Australia committed to its children?

SYDNEY, 6 July 2011 – Gross inadequacies remain in Australia’s commitment to its children, despite recommendations made five years ago for improvement, according to a report to be launched on Wednesday in Canberra.

The Listen to Children Report, the touchstone of Australia’s status on child rights, reveals that three groups of children are especially disadvantaged by the failure of governments:

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children have child mortality rates of three times their non-aboriginal peers and are the least consulted in Australian policy;
• The numbers of children in out-of-home-care has increased by 51.5 per cent since 2005, yet Australia collects no data on the reasons why children are placed in care;
• And children of asylum seekers remain in detention facilities in direct contravention to UN convention.

After 20 years of ‘commitment’ to child rights in Australia, there is still no national framework and no national children’s commissioner, among other glaring omissions, says the Australian Child Rights Task Force.

“This is the real story about how Australia treats its children. We call ourselves the lucky country and yet glaring disparities remain in our commitment to children. Sections of society are being unfairly treated and missing out on the services and systems that all should enjoy,” said CEO of UNICEF Australia, Dr Norman Gillespie.


“The Australian government and previous governments have not consulted children on key decisions about their welfare and wellbeing, causing significant harm to the lives, survival and healthy development of far too many children in this nation.

“Successive governments have perpetuated a traditional welfare approach to children’s wellbeing and have not learned to listen and work with children – to create child-sensitive bodies, systems and initiatives,”  said Matthew Keeley, Director of the National Children’s and Youth Law Centre.

Benson Saulo is the 2011 Australian Youth representative to the United Nations and a strong advocate for youth engagement, particularly indigenous youth engagement at all levels. He will speak at the launch on Wednesday.

“Despite a commitment from successive Australian governments, huge disparities remain for Aboriginal and Islander children in Australia. Indigenous children aged 10 to 17 are 24 times more likely to be jailed that non-aboriginal children, while mortality rates are three times higher than among non-aboriginal peers,” said Mr Saulo.

“We all take these issues seriously and know that change is needed, and yet Indigenous youth remain the most marginalised group in Australia. If we are to Close the Gap, the full participation and partnership of Aboriginal children and their communities and representative bodies is needed. Our voices need to be heard,” he said.

Listen to Children was compiled by the Australian Child Rights Task Force, co-chaired by UNICEF Australia and The National Children’s and Youth Law Centre. The report is compiled every five years in response to the Australian Government’s report to the UN committee into child rights. The Listen to Children report aims to tell the ‘real story’ by bringing together submissions from advocacy and peak bodies concerned with the implementation of the child rights charter. It also brought together results from consultations with young people from around Australia including children at Larapinta Valley Town Camp, children in Alice Springs juvenile holding centre and through online survey platforms.

The report details 116 recommendations for governments including that Australia implement a National Plan of Action for Children and Young People to embed the UN Convention in Australian policy and legislative frameworks, and ensure all federal, state and territory initiatives meet these standards.

Download the full Report
Download the Executive Summary

About the Listen to Children report
Every five years, the Australian Government reports to the United Nations on its implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Australian non-government organisations, through the National Child Rights Taskforce, prepare their own, parallel report. Listen to Children is their report.

About UNICEF
UNICEF is on the ground in over 150 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

For more information, please contact:
Tim O’Connor, UNICEF Australia
0435 206 273
toconnor@unicef.org.au

Martha Tattersall, UNICEF Australia
0421 570 393
mtattersall@unicef.org.au


Listen to Children report - Executive Summary

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