Child abuse and neglect in Indigenous communities bibliography

This resource sheet summarises current knowledge on best practice in child protection with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. Drawing upon Australian and international research, it outlines what we know - and what we don't know - in supporting families and responding to child maltreatment. Sections include: background information on the prevalence and risk factors of child abuse; current responses in child protection; the family support approach; cultural safety, culturally competent policies and practices; Indigenous community development approaches; family support programs; family decision-making models; and child-safe communities and situational crime prevention principles.

Children's health and wellbeing in Australia is adversely affected by increasing disadvantage, social exclusion, and vulnerability, with numerous studies confirming the need for an improved societal response to the needs of children and their families. This review highlights the issues facing Australian primary school aged children and their families, and it examines approaches for working with those from diverse backgrounds who have varying health needs. While there are considerable gaps in the literature, findings echo some of the preventative messages from early childhood studies which suggest that neighbourhoods and communities play a crucial role in promoting children's health, wellbeing, and social inclusion through the middle years. Research further suggests that practitioners should engage in a holistic approach to children's health and welfare and offer support across multiple domains of development, giving attention to both cultural and contextual factors. This paper will conclude with some recommendations for future research and a discussion about the implications for practice. (Journal abstract)

This annual report series reviews the performance of federal and state governments in providing a range of services, measured against a set of agreed performance indicators. These indicators assist governments to assess the performance of the services provided in their jurisdiction in order to achieve improvements in the quality and efficiency of service delivery. The report for 2010 covers the following service areas: children's services; school education; vocational education and training; police services; court administration; corrective services; emergency management; public hospitals; primary and community health; health management issues; aged care services; services for people with a disability; protection and support services; and housing. It also includes information on services provided to Indigenous people, as well as a discussion of performance measurement. The services described in this report account for about 73.9% of total government expenditure in 2008/09, or approximately $136.2 billion.

This report provides statistics on child protection services in Australian states and territories for the 2008/2009 period. The 13th report in a series, it contains data on child protection notifications, investigations and substantiations, children on care and protection orders, and children in out-of-home care. Data on child and family characteristics, Indigenous status, and types of abuse is included, as well as comparative trends over time. During 2008/2009, 207,462 children were the subject of one or more child protection notifications, an increase of 6.2%. The number of children in out-of-home care also increased, by 9.3%, to 34,069. Indigenous children face higher rates, and were 9 times as likely to be in out-of-home care as non-Indigenous children.

This report provides updated data on how Australia's children are faring. Based around a framework of key national indicators of child health, development and wellbeing, including the Children's Headline Indicators, the report seeks to answer: How healthy are Australia's children? How well are we promoting healthy child development? What factors can affect children adversely? What kind of families and communities do Australia's children live in? How safe and secure are Australia's children? How well is the system performing in delivering quality health, development and wellbeing actions to Australia's children? The report finds that though most children are faring well, there is room for improvement, in particular for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and children in remote areas, and in the areas of diabetes, obesity, assault, and homelessness. Data are supplied from numerous sources, and are current to 2002-2007, as available, and include mortality, disability, breastfeeding, dental health, physical activity, nutrition, early childhood education, transition to school, literacy and numeracy, social and emotional development, teenage births, birth weight, alcohol and tobacco use during pregnancy, family functioning, family economic situation, parental health, non-parental care, neighbourhood safety, social capital, injuries, bullying, child abuse, violence, crime, homelessness, immunisation and screening, child care, and child protection.

In this submission to the Senate Select Committee on Regional and Remote Indigenous Communities, the Institute focuses on the Committee's third Term of Reference: the health, welfare, education and security of children in regional and remote Indigenous communities. The submission discusses: 1) the evaluation of Indigenous community development projects funded by the Telstra Foundation; 2) issues and 'promising practices' in relation to out-of-home care for Indigenous children and young people; and 3) key themes from national and international literature on child safety and wellbeing in Indigenous communities.

