Resource Sheet
Number 10 March 2005

Child abuse and neglect in Indigenous Australian communities

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How many Indigenous children in Australia experience child abuse and neglect?

As with the Australian population in general, there are problems in identifying accurate information on the prevalence of child abuse and neglect in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

The most reliable statistics available are the national child protection statistics collated by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) since 1990. These statistics suggest that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are significantly over-represented in the statutory child protection and care systems of all states and territories in comparison to the Australian population as a whole. This trend has been evident each year since the first collation in 1990.

In 2002-2003, child abuse or neglect was substantiated or confirmed by statutory child protection services for 4,334 Indigenous children (0-16 years of age) across the nation (Figure 1) (according to the latest available estimate, there were 178 700 Indigenous children aged 0-14 years in Australia (ABS, 2002)).

These data only deal with cases of child abuse that were reported to authorities (and subsequently substantiated if there was found to be evidence to support the report). They are therefore likely to be an underestimation of the incidence of child abuse in the Indigenous communities.

Since 1996-97, the rate of substantiated child abuse and neglect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children has increased in all states except Tasmania.

The over-representation of Indigenous versus non-Indigenous children as the subject of substantiated child protection reports (per 1,000 children) is demonstrated in Table 1. Despite substantial state/territory variations, Indigenous children are one and half times to ten times more likely to be the subject of a substantiated report.

Table 1. The number of children aged 0-16 years who were the subject of substantiated reports, rates per 1000 children by Indigenous status 2002-03.
State/ Territory	No. of Maltreated Indigenous children per 1,000	No. of maltreated non-Indigenous children per 1,000	Ratio of Indigenous children: non-Indigenous children
NSW	32.0	6.5	4.9: 1
VIC	55.6	5.7	9.7: 1
QLD	15.9	9.7	1.6: 1
WA	9.7	1.3	7.2: 1
SA	32.2	4.8	6.6: 1
TAS	2.5	1.8	1.4: 1
ACT	19.7	6.8	2.9: 1
NT	8.7	1.6	5.5: 1

Source: AIHW (2004)            

What maltreatment types are reported for Indigenous children in Australia?

The patterns of substantiated abuse or neglect of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander children differ from that of other Australian children (AIHW, 2004):

• In 2002-2003, Indigenous children were more likely than non-Indigenous children to be reported to child protection authorities because of neglect rather than abuse concerns. For example, in Western Australia, 50% of Indigenous children in substantiations were the subject of neglect, compared with 28% of other children.
• In 2002-2003, Indigenous children were much less likely than non-Indigenous children to be reported because of sexual abuse concerns. In New South Wales, 9% of Indigenous children in substantiations were the subject of sexual abuse, compared with 18% of other children.

What is known about child sexual abuse in Indigenous communities?

According to crime statistics recorded by NSW police in 2000, the rate of reports to police of sexual assault of Indigenous children was more than double that of non-Indigenous children (Fitzgerald & Weatherburn, 2001).

However, as with other types of abuse, the real extent of child sexual abuse in Indigenous communities is not known, as many incidents are not reported to police.

It was noted in the Robertson Report (2000) that up to 88 per cent of all rapes in Indigenous communities go unreported. Indigenous communities may fail to report for many reasons, including:

• fear of racism and reasons of shame;
• fear of reprisal from the perpetrator in small, closed communities;
• fear of pay-back from relatives;
• perceived need to protect the perpetrator due to reasons such as the high number of Indigenous deaths in custody;
• fear of the police response;
• difficulty in communicating with legal professionals (e.g., lawyers, court officials);
• absence of someone to report child abuse to in remote communities; and
• lack of trust of the 'white' system (Stanley, Tomison, & Pocock, 2003).

It has also been found that when reports are made they are often not responded to. There are several reasons why this might be the case:

• racism may cause some professionals to see child maltreatment as 'normal' for Indigenous communities;
• authorities may be fearful for their own safety because of the generally high levels of violence in the community and/or fear of retaliation for action they may take (Memmott et al., 2001);
• Indigenous workers may have particular problems when actions are taken against an offender as they are likely to live and work in the same community and the perpetrator may be a family member or a community Elder (Cunneen & Libesman, 2002); and,
• professionals who have too few resources and too much work may become stressed and experience 'burnout' (Stanley and Goddard, 2002).

