END PHYSICAL PUNISHMENT OF AUSTRALIAN CHILDREN
We are working together across Australia to support children and families by updating laws relating to physical punishment. We include parents, grandparents, researchers, politicians, children's commissioners, health professionals, teachers and many others - all joining together to give children the same protection from physical harm as we have as adults.
We began our campaign - End physical punishment of Australian children (EPPAC) - in April 2022. We are working with stakeholders across Australia to change legislation and end corporal punishment and to support parents with positive parenting strategies.
EPPAC began as an initiative of the Parenting and Family Research Alliance (PAFRA). The EPPAC network is made up of researchers, practitioners and individuals from professional bodies (health, paediatrics, parenting, law, social welfare), Indigenous institutions, child-services, university academics, and government departments. It is guided by a Steering Committee:
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Prof Sophie Havighurst, University of Melbourne
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Prof Daryl Higgins, Institute of Child Protection Studies
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Karen Flanagan AM, Australian Childhood Foundation
State/Territory Contacts - Coming soon!
Given that many of the relevant laws are State & Territory-based, many of our members are involved in more local action. Where available, we will be adding State/Territory contacts soon.
OUR THREE ASKS
1. Change the law in each state and territory to prohibit any form of corporal punishment by parents/caregivers
Let's update our laws to give children the same protections as adults from violence. Australia's outdated laws still include an illogical defence that makes it legal to hurt a child as a form of punishment. Removing this defence will bring our laws in line with what we know about child health & development, and sends a clear message that violence is never ok. It will also bring us in line with what other countries are doing, and will make our laws more consistent (it is illegal to hit an adult in Australia, so it is unfair that children can still be hit). This change does not create a new offence (i.e. it simply removes a defence), and will not lead to additional legal action.
2. Support a public health campaign about the change in the law and the alternatives for parents
Parenting is a skill. We can all learn ways to improve the relationships in our lives, including with our children. We aim to better support parents by making sure that all Australians have fair and equal access to reliable parenting information. We can also better support parents by advocating for policies and programs that reduce toxic stress on families - for instance relating to financial, housing, work, health, domestic violence - so that they have space to nurture important relationships with their children.
3. Ensure access to alternative evidence-based parenting strategies to corporal punishment
We know that what happens to us in childhood – both positive and negative – shapes how our brains grow, and our future health and wellbeing. When parents, carers and policy makers understand early brain development it becomes easier to see what children need to thrive - and how corporal punishment hurts children, families and communities. Violence in the home is a form of toxic stress that can derail the healthy development of children and the valuable bonds they have with caregivers. The video How Brains Are Built: The Core Story of Brain Development is a good starting point to help understand healthy brain development.
"When a big child hits a small child in the playground, we call him a bully; five years later he punches a woman for her handbag and is called a mugger; later still, when he slugs a workmate who insults him, he is called a troublemaker; but when he becomes a father and hits his tiresome, disobedient or disrespectful child, we call him a disciplinarian."
Quote from Dr Penelope Leach’s book Children First.