Bombshell report exposes disturbing scale of child abuse in Australia affecting 1 in 4 children
- Confronting findings from the child abuse report
- 1 in 4 children are sexually abused in Australia
- Call for budget spending on child welfare
Physical, emotional and sexual abuse of children is ‘disturbingly common’ across Australia, prompting calls for urgent government action to protect the country’s youth.
One in three children is physically abused and one in four experiences sexual abuse, according to a Queensland University of Technology study of 8,500 Australians published Monday in the Medical Journal of Australia.
National Children’s Commissioner Anne Hollonds says the confronting findings demonstrate the urgent need for a child welfare strategy.
“We have no reporting on budget allocations for child welfare. We don’t have a minister for children. We have no vision and we have had no urgency for change,” she said.
“In a prosperous country like Australia, the well-being of children should be a twofold priority. Today we have a rare opportunity to secure a national agreement to prioritize child welfare and establish a roadmap for reform.”
Children who have experienced abuse are nearly three times more likely to experience anxiety, alcohol abuse or major depression and five times more likely to experience PTSD
Federal Social Affairs Secretary Amanda Rishworth and Attorney General Mark Dreyfus vowed to look carefully at the findings as they develop targeted policies.
“This is a wake-up call for all of us, at all levels of government and community. We need to do better,” they said in a statement.
“This groundbreaking study, the first high-quality, nationally representative study of the prevalence of all five forms of child maltreatment, should focus our attention on prevention of and response to child maltreatment.”
QUT professor Ben Matthews led the study and said the troubling prevalence of child abuse had long-term effects, including a greater likelihood of mental health disorders and risky behaviors.
National Children’s Commissioner Anne Hollonds says the confronting findings show there is an urgent need for a child welfare strategy in Australia
He cited emotional abuse and exposure to domestic violence as the most common forms of abuse, while sexual abuse by some types of offenders has also increased.
“A major concern is the increase in sexual abuse by known adolescents, the group that inflicts the largest share of all sexual abuse,” said Professor Matthews.
Children who experienced abuse were almost three times more likely to have generalized anxiety disorder, major alcohol use disorder or major depressive disorder.
They are also nearly five times more likely to suffer from PTSD, with girls being particularly vulnerable to emotional abuse and mental health disorders.
Girls were twice as likely to experience sexual abuse as boys, while they were 50 percent more likely to experience emotional abuse.
About 30 percent of the 16- to 24-year-old participants reported self-harm in their lifetime, including about two in five women and one in five men.
Cathy Kezelman of the Blue Knot Foundation said the findings confirm previous insights about the impact of unresolved childhood trauma on adults, families and the economy
Professor Matthews said sexual and emotional abuse have devastating, long-term, cascading effects on victims’ mental health.
“Sexual abuse and emotional abuse were most strongly associated with mental disorders and health risk behaviors, making these two forms of abuse key targets for intensified national prevention and early intervention policies,” he said.
“Child abuse is a major contributor to our national crisis of youth self-harm and suicide attempts.”
The Blue Knot Foundation noted that abused children were almost two and a half times more likely to be admitted to a mental health facility, to have seen a psychologist or psychiatrist, or to have visited a general practitioner six times or more in a year .
“These findings confirm previous understanding of the impact that unresolved complex childhood traumas have not only on individuals, their families and communities, but also on the Australian economy, and the need for early and proactive intervention,” said Blue Knot. CEO Cathy Kezelman.