Once a report is made, there may be a number of reasons why the substantiation rate of sexual abuse is lower for Indigenous, than non-Indigenous children:

• it is possible that child protection authorities and other professions there to protect the child fear responding; they may be confused about the right response, particularly given the legacy of the 'stolen generations' and the inappropriate practice of removing children;
• it is also possible that practitioners are overwhelmed by the size, complexity and number of problems associated with Indigenous communities; and
• a lack of culturally appropriate options may lead to uncertainty about what is best for an Indigenous child - remaining with some level of risk, or facing the adverse impact of cultural dislocation (Stanley, Tomison, & Pocock, 2003).

How many Indigenous children are living in out-of-home care in Australia?

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children comprise 2.7% of children in Australia, yet constitute 20% of those placed in out-of-home care (Cunneen & Libesman, 2000).

As of June 2003, there were 4,750 Aboriginal children in out-of-home care in Australia, a placement rate of 22.8 per 1,000 children aged 0-17 years. There was substantial variation across the states and territories, with the placement rate varying from 5.3 per 1,000 in Tasmania to 40.5 per 1,000 in Victoria (AIHW, 2004).

In all jurisdictions the proportion of Indigenous children on placement orders was higher than that for other children. In Victoria, the proportion for Indigenous children was 13 times and in NSW, WA and the ACT, it was over 8 times that for other children. In the NT, the rate was nearly 3 times higher (AIHW, 2004).

What is the Aboriginal Child Placement Principle?

All Australian states and territories have adopted the Aboriginal Child Placement Principle that guides the placement of Indigenous children when they are placed in care (Lock, 1997).

The Principle lays down the placement preferences to be followed when placing an Indigenous child. Consideration must first be given to a placement with kin (extended family); then to other families in the child's community, and then other Indigenous carers. Placement with non-Indigenous carers is therefore the placement of last resort (Lock, 1997).

What types of placements do Indigenous children live in?

As of June 2003, 77% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care were in the care of an Indigenous family or relative (in accordance with the Aboriginal Child Placement Principle) (AIHW, 2004).

Compliance with the Aboriginal Child Placement Principle varies significantly across the states and territories, ranging from 17% in Tasmania¹ to 87% of placements in New South Wales made in accordance with the Principle (AIHW, 2004).

What are the causes of child abuse and other family violence in Indigenous Australian communities?

Child abuse is caused by many of factors that are often related to each other. (Memmott et al., 2001).

The 'Stolen Generations' and other structural causes

The large-scale removal of Indigenous children from their families as part of what has become known as the 'stolen generations' is seen as a major contributor to the experience of trauma (Cunneen & Libesman, 2000).

Mow (1992) took a more social/political perspective and identified some of the underlying structural causes of the problem of violence among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. These societal problems include: oppression, dispossession, and the enforcement of protection and assimilationist policies up until the 1970s that fragmented many Indigenous families.

Mow also noted that cultural factors relating to 'shame' interferes both with the recognition of the problem itself, and help seeking behaviour.

Situational factors - poverty and disadvantage

Atkinson (1996) listed some of the contributing situational factors to family violence in Indigenous communities. These include: poverty; unemployment; substandard or inadequate housing; limited access to societal resources and services; loss of identity and self esteem; abusive styles of conflict resolution; sexual jealousy; imbalance and inequity between male and female roles, responsibilities, status and contribution to family life; neglect of family responsibilities; lack of respect within families; emotionally damaged family members; suicide; and alcohol abuse.

Similarly, Robertson (2000) reported that there is an association between violence in Indigenous communities and high unemployment, poor health, low educational attainment and poverty.

Female heads of households often care for large numbers of children (which may in itself be due to family violence) and are forced to live in derelict houses that cannot be adequately locked to prevent external intruders entering the house and assaulting residents (children or adults).

