Message from Adam Blakester, EO

In This Edition

Ensuring every young Australian grows up well and safe is the purpose we share and nurture across NAPCAN’s nation-wide network. This newsletter is full of positive stories and initiatives by communities working to be child friendly communities. I’m confident these stories will be both a source of strength and inspiration for us all. Sadly, in recent months we have been shocked by graphic accounts of harm and neglect of children across Australia. Scarcely a day has passed without a media account of child sexual assault (which we know is outnumbered by a factor of 10 other cases of abuse) and the intense focus on the plight of Aboriginal children would come as little surprise to those who know the deep trauma experienced by Aboriginal culture and people since European settlement. It is so important at times like these that we maintain our courage and commitment to respectful ways of working with parents and communities across Australia. This is the way to build stronger, more supportive, more inclusive communities that are child friendly and sustainable. NAPCAN sees part of its role is to share with you these stories of solutions, examples of communities and professionals working respectfully side by side, in true partnership, creating positive lives and outcomes for their children and young people. If you have a story like this, please share it with us. Particularly now as we approach National Child Protection Week we want to ask the media to portray stories about communities making a positive difference for kids. And if you are wondering what it is that makes a community child friendly, why not ask the kids? This is the very challenge that NAPCAN’s newest campaign asks us all to take up. Together we are building a child friendly Australia, one community at a time.

Creating Young Visions of a Child friendly Australia Letter to the Courier Mail by NAPCAN President Teresa Scott Response to “Child abuse cases ignored” 2 August 2006 Towards a better future for children: preventing child abuse and neglect National Child Protection Week ‘06 NAPCAN Resources: Writing the new Importance of Play Brochure (Alan Weinstein) NAPCAN Amabssadors Other news SUPPORT NAPCAN

Creating Young Visions of a Child friendly Australia

a. Kids playing a part

On Friday 19th May NAPCAN Foundation launched the cultural diversity stream of the ‘Child Friendly Community Campaign’ at Cabramatta High School. Together with professionals from the community sector, parents and representatives from other community groups, the forum centred on students from Cabramatta, Holroyd and Merrylands High Schools. Together they reflected upon the issues surrounding the wellbeing and safety of children and young people from a perspective of cultural diversity. The event introduced the recently produced “Child Friendly Communities Booklet” developed for five diverse languages and cultures - Arabic, Vietnamese, Samoan, Tongan and Mandarin Chinese. The Hon. Reba Meagher, Minister for Community Services and Minister for Youth in NSW, officially launched the new booklets endorsing NAPCAN’s commitment to creating a child friendly Australia. At the launch a student from each of the five language groups spoke about their personal visions of a child friendly community within a multicultural context. They talked about the steps that need to be taken to make communities more “child friendly” and (understanding?) accepting of cultural difference. Each of the contributions were significant to the success of the launch. Common themes amongst the speakers were the needs of young people to feel safe, valued and respected.

b. Five Young Visions of a Child Friendly Community

Tim Samuelu – Merrylands High School

“We need to be with positive people who will be our support network, our safety net. These people will encourage us to do our best, to reach our full potential and to have the courage to take risks and make mistakes. Within that support network there needs to be clear boundaries with rules and consequences because we need to be taught, encouraged and given opportunities to develop socially, emotionally, physically and spiritually.

Balance is important in a child friendly community. We need a balance between school, work, sport, family and friends, and sometimes we just need to have our own space. Clear communication and realistic expectations from our parents will help us find that balance.”

Huy Iam – School Captain, Cabramatta High School

Huy spoke about his experiences living in multicultural Australia and how his Vietnamese background has influenced his upbringing and life. He emphasized the need for acceptance of cultural diversity within Australia and stated that child friendly communities are created when cultures live in peace, harmony and acceptance of one another. He spoke positively about his school which embraces cultural diversity and welcomes students from all backgrounds.

Huy further explained the pressures that Australian youth face to excel academically at school. He stated that an unfriendly youth environment is one where pressure to perform well at school is too high causing students to become unstable and question their ability. On the other hand, he stated that child friendly environments are created when children are supported and encouraged regardless of their academic performance. Huy advocated the important role that NAPCAN Foundation plays in helping create child friendly communities where youth feel safe, valued and supported.

