Page 790 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 21 March 2018
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(c) many Australian parents and other primary caregivers report feeling unprepared to teach correct and appropriate information to children, to recognise the signs of child sexual abuse or to respond correctly to suspected abuse;
(d) the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse made 409 recommendations, including the development of a national strategy to prevent child sexual abuse which encompasses a range of initiatives including ‘prevention education for parents delivered through day care, preschool, school, sport and recreational settings, and other institutional and community settings’ that aims ‘to increase knowledge of child sexual abuse and its impacts, and build skills to help reduce the risk of child sexual abuse’;
(e) other prevention initiatives recommended by the Royal Commission include social media campaigns to raise general community awareness; prevention education through preschool, school and other settings to increase children’s knowledge; online education for children delivered via schools; online safety education for parents and other community members to better support children’s safety online; prevention education for tertiary students before entering child-related occupations; and information and help-seeking services for parents and community members concerned about a possible perpetrator or possible child at risk;
(f) the 2012 Protecting Victoria’s Vulnerable Children Inquiry made 90 recommendations, one of which was that the Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development ‘should develop a wide-ranging education and information campaign for parents and caregivers of all school-aged children on the prevention of child sexual abuse’;
(g) the current National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children 2009-2020-, to which the ACT Government is a signatory, cites research showing that ‘a focus on early intervention and prevention is more cost-effective in the long-term than responding to crises, or treating the impacts of abuse and neglect’;
(h) the ACT Government has committed to issuing a formal response to the final report of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse by June 2018; and
(i) the ACT Government provides information resources such as ParentLink’s Protecting Children from Sexual Abuse and the ACT Government’s Keeping Children and Young People Safe—A Shared Community Responsibility Guide, to support parents to recognise and respond to concerns of child abuse; and
(3) calls on the ACT Government to:
(a) continue to make information resources available to support parents to recognise and respond to concerns of child abuse; and
(b) ensure improved availability, distribution and promotion of the resources to parents and caregivers.”.
In doing so I mean no disrespect to Mrs Kikkert or to advocates such as the mother who is here in the gallery today. I confirm that we will support the further amendment circulated in Mr Coe’s name.
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