Intergenerational layers of trauma

A number of prominent Indigenous spokespersons believe that unresolved grief associated with multiple layers of trauma - often spanning many generations - become internalised within the family. This expresses itself in destructive behaviours such as family violence, alcohol and drug abuse, and depression and suicide (Atkinson, 1994; Pearson 2000; Robertson 2000).

Substance abuse

The literature commonly draws an association between violence in Indigenous communities and alcohol/ drug abuse. The Cape York Justice Study (Fitzgerald, 2001: 13) notes that 'the available evidence indicates clear links between alcohol consumption, violence and injury, although the relationship is complex and not necessarily one of simple causality.' Due to this complexity, it is not acceptable to only blame alcohol as the reason for the violence in Indigenous communities (Atkinson, 1991; Hunter, 1990).

A more detailed understanding of the association between the various casual factors is needed. It would appear that there may often be intervening variables. For example, the presence of domestic violence may cause children to roam the streets, making them more vulnerable to sexual abuse, especially in areas with high alcohol consumption.

Footnotes

¹The Tasmanian data most probably reflect the small size of the Indigenous population, and may reflect issues associated to the identification of Indigenous status in that state (AIHW, 2004).

References and Further Reading

Ah Kee, M. & Tilbury, M. (1999). The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child placement principle is about self-determination. Children Australia, 24(3), 4-8.

Atkinson, J. (1991). 'Stinkin thinkin' - Alcohol, violence and government responses. Aboriginal Law Bulletin, 2(51), 5-6.

Atkinson, J. (1994). Recreating the circle with We AL-Li. Aboriginal and Islander Health Worker Journal, 18(6), 8-13.

Atkinson, J. (1996a). A nation is not conquered. Aboriginal Law Bulletin, 3(80), 4-6.

Atkinson, J. (1996b). Battling a legacy of violence. The Australian, October 15, p. 12.

ABS (2002). Population Distribution, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, 2001. Canberra: ABS.

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2004). Child protection Australia (2002-03), Canberra: AIHW.

Bolger, A. (1991). Aboriginal women and violence. Darwin: North Australia Research Unit, Australian National University.

Cunneen, C., & Libesman.T. (2000). Postcolonial trauma: The contemporary removal of Indigenous children and young people from their families in Australia. Australian Journal of Social Issues, 35(2), 99-115.

Fitzgerald, T. (2001). Cape York Justice Study, Volume 1, Volume 2: The situation of Cape York Indigenous communities, Volume 3: Appendices and Attachments, November, Advanced Copy.

Gordon, S., Hallahan, K., & Henry, D. (2002). Putting the picture together: Inquiry into response by government agencies to complaints of family violence and child abuse in Aboriginal communities. Perth: Department of Premier and Cabinet, Western Australia.

Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (1997). Bringing them home: Report of the national inquiry into the separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families. Sydney: Commonwealth of Australia.

Hunter, E. (1990a). Resilience, vulnerability and alcohol in remote Aboriginal Australia. Aboriginal Health Information Bulletin, 2(46), 6-12.

Hunter, E. (1990b). Images of violence in Aboriginal Australia, Aboriginal Law Bulletin, 2(46), 12-14.

Lock, J. (1997). The Aboriginal Child Placement Principle. Sydney: New South Law Reform Commission.

Memmott, P., Stacy, R., Chambers, C., & Keys, C. (2001). Violence in Indigenous communities. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia.

Mow, K. (1992). Tjunparnii: Family violence in Indigenous Australia. Canberra: ATSIC.

Pearson, N. (2000). Our right to take responsibility. Cairns: Noel Pearson and Associates Pty Ltd.

Robertson, B. (2000). The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women's task force on violence report. Brisbane: Queensland Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Policy and Development.

SA Department of Human Services (2003), Review of Aboriginal children in non-Aboriginal care in South Australia. Adelaide: South Australia Department of Human Services. Available at: www.dhs.sa.gov.au/documents/publications/country-and-disability /Review_Aborig_children_in_non_Aborig_care.pdf

Stanley, J., Tomison, A.M., & Pocock, J. (2003). Child abuse and neglect in Indigenous Australian communities. Child Abuse Prevention Issues, 19, Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies.

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