Siosi Ngu– School Captain, Merrylands High School

Siosi spoke from the heart about his personal visions for a child friendly community. Reminding the audience that young people belong to a variety of different communities – school, family, sporting clubs, church and friendship groups – he highlighted the fact that their main needs in each of these communities are to be respected, loved, valued, listened to and supported.
A highpoint of Siosi’s speech was the heartfelt story about the birth of his son, and the way which this experience has changed him as a person. A key message was that everyone should be given a chance, and not judged for their actions. In the words of Siosi; everyone makes mistakes, it’s what you do after those mistakes that defines you as a person. As a proud father, Iaosi wants to see Australia become a youth-friendly nation not only for himself, but for the safety and wellbeing for his son and generations to come.

Ilham Tabbaa – Holroyd High School

Ilham emphasised the need for acceptance of cultural, religious and ethnic diversity in Child Friendly Communities. She stated that education is the key to dissipating fear and that a lot can be learnt from other people and their cultures. Ilham further spoke of her experiences as a Muslim youth, wearing the Hijab and how her school is a good example of a child friendly community.
“When I first put the scarf on I felt very comfortable coming to school for the first time. As I knew that the teachers and students would not change their view towards me and respect me as they always have. This was important to me as it helped me keep up my self confidence and gave me the courage to face others outside school for the first time with my scarf on.”

Tonie Iam – Cabramatta High School

Tonie discussed the cultural differences between traditional Chinese societies and Australian Anglo societies. She explained that her parents, from a Chinese background, pray twice a day at an altar to their parents as a form of respect. There is also a strong expectation to respect parents and elders and perform well academically within the Chinese community. Despite cultural difference, Tonie highlighted that in both Chinese and Australian communities parents want only the best for their children and work towards creating child friendly communities. Tonie emphasised that a child friendly environment is a supportive friendly environment which is free from drugs and violence and where children feel safe and respected.

Letter to the Courier Mail by NAPCAN President Teresa Scott
Response to “Child abuse cases ignored” 2 August 2006

I commend the Courier Mail for its continued focus on the risk posed to Queensland children by the high levels of abuse and neglect in our community. The current system appears unsustainable. The public must be very concerned that protecting children appears to be an unsolvable problem. But this is not so. If we take action to stop abuse from occurring in the first place, the demand will drop and the numbers of children needing the dramatic intervention of the Department of Child Safety will lessen. The Department of Child Safety is a statutory body. It is not designed to prevent child abuse from occurring – it is a reactive service that intervenes when children have been identified as harmed or at significant risk of harm. For many children, this only occurs after years of neglect and abuse, and the damage has well and truly been done. From my personal experience with child abuse prevention agency NAPCAN, I know government departments, communityagencies and the general public struggle with how to approach the problem of child abuse and neglect.

For the average Queenslander, their idea of preventing child abuse is to make a phone call to the Department of Child Safety. The focus in the media is on horrific cases of physical abuse, neglect and sexual abuse. As a result, the public believe child abuse is intentional, extreme and not preventable.

Again, this is not true. A large majority of child abuse and neglect cases are preventable. Perhaps if we tried to think of preventing child abuse in the same way that we accept the range of strategies to prevent heart disease, we will come closer to dealing with the issue in a constructive way.

The prevention of heart disease occurs at several levels – the indicated (those who need bypass surgery), the selective (medication for those with high blood pressure) and the universal level (for the whole population – such as taxes & warnings on cigarette packets, government regulations requiring the listing of fat content on food, public education campaigns (Life Be In It), not-for-profits organisations like the National Heart Foundation (tick campaign on food).

Currently the Department of Child Safety does the equivalent of bypass surgery or major intervention after a heart attack. In the worst-case scenarios, some children die before ‘treatment’ or intervention can occur. Some selective services (early intervention with identified ‘at-risk’ families) are funded by the Department of Child Safety and Department of Communities, but the funding of universal prevention strategies is sadly lacking when it comes to child abuse and neglect.

A good model of child abuse prevention needs the whole community to respond and take some responsibility for the welfare of all children. Child abuse does not exist in isolation and is linked to a range of other societal problems such as drug abuse, crime, poor housing, and of course, poverty. Factors such as lack of social trust and connection between people within their own neighbourhoods is just as important as inadequate parenting when searching for the causes of child abuse.

