November update from the Children's Guardian
This month, I want to explore how family violence is one of the key areas of concern that exposes children and young people to the risk of harm, and where our systems are put to the test.
Responding to family violence to support vulnerable children
In last month’s update, I discussed how supporting the needs of vulnerable children and families needed coordination and information-sharing between agencies, systems and jurisdictions.
Nothing better exemplifies this than our responses to domestic and family violence.
My mind goes back to some 15 years at the Ombudsman’s office, reviewing the deaths of children from abuse and neglect, together with the related operation of the child protection system.
For children dying from family abuse, a sad trifecta was very often in play - family violence, substance abuse and mental illness. These tragic deaths involved intersecting areas of need - unemployment, poverty, education, housing, and a disconnection from positive cultural and broader social influences.
Sometimes a child’s family may have had a history of domestic violence relationships and related child protection concerns. Too often, following one or several risk-of-serious-harm reports, a case was closed when the parent, generally the mother, finally left the violent relationship.
But what wasn’t recognised was that what mum really needed to reduce risks to her and her child, was a service system working in a way that recognised that family violence was just one of a combination of critical issues for which she and her children needed support.
This critical need for better integration of family violence and child protection support is one of the most significant system and practice challenges we face.
This needs to be seen against the background of a domestic and family violence system in which we currently have 90-95,000 open AVOs. The complexity of these cases is well illustrated in a police assessment process which requires each police officer receiving a DFV report, to navigate 123 screens before they come up with a completed assessment.
Our work to support children exposed to domestic and family violence needs to involve reforming the system to enable a differentiated response that addresses the many factors in play in different types of situations.
Simply processing people through the courts, but not dealing with the underlying issues, doesn’t recognise the need to support and protect the rights of parents and children affected by domestic and family violence.
Community awareness of this issue is reflected in events such as the Say No to Domestic Violence Walk I attended last week in Kogarah – one of many community events organised to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
Better identifying and responding to domestic and family violence a major point of discussion at the most recent meeting of our Child Safe Community of Practice for the religious sector held on 16 November.
Our final meeting for the year is 6 December, and I'll have more to share about our progress in next month's update.
