FEDERAL MAGISTRATES COURT OF AUSTRALIA
“Counting
the Cost
of Abuse”
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Chief Federal Magistrate Pascoe, AO CVO
FEDERAL MAGISTRATES COURT OF AUSTRALIA
Defining Child Maltreatment
 All forms of physical and/or emotional illtreatment, 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)
FEDERAL MAGISTRATES COURT OF AUSTRALIA
Trend in the Number of Notifications, Investigations
and Substantiations
(Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2013)
FEDERAL MAGISTRATES COURT OF AUSTRALIA
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)
FEDERAL MAGISTRATES COURT OF AUSTRALIA
Types of Substantiated Abuse Claims in Australia
9927, 21%
5828, 12%
17,629, 36%
Emotional
abuse
Neglect
Physical
abuse
14,984, 31%
Sexual abuse
(Data obtained from Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2013)
FEDERAL MAGISTRATES COURT OF AUSTRALIA
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)
FEDERAL MAGISTRATES COURT OF AUSTRALIA
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.
FEDERAL MAGISTRATES COURT OF AUSTRALIA
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)
FEDERAL MAGISTRATES COURT OF AUSTRALIA
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.
FEDERAL MAGISTRATES COURT OF AUSTRALIA
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).