Analysis of Child Protection Policies and Laws in Australia

This essay provides an in-depth analysis of child protection policies in Australia. It begins by defining child protection and highlighting the historical context of child protection in Australia, emphasizing the government's role in safeguarding children from abuse and neglect. The essay explores the prevalence and nature of violence and abuse against children, including the societal, economic, and cultural factors contributing to the issue. It then outlines the significant consequences of child abuse, encompassing personal, intrapersonal, and likelihood impacts. The core of the essay focuses on the legal framework, detailing child protection laws and legislations across different Australian states and territories. Furthermore, it examines the policy support plan of "Plan International Australia," outlining its vision, policy statement, and purpose in preventing violence against children. The essay concludes by summarizing the key aspects of child protection in Australia, underscoring the importance of legal frameworks and support systems in protecting children and ensuring their well-being.

Running Head: SOCIAL POLICY OF CHILD PROTECTION
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SOCIAL POLICY OF CHILD PROTECTION IN AUSTRALIA
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5/7/2019

SOCIAL POLICY OF CHILD PROTECTION 1
Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
History child protection in Australia......................................................................................2
Violence and abuse toward the children................................................................................3
The consequences of child abuse...........................................................................................3
Child protection laws and legislations in Australia................................................................4
Policy support plan of “Plan International Australia”............................................................5
Vision of the policy:...........................................................................................................5
Policy statement:................................................................................................................5
Purpose:..............................................................................................................................6
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................6
References..................................................................................................................................7

SOCIAL POLICY OF CHILD PROTECTION 2
Introduction
This essay is a study of child protection policies of Australia, child protection policies
are those in which the children are protected from any kind of abuse, exploitation and etc.
Child abuse is common issue in a lot of a country. This essay shows the consequences of
child abuse, legislation and acts for the child abuse and policy for the child abuse. Apart from
this, this essay has discussed about the Policy support plan of “Plan International Australia”
of Australia which works towards the protection of children and it helps the children to live a
free live. They protect the right of children and support the families.
History child protection in Australia
In Australia, the government is the one who is responsible for the child protection.
Every child protection department assists the children who have been either exposed to child
abuse or have less protection.
These children are those who are under the age of 18. These people include unborn
children as well (Thomas & Zimmer-Gembeck, 2012). There are a lot of government and
non- government organizations that have a duty towards the protection of young people and
children under the law of child legislation and protection. The responsible departments for the
child process investigate and oversee the management of the cases of child protection. The
children and families are assisted by providing a lot of services.
In 2016-17 there was an increase in the national recurrent expenditure of child
protection and the home care services of around 4.3 billion, an increase of around $ 327.3
million ( 8%) from the year 2015-16 (Humphreys & Absler, 2011).

SOCIAL POLICY OF CHILD PROTECTION 3
Violence and abuse toward the children
Violence against the children is one of the main and global issues that are affecting
both girls and boys in today’s world. This issue has been there in the world since the
beginning and is in the people until now. This is rooted in the cultural, economic and social
practice. Children are forced in prostitution and child labour. Children are exploited in many
countries (Walsh et al, 2013).
Child abuse most of the time occurs in families and society and apart from this the
children also suffer from abuse in organizations which gives them services and support. The
main reason behind child abuse is bad work practices, poor conditions and bad management
in organizations (Wovan Bijleveld, Dedding, & Bunders
‐Aelen, 2015). The child sex
offenders target the organizations that work with children and they usually look or target
those organizations where there is less supervision and where the abuse can go unseen
(Australian Institute of Health, 2012). They also target the places or countries which have less
child protection laws and where there are families and children easier to exploit.
The consequences of child abuse
The following data has been collected from the abused child trust of Queensland,
Australia which is a program for the abused children and their families. The long term impact
of child abuse is something that cannot be neglected and also cannot be predicted. A lot of
factors need to be studied to know what leads to abuse of children. Child abuse can have the
following consequences.
Personal Intrapersonal Likelihood
 Poor self-
development
 Low self esteem
 Less verbal skills
 No self-development
 No coping skills
 Low maturity socially
 Inability in forming
relationships
 Poor health
 Abusing own children
 Youth suicide
 Homelessness and
depression
 Adult crime and

SOCIAL POLICY OF CHILD PROTECTION 4
violence
Child protection laws and legislations in Australia
Child protection is an act that is related to public law in which the families or the
authorities might interfere due to allegation or harm to a child In Australia the person
responsible for the operations and administration of child protection service is the
government (Parkinson, 2018). The legislative acts are made in each and every state and
territory. The table below shows some of the acts and legislations that Australia has for the
child protection (Fraser, Mathews, Walsh, Chen & Dunne, 2010).
Jurisdiction Principle act Other acts
Australian capital territory Children and Young People
Act 2008 (ACT)
Adoption Act 1993 (ACT)
Children and Young
People Act (ACT
Childcare Services)
Standards 2009 (No. 1)
New south wales Children and Young Persons
(Care and Protection) Act
1998 (NSW)
Child Protection
(Offenders Registration)
Act 2000 (NSW)
Child Protection
(Working with Children)
Act 2012 (NSW)
Northern territory Care and Protection of
Children Act 2007 (NT)
Children’s Commissioner
Act 2013 (NT)
Disability Services Act
2004 (NT)
Domestic and Family
Violence Act 2007 (NT)
Queensland Child Protection Act
1999 (Qld)
Child Protection Reform
Amendment Act
2017 (Qld)
Child Protection Reform
Amendment Act
2014 (Qld)
South Australia Children's Protection Act
1993 (SA)
Children and Young
People (Safety) Bill 2017
(SA)

