ACT care and protection report paints worrying picture for our children
The release of the review of the ACT care and protection system paints a concerning picture of the treatment of those who most need our help.
The report, released to the Sunday Canberra Times under Freedom of Information laws, showed more than 80 per cent of children in the review had been subject to family violence for years with minimal change or intervention.
About 70 per cent of the same cohort were found to have suffered serious neglect that persisted over several years.
The ACT government says the children involved in the analysis represented the most complex cases of the work that child protection does in the territory.
Notwithstanding this it demonstrates a concerning lack of protection for children engaging with the system that is likely to be widespread given the neglect and abuse common to those in care in the territory.
ACT executive director for children, youth and families Mark Collis said the three main drivers for child protection were family violence, drug and alcohol use, and mental illness.
He said nearly all of the 3000 to 3500 people involved in the system were there because of one or "most likely" two of these factors.
It is worrying that until recently the government was not considering the effect of cumulative harm; the report deemed this "an evident or emerging concern" in the majority of cases.
This could be a factor in why children are left with their families in violent or neglectful situations for years, if there was never a single high threshold event that would necessitate their immediate removal.
Hopefully now tracking these markers will lead to swifter responses to remove children where it is warranted given the long-term damage such behaviour can have.
It must be noted that the decision to remove a child from a family is not a simple one and it needs to be balanced against the harm that separation from a parent or caregiver would do.
But children need to be raised in an environment where they feel safe and if they don't then action does need to be taken.
New calls to ban parents smacking their children adds another dimension to the discussion with advocates claiming clear legislation is needed to stop this form of violence in the home.
The ACT Human Rights Commission claims it is an area of of domestic and family violence that had not been adequately addressed. The commission believes smacked children are at higher risk of more extreme physical abuse.
Anything that can be done that can help keep our children safe is worth investigating.