community based initiatives over 3 years. The grant forms part of a six million dollar, three year funding program announced recently by Communities Minister, Warren Pitt MP.
Child abuse and neglect is now Australia 's most serious social problem. The grant will assist NAPCAN to deliver its groundbreaking Play A Part program which will assist communities to establish child friendly environments to minimise the risk of abuse and neglect to its children. NAPCAN will apply the funding to roll out its Play A Part campaign, which NAPCAN has been working hard to establish over the past eighteen months with the assistance of volunteers and donations.
With the funding approval it has now received, NAPCAN will be able to expand its work to communities across at least five communities. - including Inala to Goodna, Chermside, Toowoomba, Springfield Lakes and the Gold Coast. NAPCAN's Play A Part program is designed to increase participation by individuals, businesses, Government and communities generally in the welfare of children. The aim of the program is to develop child friendly communities and to achieve a child friendly Australia.
The program is a wonderful example of the 'whole-of-community' approach required to prevent child abuse in Australia . One of the most important aspects of the program is the community education seminar, which provides tools to communities to assist them in establishing effective preventative strategies. NAPCAN project officers will work in partnership with communities to support and resource them in developing and implementing preventative strategies in their local area.
The program incorporates a resource kit for each of the key 'communities' involved with children and their families including: families and friends; early childhood communities; neighbourhoods; community organizations; school communities; the business community; and sporting groups and clubs.
NAPCAN Qld published a research paper last year to inform discussion and enhance prevention initiatives within Queensland . The paper entitled 'Towards a better future for children' informs the Play A Part program. The paper was launched by, Her Excellency, Ms Quentin Bryce AC, the Queensland Governor and has been distributed widely to government departments, non-government community organisations, academics and individuals nationwide.
The program involves a universal prevention approach including community education seminars to promote child abuse prevention. These introduce Play A Part and work with participants to develop practical strategies at a local level. As well, a selective prevention approach allows NAPCAN project workers to work with local communities in an ongoing way. This approach is tailored to meet the needs of culturally, linguistically, economically and geographically diverse communities. Project workers co-ordinate, mobilise, resource and support local communities in prevention work.
The program would initially be rolled out in the five communities and in consultation with the Department of Communities it is anticipated that NAPCAN would attempt to extend the reach of the program over the 2nd and 3rd years. Importantly, the program will benefit both the primary target group of 0-8 year old Queensland children as well as parents through enhanced formal and informal community supports. The long term beneficiary is the community as a whole. The corollary is the address of social health issues and associated costs, including substance abuse, educational difficulties, psychological health and crime.
Simply, the Play A Part program aims to encourage all individuals, communities, businesses and Government to work toward achieving a child friendly Australia .
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ASH Australia is a health promotion charity with a long history of advocacy to improve the health of children by reducing their exposure to tobacco promotions and to harm caused by tobacco products.
They have produced an advocacy kit containing a number of recommendations, based on evidence, including:
* ending tobacco advertising in shops with an out of sight policy;
* making cars carrying children smoke-free;
* fully implementing a licensing scheme for tobacco sellers to
improve regulation; and
* ending tobacco sales by children in shops.
As governments are soon to consider similar recommendations from their own health departments (SA and Tasmania are already considering them), these matters are pressing - ASH Australia intends to use the kits in meetings over the next several months to gain political support for legislative reform. A bad decision by even one state or territory could jeopardise strong legislation nationwide.
The kit contains information, facts, evidence countering tobacco and retail companies' claims, and a six-minute DVD, as well as constructive proposals for improvement. Importantly, ASH Australia seeks to make the point that tobacco is not a matter of "informed adult lifestyle choice" as misleadingly portrayed by the tobacco industry - it is in fact routinely a result of childhood recruitment and addiction. A society quite properly takes measures to protect its children from harm. MORE
Considering the harm caused by abuse of children's health and rights by the tobacco industry, NAPCAN has added its name to the list of groups endorsing the measures. |
On Jan 25th 2007 the National Association for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect held a press conference at their Sydney office to herald the release of the annual Child Protection Australia Report for 2005-6. Authored by Deidre Penhaligon , Dr Indrani Pieres-Caldwell and Nicole Hunter on behalf of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, the report focuses on issues of child abuse and neglect, notifications to support services, out-of-home care, community attitudes and awareness and the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in national statistics.