Research shows that strong healthy communities help prevent child abuse and neglect. There are small things we can do each day to make sure our communities help children to grow up safe and well. Simple actions can reduce the stress on children and their families; such as welcoming a new family to the neighbourhood; cooking a meal for a family with a newborn or sick child; passing on toys, clothing and books for other children to enjoy; get to know what services exist in your local communities for families; volunteering at your local sports club; lobbying for parks and play areas for kids in your neighbourhood.

NAPCAN highlights the protective factors that will increase the likelihood of positive outcomes for children. At the individual level this means things like encouraging parents to develop a network of supportive relatives and friends; at the community level, this means access to adequate healthcare, quality education and employment services and neighbourhoods that are safe, well policed and cohesive; at the societal level, it means a society that discourages violence, physical discipline of children and raises the status of children.

Attracting support for universal primary prevention initiatives, such as the types proposed by NAPCAN, has been difficult. However, there are strong social and economic reasons to invest in prevention. Child abuse costs the Australian economy $5B each year.

NAPCAN is the only national agency exclusively committed to primary prevention of child abuse and neglect, yet struggles to receive government funding. The Queensland Government’s investment in prevention and early intervention since the outcomes of the CMC Inquiry has been minimal. In 2002, the Queensland Government committed to increasing its investment in prevention and early intervention from 13% to 25% of the previous Department of Families budget over the next five years (Department of Families, 2002).

Based on the 2006-07 budget of the Department of Child Safety of $503.1M, fulfilment of this commitment would require expenditure on prevention and early intervention of $125M. It is clear that the Government is not on track to realise this increase. In fact, it has probably lost ground due to the rate of increase in funding of the Department of Child Safety following the CMC Inquiry.

Until the Queensland Government reassesses it’s focus towards a universal, whole of community approach to preventing child abuse and neglect, the Department of Child Safety will struggle to keep up with demand, and Queensland children will continue to be exposed to the risk of abuse and neglect.

For further information, please visit our website www.napcan.org.au or contact me on 0408153931.

Teresa Scott
President, NAPCAN Foundation

Towards a better future for children: preventing child abuse and neglect

This research paper was commissioned by NAPCAN QLD to inform discussion in Queensland and the implications are relevant for all Australians who are committed to keeping children safe and creating a brighter future for all children. The paper recognizes the dramatic increase in notifications of suspected child abuse and neglect and the numbers of children in care and notes that unless primary prevention interventions are supported, we are likely to continue on a path that is economically unsustainable and socially unacceptable. Argument is made for a comprehensive response to preventing child abuse and neglect, with a renewed focus on community-wide responsibility and action to increase the resilience and wellbeing of all children. Building on the traditional three level 'public health' prevention model, the paper explores a model originating from the mental health field. This model removes the 'tertiary level' from conceptualisations of prevention (services treating children who have already suffered abuse) and shifts the focus onto preventing abuse "before it happens". The research highlights the need for prevention activities in addressing the high rates of reported abuse for Indigenous children. It is argued that the focus on community level interventions is most consistent with Indigenous cultural frameworks. Specifically, the paper identifies implications for research and future directions, including a call for an evidence-based and consistent approach to prevention and the need for a balanced child protection system.

With recent funding allocations for prevention and early intervention activities in Queensland, and many other Australian states and territories, NAPCAN believes this paper will be useful to policy makers, community agencies and others interested in what constitutes primary prevention of child abuse and neglect. The paper challenges us to consider what is actually effective in child abuse prevention, in particular reinforcing the need for primary prevention activities to complement the current focus on early intervention if the rate of child abuse is to be reduced. NAPCAN welcomes your comments and opinions in response to the issues raised by this paper, and the opportunity to discuss ways forward to universal, whole-of-community approaches to the prevention of child abuse and neglect – before it starts. Download the Paper (590KB)

National Child Protection Week ‘06

The urgency to raise awareness about how Australians can solve the massive problem of child abuse and neglect has been highlighted by new research. Did you know? • Australians are more concerned about the rising cost of petrol or public transport problems than child abuse and neglect • 31% of Australians would doubt a child if they reported they were abused • One in five Australians would be unsure of what to do if they thought a child was being abused. Find out more in the Australian Childhood Foundation report Out of Sight-Out of Mind http://www.napcan.org.au/cfchallenge.htm http://www.napcan.org.au/PreventAbuse.htm

a. Official Launch

NAPCAN is pleased to announce that the Minister for Family and Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Mal Brough will launch National Child Protection Week ’06, which will be held in conjunction with the Queensland state launch. The launch will be held at the KidsHelpline premises in Brisbane on Sunday Sept 3rd.

b. Invitation to participate

The Invitations to participate in National Child Protection Week ’06 have been sent out electronically and by post. Please contact us if you have not received your invitation.

