BRIEFING PAPERS AND REPORTS​

• Child Rights Progress Report, Commissioner for Children & Young People, South Australia, 2024. Download

• Corporal punishment, Divna Haslam, 2025, Queensland Family and Child Commission. Download here.

• Corporal punishment of children in Australia: The evidence-based case for legislative reform, Briefing paper, Daryl Higgins and Sophie Havighurst, 2022. Download

• Legislation in Australian States and Territories information pack. Dr Laetitia Greeff, Linda Savage, Alan Corbett, Dr Meri Oakwood, 2022. Download

• Smacking and physical punishment, Commissioner for Children & Young People, South Australia, 2024. Download​

• Smacking and physical punishment FACT Sheet, Commissioner for Children & Young People, South Australia, 2024. Download

• Unseen and unheard: Listening to the voices of young people with lived experiences of violence, Commissioner for Children & Young People, South Australia, 2024. Download​

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​SUBMISSIONS

• Havighurst, S., Higgins, D., &  Flanagan, K. (2025). Submission to Queensland Law Reform Commission, Review of Section 280 of Queensland Criminal Code, End Physical Punishment of Australian Children, 11 April 2025.

• Turnhout, J. van T. (2025). Ireland experience - submission to Queensland Law Reform Commission, Former Independent Senator, Ireland, 11 April 2025. 

 

​RESEARCH PAPERS

• Poulsen, A., Mathews, B., Egan, N. et al. (2025). Childhood Experiences of Corporal Punishment and Associated Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration and Victimization in Adulthood: Results from a Longitudinal Twin Study. Journal of Family Violence. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-025-00864-7

• ​Rowland, A. G., Fussey, E., Gerry, F., Herbert, B., Schaff, O., Higgins, D., & Havighurst, S. S., (2025). The time for debate is over: The health, education, and legal case for legislative change to prohibit and eliminate all physical punishment of children and to achieve equal protection from assault in England and Northern Ireland. Child and Youth Services

• Chainey, C., & Whittle, S. (Eds). (2024). Guest editors' introduction to special issue on corporal punishment of children in Australia. Australian Journal of Social Issues, 59 (3).

• Fussey E, Gerry F, Herbert B, S Havighurst, D Higgins, Schaff O, Rowland AG (2024). Equal Protection from Assault in England and Northern Ireland: The Health, Education and Legal Case for legislative change to remove the “reasonable punishment” defence and to prohibit all physical punishment of children. London (UK): Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.

• Gonzalez, C., Morawska, A., Higgins, D. J., & Haslam, D. M. (2024). Acceptability of corporal punishment and use of different parenting practices across high-income countries. Australian Journal of Social Issues, 59 (3), 648-666.

• Greeff, L. A., (2024). Children's rights violations: Parental corporal punishment under the microscope. Australian Journal of Social Issues, 59 (3), 637-647.

• Greeff, L.-A. (2022). Corporal punishment in New South Wales: A call for repeal of section 61AA. Alternative Law Journal, 47(1), 30-35.

• Greeff, L.-A. (2024) Children's rights violations: Parental corporal punishment under the microscope. Australian Journal of Social Issues, 59 (3), 605–619. 

• Greeff, L.-A. (2024). The normative nature of corporal punishment in Australia. Australian Journal of Social Issues, 59 (3), 620–636. 

• Haslam, D. M., Malacova, E., Higgins, D., Meinck, F., Mathews, B., Thomas, H., Finkelhor, D., Havighurst, S., Pacella, R., Erskine, H., Scott, J. G., & Lawrence, D. (2024). The prevalence of corporal punishment in Australia: Findings from a nationally representative survey. Australian Journal of Social Issues, 147.

• Savage, L. (2024). Corporal punishment: Why the intentional use of violence against children is still acceptable. Australian Journal of Social Issues, 59 (3), 667–675.

• Shafiq, M., Munir, A., & Little, S. (2024). Misconceptions about corporal punishment in Islam, Australian Journal of Social Issues, 59 (3), 676-686.

• Slep, A. M. S., Rhoades, K. A., Lorber, M. F., & Heyman, R. E. (2024). Glimpsing the Iceberg: Parent-Child Physical Aggression and Abuse. Child Maltreatment, 29(2), 219-232. 

• Havighurst, S. S., Mathews, B., Doyle, F. L., Haslam, D. M., Andriessen, K., Cubillo, C., Dawe, S., Hawes, D. J., Leung, C., Mazzucchelli, T. G., Morawska, A., Whittle, S., Chainey, C., & Higgins, D. J. (2023). Corporal punishment of children in Australia: The evidence-based case for legislative reform. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 47 (3).

• Peter Miller, Ryan Baldwin, Kerri Coomber, Bowman Nixon, Nicholas Taylor, Alexa Hayley, Dominique de Andrade (2022). The association of childhood physical abuse, masculinity, intoxication, trait aggression with victimization in nightlife districts. Child Abuse & Neglect, 23.

• Saunders, B. J. (2019). Children’s Human Rights and Social Work Advocacy: “Lawful Correction.”  Australian Social Work, 72(4), 490–502.

• Poulsen A. (2019). Corporal punishment of children in the home in Australia: a review of the research reveals the need for data and knowledge. Children Australia, 44(3), 2173.

• Poulsen, A. (2018). The role of corporal punishment in the perpetuation of intimate partner violence in Australia. Children Australia, 43(1), 2110.

• Rowland, A., Gerry, F., & Stanton, M. (2017). Physical Punishment of Children: Time to End the Defence of Reasonable Chastisement in the UK, USA and Australia. International journal of children’s rights, 25, 165-195.