SOCIAL POLICY OF CHILD PROTECTION 5
Children’s Protection
(Miscellaneous)
Amendment Act
2005 (SA)
Tasmania Children, Young Persons and
their Families Act 1997 (Tas.)
Education Act 1994 (Tas.)
Family Violence Act
2004 (Tas.)
Western Australia Children and Community
Services Act 2004 (WA)
Children and Community
Services Act 2004 (WA)
Commissioner for
Children and Young
People Act 2006 (WA
Policy support plan of “Plan International Australia”
This is Policy started by the Australia which works towards saving the and protecting
young girls, boys, women and men from the harm and abuse. This policy is developed in
order to guide and prevent violence against young people and children of Australia (Munro,
2010).
Vision of the policy:
The vision of the policy is create an environment which is safe for the children both
externally and internally, where the children re respected, empowered, protected and is also
active in their own protection. The vision of the policy is also to hire a skilled staff in order to
take care of child protection policies.
Policy statement:
The plan international policy Australia focuses towards the child and young people,
they need to focus towards the free life which free from any kind of abuse and violence. This
policy focuses on a safe environment and full exercise of rights

SOCIAL POLICY OF CHILD PROTECTION 6
The United Nations conventions on the rights of child 1989 have given a foundation
for the plan international Australia’s work both internationally and locally (Gillingham &
Humphreys, 2009). The aim of the participants of the policies is to protect the children from
violence like the physical and mental violence, abuse, injury, sexual abuse and exploitation.
The plan international Australia policy takes care that all the necessary steps and
actions are taken for the rights of children and to safeguard the children in Australia from the
harm or abuse.
The policy takes its responsibility to support and promote child safe practices and
child protection services from any kind of harm, abuse and exploitation.
Purpose:
The purpose of the policy is to make a plan and stay committed to it in order to
protect the children from any kind of abuse and harm. This policy focus on the
implementation and guidance in order to prevent and stop child abuse (Gilbert et al, 2009). It
focuses and aims to create and make people aware about safety and wellbeing for the children
and to protect the rights of all.
Conclusion
This essay is a study of child protection policy of Australia; it is a brief study of what
child abuse is and what the consequences of child abuse are. A lot of acts and legislations are
used in this essay in order prevent child abuse and child exploitation in the country and
organization, as this is a major issue in a lot of countries. Apart from this, this essay has
discussed about the Policy support plan of “Plan International Australia” of Australia which
works towards the protection of children and it helps the children to live a free live. They
protect the right of children and support the families.

SOCIAL POLICY OF CHILD PROTECTION 7

SOCIAL POLICY OF CHILD PROTECTION 8
References
Australian Institute of Health. (2012). Child protection Australia 2010-11 (No. 53). AIHW.
Fraser, J. A., Mathews, B., Walsh, K., Chen, L., & Dunne, M. (2010). Factors influencing
child abuse and neglect recognition and reporting by nurses: A multivariate
analysis. International journal of nursing studies, 47(2), 146-153.
Gilbert, R., Kemp, A., Thoburn, J., Sidebotham, P., Radford, L., Glaser, D., & MacMillan, H.
L. (2009). Recognising and responding to child maltreatment. The lancet, 373(9658),
167-180.
Gillingham, P., & Humphreys, C. (2009). Child protection practitioners and decision-making
tools: Observations and reflections from the front line. British Journal of Social
Work, 40(8), 2598-2616.
Humphreys, C., & Absler, D. (2011). History repeating: Child protection responses to
domestic violence. Child & Family Social Work, 16(4), 464-473.
Munro, E. (2010). Learning to reduce risk in child protection. British Journal of Social
Parkinson, P. (2018). Child protection law in Australia. In Overcoming Child Abuse (pp. 15-
38). Routledge.
Thomas, R. and Zimmer-Gembeck, M.J., 2012. Parent–Child Interaction Therapy: An
evidence-based treatment for child maltreatment. Child maltreatment, 17(3), pp.253-
266.

SOCIAL POLICY OF CHILD PROTECTION 9
Walsh, K., Berthelsen, D., Nicholson, J. M., Brandon, L., Stevens, J., & Rachele, J. N.
(2013). Child sexual abuse prevention education: A review of school policy and
curriculum provision in Australia. Oxford Review of Education, 39(5), 649-680.
Wovan Bijleveld, G. G., Dedding, C. W., & Bunders
‐Aelen, J. F. (2015). Children's and
young people's participation within child welfare and child protection services: a
state
‐of
‐the
‐art review. Child & Family Social Work, 20(2), 129-138rk, 40(4), 1135-
1151.