The Office of the Guardian has pointed out that the findings from a recently completed study of the maltreatment of children revealed how to deal with transforming and child maltreatment as well as learning the services to prevent abuse in the first place.
Guardian for Children and Young People, Shona Reid said The Australian Child Maltreatment Study: A landmark study of the national prevalence of child abuse and neglect, and associated health and behavioural outcomes was the first comprehensive nationwide study looking into the prevalence, characteristics and outcomes associated with child maltreatment.
“Of the 8,503 survey participants, nearly two-thirds had been abused, neglected, or exposed to domestic violence as children, with two in five experiencing two or more types of maltreatment,” Ms Reid said.
“The leading type of child maltreatment reported was exposure to domestic violence (39.6 per cent), followed by physical abuse (32.0 per cent), emotional abuse (30.9 per cent), sexual abuse (28.5 per cent) and neglect (8.9 per cent)”.
She said those who experienced maltreatment had higher rates of negative long-term health outcomes, with 48 per cent reporting having a mental health disorder, including depression, anxiety, substance abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Ms Reid said she saw the ‘downstream’ impact of maltreatment on children and young people as they come into the child protection and youth justice systems.
“I see the trauma played out in a child or young person’s life where effective early intervention has not occurred, not attempted or was unsuccessful,” Ms Reid said.
“The consequences of these experiences are often severe, lifelong and impact multiple generations,” she said.
“We need to always keep at the forefront of our minds that these are vulnerable children and young people who carry the scars of their experiences.’
“Too often we have failed them and must get better at addressing their past traumas and providing the level of care and support they so desperately need,”
Ms Reid said she hoped the root causes of child maltreatment which directly leads to so many children being removed from their families and communities would be addressed.
The Australian Child Maltreatment Study can be accessed from this PS News link.