The theme for 2006 is: Young Visions for a Child Friendly Australia. This year we are inviting Australian adults to give children and young people the opportunity to share their visions of child friendly communities. We are inviting you to ‘Ask KiDS’ what they really need to grow up well. In this way you will show children and young people that you do in fact value them, and that you are prepared to give them a voice, and listen to what they have to say. You may also learn how simple a child friendly community can be to create!

c. Register for National Child Protection Week 2006

You can go online and register your activity for National Child Protection Week. Just go to the registration page, fill in your details – you will automatically be sent a Promotions Pack and be able to access the online Activities Kit as well as order brochures and posters to support your activity. Click here

d. Poster

This year NAPCAN engaged a professional photographer to produce a wonderful poster that encapsulates everything National Child Protection Week strives for: Child Friendly Communities. It’s a great photo of 2 dads at play with their children: perfect for our launch on Father’s Day. Get your free poster by registering your planned activity. e. Online Activities Kit This online kit will assist you in every aspect of organising an activity to promote the wellbeing and safety of Australia’s children and young people. Find out more

f. Promotions Pack

The Promotions Pack for National Child Protection Week ’06 includes the A2 poster; copies of the Listening series of brochures: Listening to Babies, Children and Young People; the newly produced Importance of Play brochure, a Child Friendly Communities booklet, and a set of Participant Survey Invitation cards, encouraging participants at activities held during the Week, to complete a simple online survey, and go into the draw to win an Apple iPod.

Multiple copies of these and any other of NAPCAN’s parenting brochures can be ordered online. The Child Friendly Communities booklet is now also available in Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, Samoan, Tongan and Vietnamese. Find out more

g. Website

NAPCAN’s Website is updated regularly. There are direct links to the State and Territory pages from the National Child Protection Week home page, so you can check out local stories, activities and resources. Find out more

The website traffic continues to grow overall. The statistics for the first seven months of 2006 are as follows:

h. Capture a Child friendly Moment Campaign In the lead up to National Child Protection Week we are asking you to continue to send us stories of child friendly moments to help us create a picture of how a child friendly community can and does look! Find out more

i. Partnerships

This is one of the most important activities for National Child Protection Week (NCPW) ‘06 to outreach as widely as possible into the community.

While each Partner will contribute and support the Week in a unique way, the broad role of each Partner is to promote and encourage participation throughout their organisation and network.

Developing an Australia wide network of Partners for NCPW ‘06 will help sustain and increase the significant growth in public profile and participation in the prevention of Australia’s most serious social problem – child abuse and neglect.
II your organisation is interested in becoming a Partner with NAPCAN? Find out more

National Child Protection Week is funded by the Australian Government Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs.

NAPCAN Resources: Writing the new Importance of Play Brochure (Alan Weinstein)

When you are keen to guide members of the community to change their behaviour it is wise to engage the voice of known experts. So when NAPCAN wanted to write The Importance of Play, the latest in its series of wellbeing brochures it enlisted the help of early childhood development (ECD) experts from throughout Australia.

With members from NAPCAN’s Advisory Council, the executive ranks of Playgroup Australia and the NAPCAN National Board, the ECD expert group knew the task was important, and to achieve best practice would require a good deal of hard work. Nonetheless the working group had fun.

The new brochure - an update and rewrite of the old The Importance of Play In A Child’s Development - is being produced and distributed in partnership with Playgroup Australia. It is designed to be fun for the readers and fun for the children of the readers as well.

