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Recent reports in the media have centred on the case of an incestuous relationship between a father and his daughter. In this case it is understood that the incestuous relationship commenced when the daughter was an adult. Whilst NAPCAN has no place to make comment on the choice of consenting adults, the consequences of those choices in this particular case raise two significant issues: the rights of a child when there is a high risk of genetic abnormality, and rights of a child when adults seek public notoriety which may now surround the child for the rest of her life.
Of equal concern to NAPCAN is that media attention to sensational but isolated cases such as this may detract the Australian public's attention away from the greater social crisis facing our country. In the last year alone there were over 50,000 substantiated notifications to statutory authorities of children being abused or neglected in this country.
Children died, children were seriously injured and tens of thousands of children were physically, psychologically and emotionally damaged, and this number is growing every year. NAPCAN believes that the media and the public's attention needs to be focussed on action to prevent this abuse and neglect.
NAPCAN welcomes the Government's decision to apologise to the Stolen Generations, as a vital first step in healing relations with our Indigenous brothers and sisters and creating a new climate of care. Support for this symbolic gesture demonstrates the courage and maturity of this nation in taking responsibility for past injustices that caused unimaginable pain to so many parents and children.
Past strategies have failed, dismally. Indigenous children continue to be the most disadvantaged and vulnerable in Australia today. If we are to provide for their well-being Government and agencies must cease to make unilateral decisions on behalf of Aboriginal communities and rather, enter into respectful and inclusive dialogue that will build capacity in the local community to provide what is best for their children.
In the past children were forcibly removed from their parents, families, and natural environments because one culture made choices without any attempt to understand or appreciate the strengths of the other, let alone the rights of parents to pass on that culture to their children.
Those of us too young to remember, or who had no role in the removal of children from their families, can easily say, 'It wasn't my fault. It's not my responsibility'. And nothing will change. On the other hand, we can join the Government and say Australia got it tragically wrong, we are sorry! Then each of us might start to take personal responsibility for the well-being of all of this country's children, and develop a whole of community approach to prevention of child abuse and neglect.
This historic occasion will never quite wipe the slate clean, nor remove every tear, but it does nevertheless provide us with a wonderful opportunity to let go of past practices and start afresh.
The death of a little child at the hands of an adult, particularly a parent, is perhaps the most unforgivable of crimes in our society. Yet even whilst understanding this overwhelming community dismay at Dean's death, many of us also felt great distress witnessing the rage expressed by the community towards Dean's mother, who has been charged with, not convicted of, her son's murder.
As details about the tragic circumstances of Dean's death are revealed, should we not, as a mature and civilised society, be asking ourselves the question, "How did we as a community fail to recognise, and respond to this mother's distress?", rather than vilifying her in order to vent our outrage and personal grief at a child's frightening death, The second question we need to ask is, "How can we learn from this tragedy and prevent it from ever happening again?"
Perhaps Dean's mother found herself in a place where she did not want to be, but with no capacity to get herself out. It would seem that there was no one she could turn to, let alone trust , who had the appropriate skills and knowledge to be there for her. Blaming Dean's mother is surely as pointless as blaming the other members of her family, or the residents of her street, or local child protection services.
"The fact is, there were approximately 56,000 substantiated cases of child abuse and neglect in Australia in 2005/2006, which is an absolute indictment of our society," Acting NAPCAN EO Marie Fox said. "This statistic alone tells us very clearly that no government or department alone can turn around this problem in a timeframe which helps the most vulnerable members of our community. "We all have a part to play now in protecting all of Australia's children from harm and it's simply not enough to think it's 'someone else's' responsibility."
As paediatrician Dr Sue Packer AM says, "Rather than judge parents who are struggling, surely we need to recognise that some parents find being a parent is a nightmare from which they cannot escape. We need to get better at recognising the impossibility of their situation, and offer a genuine helping hand. If such help had been available to Dean's mother, this tragic outcome might have been averted."
It is only by courageously being able to recognise that we still have not got it right, that we will be able to boldly search for ways to prevent such a tragedy from being repeated. Every family in Australia needs to feel confident that there is help and understanding readily available when they can no longer cope.
Preventing parental alcohol abuse is the most urgent challenge in stemming the tide of child abuse and neglect in Australia according to Professor Dorothy Scott. MORE
by Professor Dorothy Scott MORE
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