The report indicates a substantial rise in the amount of children in out-of-home care since 2001 from 18,241 to 25,454 in 2006. Similarly, the number of children on care and protection orders has risen from 19,917 to 27,188 between 2001 and 2006. The number of substantiated cases, where there was a reasonable cause to believe that harm had, or would occur, rose from 46,154 in 2004-5 to 55, 921 in 2005-6. While authorities concede that a small percentage of this rise is due to wider community awareness and increased attention to notification possibilities and procedures, these statistics remain alarming.
The conference was presented by a panel of spokespeople including NAPCAN CEO Adam Blakester, NAPCAN Ambassador and media personality Julie McCrossin (Chair) NAPCAN Board Member and ACT Government Community Paediatrician Dr Sue Packer and long-term CEO of Westmead Children's Hospital and paediatrician Dr Kim Oates. It was attended by key national and local media representatives.
The conference was aimed not only at highlighting statistics, but also at explaining their importance in understanding evolving trends, evaluating community and government response to abuse and neglect and developing improved resources and services for the prevention of harm before it occurs.
By raising awareness of the issues surrounding child abuse and neglect, including emotional abuse, the effects of substance abuse in families, domestic violence and sexual mistreatment, NAPCAN and the AIHW hope to halt the increase in cases and rouse the wider community to action for the achievement of 'Child Friendly Communities' and, more significantly, a 'Child Friendly Australia'.
Read about the news conference spokespeople MORE
This report from UNICEF considers domestic violence as a global problem and addresses the impact it has on children. ...more
The report affirms NAPCAN's belief that caring for children and young people is the responsibility of the entire community, and it encourages the reader to consider how each of us can contribute to the ongoing protection of vulnerable children and young people in the local community. MORE
The Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth have been developing a "Commitment to Young Australians" (0-25) to underpin their work and that of their 400+ member organisations. The membership of ARACY includes major NGOs, government departments, research institutions and other youth-serving organisations. The principles have been written in consultation with their members and young people. As part of that consultation Vibewire.net is currently seeking feedback from our members the youth media, arts and advocacy sector (young or otherwise) on the current draft. This feedback can either take the form of a comment on the article at Vibewire.net or an email to mail@vibewire.net . Comments are prefered as an interesting conversation could develop around them. MORE
(Taken from Senate Hansard, 12 September 2006 : pp. 50-64)
Senator Bartlett, Australian Democrats Senator for Queensland, proposed to move the following:
"That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency:
In the light of the repeated failures by our society to protect children from serious abuse and neglect, the need for all political parties to make child protection a national priority and for all governments to urgently determine ways to significantly reduce the totally unacceptable levels of serious child abuse and neglect that is occurring in all sections of the Australian community."
A lengthy discussion ensued. MORE
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This paper was commissioned by NAPCAN QLD to inform discussion in Queensland, but the implications are relevant for all Australians who are committed to keeping children safe and creating a brighter future for all children.
The paper recognizes the dramatic increase in notifications of suspected child abuse and neglect and the numbers of children in care and notes that unless primary prevention interventions are supported, we will continue on a path that is economically unsustainable and socially unacceptable. Argument is made for a comprehensive response to preventing child abuse and neglect, with a renewed focus on community-wide responsibility and action to increase the resilience and well-being of all children.
In lieu of the traditional three level 'public health' prevention model, the paper explores a model originating from the mental health field. This model removes the 'tertiary level' from conceptualisations of prevention (services treating children who have already suffered abuse), shifting the focus onto preventing abuse "before it happens".
The paper also highlights the need for prevention activities in addressing the high rates of reported abuse for Indigenous children. It is argued that the focus on community level interventions is consistent with Indigenous cultural frameworks.
Specifically, the paper identifies implications for research and future directions, including a call for an evidence-based and consistent approach to prevention and the need for a balanced child protection system (page 16).
With recent funding allocations for prevention and early intervention activities in Queensland, we believe this paper will be useful to policy makers, community agencies and others interested in what constitutes primary prevention of child abuse and neglect. The ecological model highlighted in the paper challenges us to consider what is actually effective in child abuse prevention. In particular, it reinforces the need for primary prevention activities to complement the current focus on early intervention if the rate of child abuse is to be reduced.
NAPCAN QLD welcomes your comments and opinions in response to the issues raised by this paper, and looks forward to the opportunity to discuss the way forward for universal, whole-of-community approaches to preventing child abuse and neglect. Download the Paper (590KB) HERE |
This is a networking website for those interested in developing social and emotional literacy, positive psychology and restorative practices in Australia and the Pacific region. This is about values in relationships and maintaining a high level of personal and professional integrity in order to foster psychological wellbeing and resilience for all.
