Child Protection Practices in Australia: Statutory Process Analysis

This essay provides a comprehensive overview of child protection practices in Australia, focusing on the statutory child protection process, which includes data collection, analysis, action, and evaluation. It explores the legal framework, including the Child Protection Act of 1999 and other relevant legislation, and examines the roles of various agencies and professionals involved in protecting children. The essay highlights key issues such as child abuse, neglect, and family violence, and discusses the government's initiatives and policies aimed at safeguarding children's well-being. It also analyzes the Best Interest Case practice model and the importance of reviewing outcomes to ensure the effectiveness of child protection measures. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of early intervention, community involvement, and the constant evaluation of laws and procedures to create a safe environment for children in Australia.

Running head: CHILD PROTECTION PRACTICES IN AUSTRALIA
Child Protection Practices in Australia
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Introduction
The Child Protection practices and procedures are common in the Australian nation
because of the various reasons regarding the victimization of the children who live there. Thus
there have been several jurisdictions and laws that are levied by the Australian Constitution.
They are expected to address the problems of child welfare and protect them through various
means and practices (Lonne, et.al., 2015). The Constitution of Australia has allocated legislative
power and responsibilities to six of the states and two territories of the nation. They are supposed
to be investigating and responding to the issues that the children face, and to issue the child
protection policies. There have been a lot of initiatives on the part of the Australian Government
and the most important statement that the Constitution proposes is that “Child Protection is
everybody’s business” (Pecora, et.al, 2018). The following essay deals with the statutory child
protection process in Australia which consists of five phases. The essay makes use of the Best
Interest Case practice model, in order to analyze the child protection practices through the four
different interconnected stages of professional practice. The essay also lets the readers know that
the Australian Government and the legislation first gathers the information about the child ill-
treatment and then analyses it through studies and plans out the best solution. The third step
involves taking the action following by its evaluation and implementation.
Discussion
The first step in the child protection practice is the gathering of information. The most
important stage is the collection of information or the data collection. According to Mathews

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(2014), there had been almost 55 thousand reports that revealed instances of the cases of child
abuse and negligence. The most common problems of child protection had been the maltreatment
and the psychical abuse. However, the national data that had been collected also showed that
they were the victim of sexual abuse. The collection of the data regarding the child protection is
possible with the Section 159MA of the Child Protection Act of 1999 (Pecora, et.al., 2018).
According to this section of the Australian Constitution, there are several agencies and
institutions who can share different information regarding the child abuse and their mal
treatment. As per the discussion of Price-Robertson, Bromfield & Lamont (2014), the
information can also be received through various other means such as telephones or emails, or
even the intake officer can take an active part in it. His role is to contact the various notifier and
to confirm whether the contextual information that they receive is authentic or not. It is
mandatory under the Child Protection Act of 1999, that certain professionals such as teachers, or
doctors should make a report to Child Safety and if their care givers are not in a state to protect
them. Thus according to Bromfield, Arney & Higgins (2014), until and unless there is authentic
information regarding the child protection issues, there cannot be any sort of planning regarding
the same and the Government cannot take proper actions against their protection and safety.
The second stage in the process involves analysis of the child protection issues and then
planning solutions for the same. The increased concerns of the child abuse and their
maltreatment are most common in the families who remain separated. As per the discussions of
Sanders, Higgins & Prinz (2018), these kinds of concerns are generally taken up by the state and
the territories since they have been authorized by the Australian government to take care of the
children. It has been analyzed that the children who are devoid of the care and belong to separate
families are the victims of the child neglect. Moreover, according to the Australian reports the

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most important contributor to the child abuse are the family violence (Fernandez, 2014). These
are the reasons for which the Australian government has to have legal rights and child protection
policies and procedures. The family violence has thus been included in the jurisdiction of three
different Australian territories which include the North South Wales, Tasmania and Northern
Territory. Also according to the reports of the Evaluation of the Family Law Reforms, The
Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) it has been found out that the children who should
be protected and who remain abused have a strong history of being physically hurt in the
childhood or have been a victim of some kind of emotional trauma (van Bijleveld, Dedding
&Bunders-Aelen, 2015).. This is where the Child Protection law and the procedures intervene
and bring changes in the family settings because family is the prime institution that has a
significant risk upon the children. (Funston & Herring, 2016). The Child Protection Policy of
2017 in Australia has been implemented by the jurisdiction where the policy is applicable for all
the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade funded partners. They receive the various kinds of
funding from the contractors and organizations and works in the effect of protecting the children
from any sort of physical exploitation and abuse.
The third stage is the most important stage which includes taking actions regarding the
child protection issues. As per the discussion of Swain (2014), the issues of child abuse and ill-
treatment make it mandatory for the Australian Government and the Government of Queensland
to take actions and pass on legislations that would help to minimize the problems and protect the
children. Under the jurisdiction of Australian Capital Territory, one of the legislations or acts that
have been passed is the Children and Young People Act of 2008. According to Broadley (2014),
this act ensures that there should be a statutory framework that would work for the safety of
every child and young people. It works for their well being and ensures the most effective and

