National Child Protection Framework

The Children’s Protection Society was pleased to host the launch of the Australian Government’s Discussion Paper ‘Australia’s Children Safe and Well’ by Federal Minister for Families Jenny Macklin in their Heidelberg Gardens with children, staff and friends on Sunday25th May.

Minister Macklin commenced the launch with some very kind words about CPS’s reputation as a welcoming and caring organisation for children before going on to outline some of the key initiatives in the discussion paper.
Bernadette Burchell, Chief Executive Officer for CPS applauds this landmark document in child protection history which aims to address the unacceptable increases in substantiated cases of child abuse and neglect across Australia. It calls for a more integrated co-ordinated approach across States and Territories to ensure Australia’s children are better protected no matter where they live. “It promises accountability for the welfare of all Australian children and considerable new resources as the Commonwealth potentially aligns its investments in relevant areas of housing, income security, family payments and child care for this purpose.”

CPS is particularly interested in the stronger prevention focus and better collaboration between services proposed in the Framework. “We really need to think about how to walk beside these vulnerable children and parents in the formative years of life to ensure the healthiest possible development and connection to school, community and a chance to grow up to be parents who reliably care for and nurture their children” said Bernadette. “This will require universal health and children’s services to focus on including these vulnerable children and much greater collaboration between housing, Centrelink and community health.”