Many of the issues facing Australia have their roots in poor relationships, unsupportive environments, the harmful expression or management of feelings, lack of empathic understanding and denial of agency leaving people feeling powerless.
These issues include bullying in schools and in the workplace, breakdown in relationships, family and community violence, depression and suicide, behavioural difficulties, addictions, child abuse, social injustice, racism, dishonesty at many levels, unethical or inhumane practices, policies which focus on economic efficiency rather than human value, isolation, a sense of hopelessness, lack of agency and even terrorism.
Emotional literacy is about developing our understanding of ourselves and our relationships with others to promote mutual well being and healthier, more compassionate societies. The word literacy is used to emphasise the importance of development and learning.
Wellbeing Australia is concerned with discovering what this means for different people, exploring ideas and sharing good practice. We hope that individuals, schools, organisations and communities will send information about what they are doing and what has helped them move forward. This will build a bank of knowledge, resources and ideas that will support and facilitate emotional literacy initiatives across the region.
Wellbeing Australia provides links and resources for the development of values and practices that can improve the emotional and social literacy of all communities.
Here you can download both guidance and hands on strategies for developing social and emotional skills and resilience, as well as therapeutic games. We also give links to the Values Framework in Australia and other international education documents related to social and emotional learning. MORE
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The towns of Bowen and Collinsville, Qld. have produced an exemplary pamphlet providing information for children, young adults, families and the wider community on the protection of children and the prevention of abuse.
It provides important information on the various forms of abuse, methods of prevention and what to do when a child discloses an incidence of abuse to you.
As well, a comprehensive contacts list identifies vital community centres for anyone requiring assistance, advice or resources on child abuse, protection and support networks. ...more |
The current media coverage about Indigenous Australians shows us that this article from 2000 is still highly relevant today. It challenges some common misconceptions about Indigenous issues - particularly in regard to human rights and equity in Australia. MORE |
Supporting Best Practice - launch of the new Children's Rights segment Early Childhood Australia has quality-assured over 100 webpages dealing with the vital issue of children's rights. The links are divided into 5 areas:
- About human rights
- UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CROC)
- Children's rights - global action
- CROC implementation
- Teaching for children's rights
ECA's Supporting Best Practice web directory is free to access. MORE
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Under the Commission for Children and Young People Act 1998 in relation to the Commission, the Committee is to inquire into:
- Trends, changes and issues for children and young people in the development, implementation and coordination of policy, design and planning for the built environment.
- The mechanisms available for monitoring and reporting on planning processes and decisions concerning the built environment, as they relate to and impact upon children and young people.
- Strategies to ensure that built environment issues affecting children and young people are readily identified and receive coordinated attention across portfolios and different levels of government.
- The role of the Commission for Children and Young People in giving input to the Government and non-Government sectors on inclusive and integrated planning and policy-making for children and young people in the built environment.
- Any other matter considered relevant to the inquiry by the Committee.
Read NAPCAN's submission HERE
Read NAPCAN's Research Report HERE
Find out more about the Inquiry HERE |
Lyn McPherson's new book Intuitive Mothering gives practical solutions and a fresh approach to raising children in our fast-paced world. Intuitive Mothering has been endorsed by paediatrician and President of NAPCAN Advisory Council, Bronwyn Gould, and a percentage of the proceeds have been donated to NAPCAN Foundation.
Here is a book that tackles the issues facing modern mothers today, such as guilt, sending children to day care, breastfeeding, allowing children to watch television or play computer games, relying on drugs to solve problems associated with ADD, advertising pressures, teaching children relevant social skills and finding balance. MORE
Intuitive Mothering can be ordered through Dymocks MORE |
On Friday 19th May NAPCAN Foundation launched the 'Child Friendly Community Campaign 2006 at Cabramatta High in which local schools, politicians, parents and communities gathered to promote child wellbeing and safety and celebrate cultural diversity.
The event introduced the recently produced "Child Friendly Communities Booklet" by NAPCAN Foundation translated into five diverse languages - Arabic, Vietnamese, Samoan, Tongan and Chinese - Mandarin. The Hon. Reba Meagher, Minister for Community Services and Minister for Youth in NSW, officially launched the new booklets endorsing NAPCAN's commitment to creating a child friendly Australia.
