Source: Sydney Morning Herald

MOST maltreated children do not go on to become criminals but childhood abuse or neglect increases the chances a person will offend - and some forms of maltreatment are more likely to create criminals than others.

Landmark research into juvenile crime by Griffith University researchers analysed all child protection and crime data collected in Queensland for children born in 1983, 1984 and 1990.

They found that more than one in four maltreated children went on to offend, compared with one in six children who had not had contact with the child protection system. The rate was double for indigenous males - more than 50 per cent of those abused or neglected went on to commit crimes.

Read more at http://is.gd/3eNCm.

This report takes a systems-based approach to child protection, by examining the factors that facilitate a shift across organisational and child protection systems towards the prevention of child abuse and neglect. One of the essential components of such a radical shift is collaboration across professions, sectors and levels of government to deliver the best outcomes for children. The report considers best practice examples from Britain, the United States and Australia (Victoria). It identifies four key elements required to move the system to a more preventive focus: articulation of a shared vision; building a supportive culture; integrated governance arrangements; legislative support.

Read the full report at http://is.gd/x7aK.

Source: Australian Policy Online.

Prue Holzer, National Child Protection Clearinghouse

This Fact Sheet was prepared to coincide with National Child Protection Week, 7-13 September 2008. It presents an overview of child protection in Australia, including how child abuse and neglect is defined, its prevalence, the costs of child maltreatment, and prevention and early intervention strategies. Read the full text of Child protection in Australia. "Children see. Children do. Make your influence positive" at  http://www.aifs.gov.au/nch/pubs/sheets/fs1/fs1.html.

By Rob Moodie
First Posted Wednesday, 9 July 2008 at On Line Opinion

"Child abuse and neglect is not just a family problem and something to be solved by social workers, police and the courts. It is a whole-of-nation problem. Although we do not have a national study to show its prevalence, we know reported cases are on the rise and that our "treatment systems" are straining to cope."

By Lillian De Bortoli and Philip Mendes.
First Posted Monday, 3 March 2008 at On Line Opinion .

Recent media reports suggest an increasing number of children of illicit drug users are being exposed to severe child abuse and neglect. Six-year-old Rose Austin died in Sydney after she was given methadone instead of cough mixture. In Victoria, five-year-old Cody was beaten to death by his drug-abusing stepfather. Elizjah Lynden-Baker was born to a drug-addicted mother in Adelaide; she was born head first onto a footpath behind a tree. Four weeks later, the baby was found dead lying face down in a soft pillow.

By Sharon Bessell and Tali Gal / Crawford School of Economics and Government 

The care and protection of children experiencing or considered to be at risk of abuse or neglect within their families is a major policy dilemma. Children in the care and protection system do not fare well on a range of indicators, when compared to the overall population.

The Australian National Council on Drugs recently released a report entitled "Drug use in the family: impacts and implications for children".  According to the ANCD's media release, one of the major findings of this report is that families with a parent that has substance abuse problems are also families that face other challenges such as mental illness, poverty, abuse & neglect for instance.

The report can be downloaded from http://www.ancd.org.au/publications/pdf/rp13_drug_use_in_family.pdf.