Indigenous children still plagued by abuse

20 Jan 2012, 6:08 pm   -   Source: AAP
0 Comments
Share This
+ Comment
0
As well as a higher rate of substantiated abuse, indigenous children were also more likely to be placed on care and protection orders, indicating abuse that was more severe. (AAP)

As well as a higher rate of substantiated abuse, indigenous children were also more likely to be placed on care and protection orders, indicating abuse that was more severe. (AAP)

Indigenous children continue to experience far higher levels of abuse and neglect than other children, new figures show.

RELATED

The rate of child abuse and neglect remains steady across Australia but is a far greater problem in indigenous communities.

New figures from Australian Institute of Health and Welfare show the number of substantiated cases of child abuse or neglect steady in 2010/11, at 6.1 per 1000 children.

But among indigenous Australians the rate was far higher at 34.6 children per 1000, although this was a small drop from the prior year.

As well as a higher rate of substantiated abuse, indigenous children were also more likely to be placed on care and protection orders, indicating abuse that was more severe.

Among indigenous children, 51.4 per 1000 were on care and protection orders, compared with only 5.4 per 1000 for non-indigenous children.

Care and protection orders are one of the last resorts for authorities, which give them some responsibility for a child's welfare.

Indigenous children were also about 10 times more likely to be in out-of-home care.

The legacy of the stolen generation, poverty and perceptions arising from cultural differences in child-rearing were underlying causes of the indigenous over-representation, the report said.

Families Australia chief executive Brian Babington said the report showed just how far Australia had to go in tackling abuse and neglect of children.

He added that the continued over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children was alarming.

Cathy Kezelman of Adults Surviving Child Abuse said the report showed that despite best efforts child abuse and neglect continued unabated.

"Numerous international research has shown the damaging effects of the often multiple unresolved trauma of childhood on the brain," Dr Kezelman said in a statement.

The report showed girls were the victims of 52 per cent of confirmed cases of abuse or neglect.

Despite much publicity in recent years concerning high levels of sexual abuse in indigenous communities, the institute's spokesman Tim Beard said this was not borne out by the statistics.

He said there were very similar rates of sexual abuse among indigenous and non-indigenous children, with a slightly higher rate among the non-indigenous.

The report found the overall number of children reported as being abused or neglected has fallen 13 per cent compared with the prior year.

Mr Beard cautioned much of the drop could be attributed to a change in the definition of abuse in NSW to bring it more closely in line with other jurisdictions.

  • Follow us: 
  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on Youtube

Join the Discussion

Name
City / Suburb E.g. Artarmon, Sydney
Title
Comment
You have characters remaining.
Validation
What's this?
This is a captcha-picture. It is used to prevent mass-access by robots.
All submitted comments become the property of SBS. They are moderated, so we reserve the right to edit comments and remove HTML tags. Not all submitted comments will be published. Publication does not mean we endorse the opinions expressed. Please read our terms and conditions for more information.