Guests were welcomed with a colourful and dynamic display of song and dance by students from Merrylands High School, who performed a traditional Maori welcome and the Haka. The Cabramatta High School Peace Choir also performed during the morning. The vibrant performances of the students affirmed the goals of the launch - to create 'child friendly' environments where children have the opportunity to freely express themselves and reach their full potential.
Five students representing the five different language groups spoke about their personal visions of a child friendly community and the steps they believe that need to be taken to make their communities more "child friendly." Common themes amongst the speakers were the need to feel safe, valued, respected and listened to. They all highlighted the need for the acceptance of cultural and religious diversity among the wider community.
The talks were followed by a panel discussion, facilitated by NAPCAN Ambassador Julie McCrossin , where students, teachers and community members addressed cross cultural issues and challenges surrounding young people in Australia and discussed topics relating to the safety and wellbeing of all young people.
Julie next introduced a special guest to the forum, Bilel Jideh, who spoke about the power of mentoring. Drawing from his personal experience, Bilel shared with us how the dedication of one man who believed in him, changed his life from someone who could have fallen easily into a way of petty crime, to a person studying medicine, with an incredible future ahead of him. Bilel's story had a profound impact on everyone present, and is a perfect example of how child friendly communities can give a young person the resilience to reach their potential. Bilel has kindly agreed to become a young ambassador for NAPCAN.
Cabramatta, Merrylands and Holroyd High Schools participated in the multi-cultural launch and representatives from the NSW Police Force, Burwood and Fairfield City Councils, the Australian Baha'i Community and the NSW Commission for Children and Young People attended.
The program was an important part of NAPCAN Foundation's broader strategy for 2006: Young Visions for a child friendly Australia , by seeking the opinions of children and young people in the creation of child friendly communities. |
Mission Australia is conducting its fifth survey of young Australians aged between 11-24 years. Its primary purpose is to identify and clarify the key and emerging issues for young people. It asks young people about what they value; their concerns; sources of advice and support; involvement in community activities, whether they identify as Indigenous and if they live in or outside a capital city. In 2005, 11,300 young people responded to the survey.
The survey publicly affirms that young people and their views are valued by the community and is a valuable resource for:
- Young people themselves
- Those working with young people, in helping to evaluate and improve their programs and policies
- Those involved in youth issues, including youth organisations, researchers, employers, politicians
- Anyone concerned about the wellbeing of young people.
Copies of the report of the survey findings will be available late in 2006 and broadly distributed. MORE. |
The Raising Children Network has developed a new Parenting Website. Due for release in May 2006, the site will include a comprehensive range of quality-assured information for parents of children aged 0-8 years.
The website has been developed with the guidance of in-depth research with parents and practitioners, with the aim that every Australian child has the best possible start in life.
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The Australian Childhood Foundation has revealed Australians are more concerned about the cost of petrol and public transport than they are about the problem of child abuse. MORE |
The difficulties faced by kids in care, many of whom have experienced abuse and neglect highlights the need to prevent child abuse before it starts, and before children end up in care.
Released on January 30, 2006, the Health Report Card examines the wellbeing and service usage of children and young people in care across Australia.
Incorporating information from each State and Territory department, and informed by the views of 281 young people in care, the Report Card highlights current health issues for those in care.
Key findings included:
- Children unable to identify their case worker: Nearly 20% those who participated in the Report Card could not identify a case worker assigned to their case.
- No identified case plan: Over half of the young people interviewed did not have a case plan, or were not made aware of the plan.
- Poor dental health: Over 80% of those interviewed indicated that they required dental care. Of those in need of dental care, only one third could identify that processes had been put in place to meet their dental needs.
- Higher medical needs: The results of this Report Card suggest that those in care have a higher incidence of conditions that affect their mental and physical health. MORE.
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Ezibuy, Australia's favourite catalogue company, have launched a major campaign for Australian children. During National Child Protection Week they launched a specially commissioned range of women's designer nightwear.
The 'Handle with Care' range was designed by one of Australia's favourite and most sucessful international fashion designers Trelise Cooper. Part of the proceeds from the sale and promotion of the range will be donated to the NAPCAN Foundation. Managing director of Ezibuy Gary Rohloff says "child abuse is an issue that affects Australians from all works of life and Ezibuy is committed to helping everyone feel safe and secure in their own homes." The NAPCAN Foundation is proud to work with Ezibuy and Trelise Cooper and are grateful for their commitment and support to preventing child abuse before it starts. |
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