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high quality care services to them. In accordance with this, there is another law which has been
passed by the Western Australian jurisdiction and it is the Children and Community Services Act
of 2004 (Adams & Lee-Jones, 2017). This legislation also aims at the promotion of the well
being of not only the children but also their families and the communities. It effectively
acknowledges the role of every family and specially the parents and the caregivers towards their
children. One of the other actions and the most important one, taken by the South Australian
Government include the Children’s Protection Act. It had been passed by the jurisdiction in the
year 1993. According to this action plan, there are different agencies in each of the States who
are expected to report information of the child criminal abuse. This is then further solved and the
children are protected by the care givers (Adams & Lee-Jones, 2017).
The fourth and the final step include reviewing the outcomes of the process and the
action plan that had been undertaken to reduce the child issues. The role of a child protection
practitioner is to perform the functions of the statutory child protection procedures. He should be
investigating all the legal actions taken by the government and must determine that t here is
proper intervention of the laws and policies in eradication of the issues. The quality of the Child
Protection Practice Frameworks are very effectively accessed by the Australian Centre for Child
Protection (ACCP). There is an expert panel which determines and reviews the outcomes of the
practices and the procedures or legislations that are passed by the various jurisdictions. They
review whether the laws which are passed keeping in mind the welfare of the children, their
families and the communities are practiced effectively or if they require any sort of amendments.
They also suggest whether the frameworks require practice guidance or whether the content of
the legislative practices require any kind of improvement. It has also been discussed that this is
very much needed because there needs to be a constant monitoring from the Australian

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government regarding the effectiveness of the action plans. There needs to be a nationwide
evaluation whether the laws are effective in changing the family scenario and whether the
children are receiving the security, protection and the high quality care.
Conclusion:
Thus from the above discussion it can be concluded that the issues of child protection
have been very recurrent in Australia and the Australian Government has thus taken up several
child protection practices and procedures so that they can effectively reduce the growing issues.
The Government has efficiently understood that there needs to be an early intervention into the
community and child protection issues and they should have proper information regarding the
same. After proper analysis of the same and finding out reasons, the jurisdictions have taken
actions and planned for the wellbeing of the children. They have worked for them and there have
been legislation and laws which identify the best possibilities for the children providing them
with the utmost care and high quality services. They also take into consideration the participation
of the communities, the families as well as their children with strict consultation, so that they can
work effectively for their betterment. There have been several legislations such as the Children
and Young People Act of 2008 and Children and Community Services Act of 2004, which have
been introduced by the Government only after proper evaluation of the same. Thu sit is very
important that there is total eradication of the issues of child abuse and child ill-treatment. The
Australian Government thus works hard to resolves such issues so that the families and the
children smile their hearts out in the land of Australia.

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Reference List:
Adams, C., & Lee‐Jones, K. (2017). Sharing personal information in the child protection context:
Impediments in the Australian legal framework. Child & Family Social Work, 22(4),
1349-1356.
Broadley, K. (2014). Equipping child protection practitioners to intervene to protect children
from cumulative harm: Legislation and policy in Victoria, Australia. Australian Journal
of Social Issues, 49(3), 265-284.
Bromfield, L., Arney, F., & Higgins, D. (2014). Contemporary issues in child protection intake,
referral and family support.
Fernandez, E. (2014). Child protection and vulnerable families: Trends and issues in the
Australian context. Social Sciences, 3(4), 785-808.
Funston, L., & Herring, S. (2016). When will the stolen generations end?: A qualitative critical
exploration of contemporary'child protection'practices in Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander communities. Sexual Abuse in Australia and New Zealand, 7(1), 51.
Lonne, B., Harries, M., Featherstone, B., & Gray, M. (2015). Working ethically in child
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Pecora, P. J., Whittaker, J. K., Barth, R. P., Borja, S., & Vesneski, W. (2018). The child welfare
challenge: Policy, practice, and research. Routledge.

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Price-Robertson, R., Bromfield, L., & Lamont, A. (2014). International approaches to child
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Sanders, M., Higgins, D., & Prinz, R. (2018). A population approach to the prevention of child
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Swain, S. (2014). History of child protection legislation.
van Bijleveld, G. G., Dedding, C. W., & Bunders‐Aelen, J. F. (2015). Children's and young
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