Next week is National Child Protection Week (5-11 September) and with the recent COVID Delta outbreak in Australia no time, more than now, feels so pressing in ensuring our children are safe and protected.
At the recent Annual Meeting of the National Coalition on Child Safety and Wellbeing, National Children’s Commissioner, Anne Hollonds, provided some advance insight into the current consultation she is conducting – talking to Children around Australia. This consultation is being conducted to aid in informing the National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children and therefore, there is a strong focus on how safe children are feeling. Regrettably a number of children she is talking to are not feeling safe.
This year’s National Child Protection Week theme is:
Every child, in every community, needs a fair go.
To treat all of Australia’s children fairly, we need to make sure every family and community has what kids need to thrive and be healthy.
This theme brings into sharp relief that children do not exist in isolation. They are parts of families and communities and unless those families and communities are supported, our children cannot thrive. This understanding, of course, forms the basis of the work our sector does – day in, day out. We know that many FRSA members are experiencing increases in demand and/or an increase in the support needed by many existing clients. Job loss, unpaid time in quarantine or in lockdown, crowded living conditions, anxiety about bringing the ‘virus’ home – these and a range of other stressors are impacting families across Australia but especially places in extended lockdown. For some families, this stress boils over and the safety of children is put to the test.
Just yesterday I was talking to one of our member representatives in Melbourne and she spoke about the feelings of hopelessness about the future – about not being able to imagine a future – that people were starting to feel. She talked about how this made it hard for parents to talk to their children about the pandemic. Melbourne, has of course, experienced some of the longest and the toughest lockdown restrictions in the world. It’s tough for everyone there, and for many across the country. For some families it’s an absolute pressure cooker.
I sincerely believe that unless Government takes bold and decisive action, as it did at the start of the pandemic, to ensure ongoing financial support for families who need it, and make sure that everyone is cared for in this crisis, other attempts to strengthen the protection of children may be compromised.
We will get through this crisis. But if we want today’s children to truly thrive in the future we need to be able to give them hope. And to do this, we need to give parents and carers hope too. What we need now, led by governments, is first and foremost a culture of care and belonging; not one of compliance.
By Jackie Brady
