We have decades of evidence showing the widespread abuse and neglect suffered by children in the out-of-home care system. The agencies responsible for allowing the abuse have little to fear.
Alwin Chong, University of South Australia and Fiona Arney, University of South Australia
New reports show a widespread lack of care for the cultural needs of many of the 19,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in child protection and out-of-home care.
The once-taboo topics of domestic violence and institutional abuse are now front-page news, but repeated reports of incest have not registered in public awareness as evidence of a serious problem.
Victorian child protection law reforms due to come into effect next month will give parents two years from when their children are removed to lift their game, before permanently losing custody.
The silencing of children has as long a history as child abuse itself. It is why we need royal commissions, books, and now a play: to allow children to tell us the truth of what was done to them.
Hundreds of people have been referred to a programme that is supposed to protect them from being drawn into terrorism. But its methods are deeply questionable.
Our new research shows the culture of sexualisation not only affects how young girls see themselves, but also how they are treated and viewed by adults.
Divorce rates are on the decline in Australia, people are marrying and having children later in life, and more of us live alone. Our experts respond to the new report on Australia’s welfare.
A Family Court “order” for parents of a child to not smoke around him and to limit their alcohol consumption while caring for him have invited the same old accusations about the “nanny state”.
Western Australia was the first state in the nation to allow public access to a sex offender register online. The public needs to understand how it works to avoid a false sense of security.
The Northern Territory stands out for having one of the highest imprisonment rates in the world - much higher even than in the US - and it’s hard to argue that this does the community much good.
In response to the tragic death of four-year-old Chloe Valentine in South Australia, adoption has been raised as a solution to a “child protection crisis”.