Under the New South Wales Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998, guardians ad litem may be appointed in the Children's Court in special circumstances. In this article, the author argues that this is warranted in all cases involving the care and protection of Indigenous children. The author discusses the need for participation of Indigenous people in court decision-making, and to represent the best interests of Indigenous children.

This series provides an annual snapshot of the status of children and young people in Queensland. It is designed to inform social policy planning and to support improvements to the safety and wellbeing of young Queenslanders. The 2009 report updates and expands on information provided in previous reports, and draws together population data and statistics on issues including family size, homelessness, divorce, premature births, breastfeeding, health, child abuse, mortality, suicide, traffic accidents, nutrition, physical activity, bullying, internet access and cyberbullying, sexual behaviour and health, drug use and smoking, employment, child protection, out of home care placements, cumulative harm, early childhood education, child care, school participation and retention, year 12 completion, student behaviour, vocational education, young offenders, victims of crime, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander wellbeing. The report also includes information on recent policy reforms and data issues.

This report presents data on young people's contact with the criminal justice system in the different states and territories of Australia, excepting Tasmania. It includes data on children as victims of crime, as alleged offenders in contact with the police, and as young offenders in the justice system. It compares data by age, gender, Indigenous status, and offence type. Data is also included on sentencing outcomes and supervision orders, incidence of child abuse, deaths in custody, and deaths in motor vehicle pursuits. The collection, limitations, and gaps of data in Australia are also discussed.

This article describes the first postgraduate university level family therapy training in Australia for Aboriginal Child and Family Workers (CFWs) working in regional Aboriginal Controlled Community Organisations (ACCOs). The paper contains excerpts of interviews with the newly graduated students about their experiences of training, learning and changing their work practices.

This article is in three parts. The first discusses the positive points of the new national framework for child protection. The second part briefly looks at how the framework for the strategy was developed. Finally, the third part lists SNAICC's five principles in relation to the national framework: support self determination, negotiate principles, create national outcomes measures, leverage significant new federal investment and transform mainstream service providers.

This article looks at the Victorian Government's ten year plan - Strong Culture, Strong Peoples, Strong Families: Towards a Safer Future for Indigenous Families and Communities and questions if it will break the silence of acceptance that exists around the issues of family violence, sexual assault, elder abuse, child abuse and neglect. After discussing the background to the plan, it looks at the Indigenous Family Violence Regional Action Groups and what their work entails. The paper then goes through the strategic objectives of the plan and specific actions that have been funded. It looks at the Victorian Integrated Family Violence Reform Strategy, the Family Violence Protection Act 2008 (Vic) and the Victorian Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 (Vic.) It concludes by pointing out areas for improvement and future plans and criticisms of the Government.

This study profiled neglected and abused children in the Australian foster care system and compared them to non-neglected children taken into foster care, in order to clarify the relationship between maltreatment type and emotional and behavioural disorder over time in care. It also looked at the connection between type of maltreatment and patterns of family reunification and parental visiting and whether these outcomes differ for neglected and non-neglected children. 235 children were examined. Their social workers responded to questionnaires at point of intake and these measures were repeated, for those still in care, one year then two years later. Poorer parental contact and reunification results for neglected children, seem to point to the fact that neglected children in care tend to come from more dysfunctional families. There was little difference between the two groups in their psychosocial progress. The study also identified potentially important differences between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children. The article concludes with a discussion of implications for practice, such as parental intervention programs needing to focus on chronic factors rather than transient parental factors.

This chapter reflects on the lessons that should be learned from the government's 'new arrangements' in Indigenous affairs. Australian governments must fully engage with Indigenous communities or the same mistakes will continue to be made with the same outcomes. The issues being tackled in the Northern Territory raise questions of human rights. A human rights based approach to development will provide a framework to meet challenges and to settle Australia's unfinished business. The chapter then discusses the right of children to live free from violence and how intervention is required, and rhetoric versus reality in the 'new arrangements' in Indigenous affairs. It examines the lessons learned in the Murdi Paaki Regional Assembly and shared responsibility arrangements. Addressing family violence and child abuse and community ownership of problems and solutions are also discussed. It finally looks at Australia's challenge to tackle Indigenous child abuse and overcoming Indigenous inequality.