The expert group was made up of Dr Bronwyn Gould AM, Lesley Taylor, Dr Sue Packer AM, Pat Jewell, and Karen Merange. Bronwyn works in an advisory capacity to state and federal governments and chairs the Australian Council for Children and Parenting. Lesley has 17 years experience working for children with an emphasis on rural and indigenous communities. Sue, is currently employed as Community Paediatrician for the ACT Government. Pat’ background is in early childhood education. She is author of 'Getting Good Speech Going', 'Out of the Mainstream' and 'From Strength to Strength'. Karen is,National Executive Officer of Playgroup Australia. A number of the group members actively enlisted the assistance of colleagues in writing and reviewing the sections of the work.

NAPCAN’s Values: respect, collaboration, communication, integrity and courage are remarkably well suited to guiding collaborative processes
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NAPCAN and Playgroup Australia have a common vision, mission and set of values. Striving for equal relationships, showing mutual respect, recognising each other’s achievements, and being open and honest in positive communications, were all important elements of the process.

So was having fun, and that is where the individual expert writers brought their individual sparkle to the process. Whether it was fresh ideas shared after walking the dog, or communications starting out in lower case, progressing through mixed lower and upper case and ending in a crescendo of CAPITAL LETTERS in BOLD TYPE to emphasise a point there were things we could smile and laugh about.

Play is recognised as an essential component of every child’s life. It is an important way for kids to explore the world around them and develop many life-enhancing skills.

The brochure aims to encourage parents to provide time, playmates (when possible and appropriate) and a safe place to facilitate play. By helping parents understand why play is important the brochure aims to influence parents to make play a central daily theme in their children’s lives. It has been released as part of the Promotions Pack for National Child Protection Week 2006.

NAPCAN Amabssadors

NAPCAN is proud to announce the appointment of two Ambassadors. The role of ambassador is to promote all of NAPCAN’s work. Well known broadcaster, Julie McCrossin, has officially taken up the role, facilitating the launch of the Child Friendly Communities Campaign in May 2006. Julie is passionate about the wellbeing and safety of children and young people, and NAPCAN is delighted to have her join us in creating a child friendly Australia. At the launch, Julie introduced one of the speakers, Bilel Jideh whose personal story of positive mentoring made a huge impact on everyone in the audience, and though he is studying fulltime for a degree in medicine, Bilel has agreed to be a NAPCAN Young Ambassador. Read more

State and Territory Updates

Victoria

NAPCAN VIC is working hard towards National Child Protection Week and is currently calling for nominations for its Child Friendly Community Awards. An example of one of the nominations received so far is a “mother’s network” which was established to support and assist mothers. It was launched after one mother’s exhausting battle with post natal depression.
Preparations are also well underway for their annual Christmas fundraiser event which promises to be bigger and better than last year. NAPCAN has worked closely with the Point Cook Bendigo Community Bank and the Christmas by the Lake Committee to organize the event. In keeping with NAPCAN Foundation’s 2006 strategy of seeking the opinions of children and young people, the event will enable school students to convey their visions of what a child friendly community looks like.

South Australia

NAPCAN SA is currently engaging in an exciting new initiative called the Young Families Education Support program. The program is designed to support parents with financial difficulties who want to complete year 12 and learn more about parenting. The course is one day per week and NAPCAN will assist participants to enrol in the school and subjects of their choice, support fee payments, childcare and school related expenses and provide transport to the classes. They are also seeking volunteers who are passionate about working with families and children to journey with these parents. For more information please contact the NAPCAN SA office on 08 8232 6430.

NAPCAN SA has also relocated to an exciting new office which will offer them more space to grow and develop. You can now find them at:
255 Angas Street
Adelaide SA 5000
Ph: 08 8232 6430
Fax: 08 8232 1738

Queensland

NAPCAN QLD has had a busy past few months with the release of a much-anticipated research paper, entitled “Towards a better future for children: preventing child abuse and neglect”. This paper was commissioned by NAPCAN QLD to inform discussion in Queensland, but the implications are relevant for all Australians who are committed to keeping children safe and creating a brighter future for all children.

In addition to the paper, NAPCAN QLD has also completed printing the first stage of it’s ‘Play A Part’ Kit, a resource aimed at facilitating community-based workshops with the early childhood communities, schools, workplaces, sporting groups, community organizations, neighbourhoods and families & friends. Stay tuned to our website for news on the development of the Kit.
Queensland is currently gearing up for NCPW, with the annual Breakfast Fundraiser taking place on Tuesday 5 September at Brisbane City Hall with special guest, the Governor of Queensland, Ms Quentin Bryce AC, and Indigenous performer, Kev Carmody. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster now.

