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ACL call for a better deal for Australia’s children

2:38pm Tuesday, 6th September 2011

By Glynis Quinlan

The Federal Government has been called on to set up a Families Commission to provide national leadership in strengthening families following the launch of a new research report revealing the dire plight of many Australian children – with dramatic rises in child abuse and neglect and more than a quarter of 16-24 year-olds having mental disorders.

The For Kids’ Sake report by family law specialist Professor Patrick Parkinson of the University of Sydney was launched at Parliament House in Canberra on September 6 amid a gathering of politicians, church leaders, and representatives of child/family organisations.

Commissioned by the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) and funded by the Vos Foundation, the report stares squarely in the face of the deteriorating state of Australia’s ‘fragile families’ and the increasing numbers of children experiencing problems with abuse, neglect, alcohol, self-harm, psychological distress and risky sexual behaviour.

Its focus is on preventing the ‘maltreatment’ of children by “reversing the deterioration in the social environment in which children grow up”. This includes the goals of ensuring children have safe, stable and nurturing relationships, and promoting ‘protective factors’ for families encountering difficulties.

To that end key recommendations include: a major new initiative to support couple and parent-child relationships; setting up community trusts to assist local area organisations support families; a review of family policy at state and federal levels; a nationwide hotline for people struggling with family problems; and establishing the Families Commission to underpin these initiatives and conduct community education campaigns.

“There is a canary in the coal mine that provides early warning about the extent of social problems we are facing, and this is in the child protection system,” writes Professor Parkinson in his report, which was compiled over a 12-month period and analysed research both in Australia and overseas.

“There has been a dramatic increase in the last 15 years in the numbers of children who are reported as being victims of, or at risk of, child abuse or neglect, the numbers of children where that abuse or neglect has been substantiated after investigation, and the total numbers of children in state care…The number of children in need threatens to overwhelm state and territory child protection departments.”

Professor Parkinson writes that this is “only a part of the story of deterioration in the well-being of Australia’s children and young people”. Other concerns raised in the report include:

· More than a quarter of young people aged 16-24 have a mental disorder, compared with one in five (20%) in the general population. A further 24% of young people who have never had a mental disorder are experiencing moderate to severe psychological distress;

· There was a 60% increase in the numbers of 12-14 year-old children having to be hospitalised as a result of intentional self-harm between 1996 and 2006. In this period there was also a 90% rise in hospitalisation of 15-17 year-old girls due to self-harm incidents;

· For young women aged 15-24, the rate of hospitalisations due to alcohol intoxication more than doubled between 1998 and 2006. There was also a substantial increase for young men;

· Teenagers are engaging in sexual acts at a younger age and with more people today than they did in previous generations – with many risks, including sexually transmitted infections. There has also been a substantial increase in the number of teenage girls reporting unwanted sex.

Professor Parkinson writes that, while there may be many different explanations for statistics on some issues, “if there is one major demographic change in western societies that can be linked to a large range of adverse consequences for many children and young people, it is the growth in the numbers of children who experience life in a family other than living with their two biological parents, at some point before the age of 15. Family conflict and parental separation have a range of adverse impacts on children and young people.”

The report states that the increase in children experiencing parental separation - numbers have almost doubled within a generation - is mainly due to the rapid rise in the number of children born into de facto relationships which later break down as well as an increase in women giving birth without a partner. Growing numbers of ‘fragile families’ in turn see more children experiencing adverse outcomes.

“Our great need is to provide education programs about family life which will help address the knowledge deficits across the community through lack of healthy modelling in people’s families of origin.”

The major initiative to support couple and parent-child relationships would be community-based and run mostly by trained volunteers – not replacing current programs but substantially increasing their availability. Programs would be targeted at times of transition including when people begin to live together, preparing for marriage, getting ready for childbirth, and when children start primary or high school.

The report makes clear that while governments need to assist in certain ways in repairing the social environment, “local communities must take responsibility, and as individuals, as families and as voters we need to consider what kinds of family life we should aim to foster and support.”

Faith-based communities are among those being encouraged to develop and offer relationship education programs free of charge in the local community.

Project manager for the fledgling ‘Forkidsake’ organisation (a ministry of ACL), Paul O’Rourke, said that although churches have some understanding of the difficulties caused by family breakdown, there is still a long way to go before they grasp the full extent of the problem.

“We see churches as having a great part to play in seeing the unique needs in their communities and trying to meet them, such as by partnering with organisations already doing great things,” he said.

Mr O’Rourke said that ACL commissioned the For Kids’ Sake report to focus on the plight of children after recognising some years ago that many of the issues on which it was campaigning had a direct or indirect impact on children, and that children’s best interests were often coming second to adult desires.

“We wanted to influence public policy with a range of integrated and sound recommendations to create an environment where children could thrive,” he said.

“We’ve got to get away from waiting until it all falls apart and start addressing the causes of the problems rather than just the symptoms.”