This chapter discusses the Northern Territory intervention and Prime Minister Howard's handling of the problem. Prime Minister Howard's twin motivations regarding changes to land tenure and permit systems, and the very real levels of violence and neglect to which children are subjected are considered. It then covers three points: many people in Aboriginal communities welcome increased discipline and surveillance - particularly women; the communities in the Northern Territory only superficially resemble those which existed in the heyday of assimilation policy - they are larger and younger; and there are institutional matters to take into account - the web of Indigenous organisations covering Australia and the encompassing systems of data collection which highlight social indicators and Indigenous disadvantage relative to government budgeting and political lobbying.

This chapter looks at the Northern Territory intervention and how the Australian government has known about the problems for years, but not done anything about it. The author discusses the Masters degree in Indigenous Studies (Well being) and discussions the students have been involved with regarding community-based responses to issues such as disclosure of child sexual assault and sexual abuse. The chapter then describes what the author's students would do in the short term and the short to medium term if they were the Prime Minister of Australia. It then looks at Canberra and the whole-of-government approach to child sexual assault and discusses the rights of the child. The author concludes by saying what actions she would be taking if she were Prime Minister.

This chapter discusses the Little Children are Sacred report. It looks at some of the recommendations aimed at Northern Territory institutions in particular. It lists substantiated child protection notifications for Indigenous children state by state. The author then looks at the Australian Government's response to the report and the measures it imposed relating to health, specifically looking at alcohol and child health checks. It concludes that none of the crisis measures look like they will be effective, requiring longer-term strategy to support service development.

The author discusses the Little Children are Sacred report and the government's response to the report. He examines what the report says and is of the opinion that some form of intervention was warranted. The chapter looks at the issues of norms and values and the two contested concepts of autonomy and paternalism. It raises two issues in conclusion. The first is alcohol and its effects on pregnancies, the second is the practice of subincision in adolescents and young men and its consideration as abuse. It concludes that Indigenous leadership is a critical factor in resolving these issues.

This chapter is a response by one of the authors of the Little Children are Sacred report to the government's reaction to that report. It discusses the origins, methodology, findings and recommendations of the report. Areas recommended for action by the report included: education; alcohol; Family and Community Services (FACS) and the police; Family Support Services; empowerment of Aboriginal communities; and appointing a commissioner for children and young people. The author concludes that the government response to the report has missed the central point of the recommendations and he hopes that the intervention will be modified in the future.

This chapter discusses the fears of some in the Indigenous community that the Northern Territory intervention will result in another round of stolen generation children. What will happen to those children who have been abused? Will they be taken away from their communities? To answer these questions the author revisits the Bringing Them Home report. He concludes that there is a need for huge investment in infrastructure and opportunities in Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory. Interventions need to be resourced long term and there needs to be community consultation.

This chapter looks at the Northern Territory intervention strategy in response to the problem of child sexual abuse. It discusses the lack of consultation with Indigenous community leaders prior to the intervention, and practical concerns raised about the interventions. It also covers the problems of underfunding of Indigenous health services and housing needs - an issue raised in the Little Children are Sacred report, but overlooked in the intervention. The issue of Aboriginal land rights is looked at in relation to the strategies of the intervention. It concludes by discussing why the intervention is an example of the vulnerability of Aboriginal people in a legal framework providing no basic human rights protection.