New South Wales: ‘Kids CAN NSW’

NAPCAN NSW’s 2006 Micro Grants program will develop child friendly communities through involving young people in decisions about what a child friendly community means to them.

The Micro Grants program will be channeled via the “Schools as Centres of Communities” theme to inspire new child friendly community initiatives, along with promoting and capturing data on existing programs.

The major output from Kids CAN NSW will be the development of an online register that promotes the many positive initiatives being undertaken by schools and their local communities as they work toward increasing the wellbeing of children and families within their community.

The register will be converted into a hard copy publication to highlight the ‘Best Of” these initiatives. The publication will be used as a vehicle to promote the Kids CAN NSW program and offer a number of branding and fundraising opportunities around an annual awards ceremony.

The register will become an iconic community resource, easily recognised for its community value. The register will be promoted to local communities with the aim of:

• Raising awareness of the child friendly initiatives taking place in their communities
• Encouraging participation in these initiatives
• Inspiring community consciousness to take responsibility for the children in their community
• Educating the broader community on the importance of children and parent’s wellbeing
• Celebrate what is being accomplished at a grassroots level and bring that acknowledgement to a broader community level
• Inspiring community members to develop and take ownership of initiatives in their communities

The virtual register will initially reside on NAPCAN's website supported by local communities via links on the following websites: participating schools; local councils; libraries; businesses; clubs and media.

Northern Territory

It’s been an eventful period for NAPCAN NT with various new and exciting initiatives underway! NAPCAN NT would like to say a big thankyou to all those involved in the Palmerston Festival Bike Rodeo. It was a fantastic child friendly event where kids rode a secure rodeo course while learning about bike safety and riding techniques. All kids registered in the rodeo received a show bag with loads of goodies and had a chance win great prizes including brand new bikes and helmets.

NAPCAN NT has also be involved in numerous community engagements including International Women’s Day and Families Week and have been guest speakers at Palmerston Regional Safe Communities Forum, National Social Work Day and at YWCA young mothers support group.

They have also scheduled a range of parenting workshops throughout June which cover issues such as toilet training, separation anxiety, whining/language, tantrums and a bedtime problems. For further information contact the NAPCAN NT office.

Other news

The New Raising Children Network Website

An exciting new parenting website has been developed to provide parents, professionals and the wider Australian public with up-to-date and quality information on early childhood and parenting. The website developed by the Raising Children Network was officially launched on May 16 by the Minister for Families and Community Services, Mal Brough.

Promoting child wellbeing and safety, the website provides handy parenting tips and the latest information on child related issues. It provides impartial quality information for parents with children aged 0-8 years on nutrition, child safety, health, fun activities and parental wellbeing.

The Australian Government is funding the website as part of the Stronger Families and Communities Strategy which will provide $4 million dollars over four years. It has been put together by experts, industry bodies, practitioners and parents collectively across Australia.

The parenting site is designed to assist all parents and those caring for children, while also providing valuable information for practitioners, teachers, child care workers and those working with children.

For more information go to http://raisingchildren.net.au

Intuitive Mothering: Trusting our own child-rearing instincts

Lyn McPherson’s new book Intuitive Mothering gives practical solutions and a fresh approach to raising children in our fast-paced world. Intuitive Mothering has been endorsed by paediatrician and NAPCAN Advisory Council Chair, Dr Bronwyn Gould. A percentage of sales are being donated to NAPCAN. Here is a book that tackles the issues facing modern mothers today, such as guilt, sending children to day care, breastfeeding, allowing children to watch television or play computer games, relying on drugs to solve problems associated with ADD, advertising pressures, teaching children relevant social skills and finding balance. Intuitive Mothering can be ordered through Dymocks. “My hope is to help mothers release themselves of the shackles of society and their own expectations, to be happier, more connected mothers – which will in turn create happy, connected, nurtured children. I feel that in some ways, when it comes to raising children, we have a lot of things back to front and inside out in modern society.” Lyn McPherson.