“Counting the Cost of Abuse”

1. “Counting the Cost of Abuse” Chief Federal Magistrate Pascoe, AO CVO

2. Defining Child Maltreatment All forms of physical and/or emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse, neglect or negligent treatment or commercial or other exploitation resulting in actual or potential harm to the child’s health, survival, development or dignity in the context of a relationship of responsibility, trust or power (World Health Organisation 2006)

3. Trend in the Number of Notifications, Investigations and Substantiations (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2013)

4. Prevalence of Child abuse and neglect 237,273 child protection notifications in 20010-2011 127,759 of these notifications were investigated 40,466 were substantiated (CFCA, 2012) 18% of Australians experience abuse before the age of 15 (ABS Personal Safety Survey, 2005)

5. Types of Substantiated Abuse Claims in Australia (Data obtained from Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2013)

6. Impact of child neglect on brain development These images illustrate the negative impact of neglect on the developing brain. Left: CT scan of healthy 3 yr old with average head size. Right: 3 yr old child suffering from severe sensory-deprivation neglect. Brain is significantly smaller than average and has abnormal development of cortex (UNICEF 2010)

7. Economic costs of abuse Out-of-home care cost Australian community $2.8 billion in 2010-11 (CFCA 2012) Over all cost of child abuse and neglect between $3.5 and $5.5 billion (Access Economics 2008) In the US child abuse and neglect is estimated to cost US$12.4 billion a year.

8. Prevention as solution $1.1 billion already spent on government programs designed to prevent child abuse (Access Economics, 2008) The American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate US$4 savings for every dollar spent on prevention (UNICEF 2010) Reynolds, et al, estimate US$6-7 savings for every dollar spent (2002)

9. National Framework Strategies Establishing family and children’s centres; Assisting community organisations to run information and awareness campaigns such as National Child Protection Week; Working with stakeholders to improve court processes involving children; Expanding the Communities for Children program (services aimed at supporting families and children in disadvantaged communities; Implementing a consistent approach to working with children checks and child safe organisations across all jurisdictions; Increasing funding for disadvantaged schools; Increasing children’s access to mental health services; Increasing affordable and social housing; Supporting community recovery programs and providing a state-wide therapeutic treatment service system for people who have experienced child abuse or neglect; and Enhancing non-government organisations’ support for young people to transition from out-of-home care to independent living.

10. The Anomaly of Child Abuse and Neglect [W]e find an incidence rate of child abuse and neglect that is about ten times as high as the incidence rate for all forms of cancer. [T]here is a multi-billion-dollar research base reliably renewed on an annual basis for cancer treatment and prevention. Nothing remotely similar to this exists for child abuse and neglect (UNICEF 2010).