This report provides comprehensive information on state and territory child protection and support services. The report contains data for 2007-08, as well as trend data on child protection notifications, investigations and substantiations, children on care and protection orders and children in out-of-home care. Detailed information on the characteristics of children in the child protection system is presented, specifically data on their age, sex and Indigenous status. In addition, for child protection substantiations, data on the family type and the source of notification are included. For children on care and protection orders there are data on types of orders and living arrangements, and for children in out-of-home care there are data on types of placements and length of time in out-of-home care. (Author abstract)

The article looks at statements and actions one year after the Apology to the Stolen Generations. It discusses the Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER) and the measures it employed. The discussion is organised under headings of responsibility, the apology and response. The article concludes that there is a responsibility to look forward and recognise how we should respond ethically and intelligently to past injustices.

The National Framework for Protecting Australia's Children is an integrated, national plan for addressing child abuse in Australia. It consists of high-level outcomes and strategies aimed at achieving a substantial and sustained reduction in child abuse and neglect over time. This document outlines the principles, supporting outcomes, measures and indicators of change, targets, and planned implementation of the Framework, which were endorsed by all state and territory governments, as well as the federal government, on 30th April 2009. The six supporting outcomes are Children live in safe and supportive families and communities; Children and families access adequate support to promote safety and intervene early; Risk factors for child abuse and neglect are addressed; Children who have been abused or neglected receive the support and care they need for their safety and wellbeing; Indigenous children are supported and safe in their families and communities; Child sexual abuse and exploitation is prevented and survivors receive adequate support. The document also notes current initiatives and reforms in each of the Australian jurisdictions.

This resource sheet presents a background to foster care in Australia, followed by a discussion of how many children live in out of home care in Australia, what percentage of those children live in foster care and how many Indigenous children live in out of home care. The document also looks at the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle, what types of placements Indigenous children live in, how foster carers are reimbursed, what foster care costs, and some of the key issues and challenges currently facing foster care in Australia.

In 2007-08, though Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children represent 4.4% of all Australian children, they constitute 23% of all confirmed reports of abuse or neglect. This resource sheet presents a brief discussion of the data on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander involvement in child protection and out of home care. It includes comparisons on the most common types of abuse and neglect, child sexual abuse in Indigenous communities, and out-of-home care rates and the preferred order of placement principle. The resource sheet concludes with a discssuion on why Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children might be more likely to be abused or neglected.

This article comments on the paper 'After the apology': why so many First Nations children still in foster care?' by Cindy Blackstock, published in this journal issue, which examined the outcomes arising from the chronic over-representation of First Nations children and young people in child welfare care, with a focus on the Canadian literature. This current commentary discusses the similarities to the welfare of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.

Although the undesirable child outcomes arising from the chronic over-representation of First Nations children and young people in child welfare care have been broadly acknowledged in Canada, research on this critical issue is just emerging. This paper summarizes the North American literature on ethnic over-representation and structural risks to inform future research directions in First Nations child welfare. Comparisons to the situation of Aboriginal children in Australia are also discussed. (Journal abstract)

The Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and Other Legislation Amendment (Emergency Response Consolidation) Bill 2008 was introduced into the House of Representatives on 21 February 2008. It introduces amendments to the special measures protecting Aboriginal children in the Northern Territory enacted in 2007. The Bill was referred by the Senate on 19 March 2008 to the Community Affairs Committee for inquiry and report by 7 May 2008. This document is the report of that inquiry. It addresses issues relating to the restriction of access to R18+ television programs and the distribution of pornographic materials in Aboriginal communities, access to Aboriginal lands, operations of community stores, and compliance with the Racial Discrimination Act.

This report presents the findings and recommendations of the Children on APY Lands Commission of Inquiry, which investigated allegations of sexual abuse of Aboriginal children in Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in north-western South Australia. These allegations had arisen during the course of the Children in State Care Commission of Inquiry. The APY Lands inquiry found widespread child sexual abuse, with underlying social and economic problems. This report discusses the nature and extent of the abuse; evidence, allegations and disclosure; governance in the APY Lands; child protection and administration of justice; well being and sense of powerlessness; and social and economic conditions. The report also presents 46 recommendations for policies, services, and programs to prevent and address child sexual abuse, and its causes and consequences.