Failing to protect disadvantaged children

25.07.2011

Australia is required by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child to develop a National Action Plan for Children in Australia (1). “Five years on it is most disturbing to learn that this requirement has not yet been actioned in Australia and plans to do so appear to be quite disjointed,” says Jayne Meyer Tucker, Chief Executive Officer at Good Beginnings Australia.

“Despite recommendations made by the UN five years ago Australia had failed to develop a national framework to ensure the rights of children were embedded in policy and, most glaringly, had failed to appoint a national Children’s commissioner” (1)

In light of the current situation ARACY along with it members and partners such as Good Beginnings has started the process of a National Action Plan (NAP) for Children and Young People, but its development is in the early stages and requires all sectors to become engaged (2).

The NAP for Children and Young People has two main goals:

(1)    To bring together the best possible evidence base as well as a stock-take of cross-sectoral activities, services, programs, research and policy across jurisdictions.
(2)    To identify evidence based strategies which build on existing work of governments, community based groups, businesses and individuals,, to give all children and young people in Australia the best chance to achieve their potential.

The aims of the NAP for Children and Young People are to align existing agendas related to children and young people. Bringing activities, services, programs, research and policy together can provide a roadmap for how governments, community based groups, businesses, professions and individuals can pool their effort to give all children and young people in Australia a good childhood and a good beginning.

Good Beginnings is a national organisation that focuses on providing better outcomes for children in vulnerable communities through effective early intervention programs. Children are the future generation, the future workforce and the future parents of tomorrow’s society. The COAG productivity agenda for Australia clearly supports a society that embraces education, skills and training with global recognition that the foundation for these occurs in the early years (3). It is a falsehood for a country to have such productivity direction and achievements for 2020, when the overarching framework of how to achieve this is ignored and/or not given the focus that it demands.

From a Good Beginnings perspective much of the work we do at a local level is spent enabling families to progress and be ‘ready to learn’. With the absence of the National Action Plan for Children and Young people our work is more difficult, and this experience is shared by many services for children and families. The absence of a NAP for Children and Young people results in some duplication and service competition, rather than always focusing resources where they are needed most.

Although the focus of the Listen to Children report launch (1) was on indigenous children this is very much the case for all Australian children. In adopting the OECD age range for children and young people a National Action Plan would provide an architecture that brings together existing Australian frameworks such as:

• The National Early Childhood Development Strategy
• The National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children
• The National Strategy for Young Australians

Other frameworks such as the National Action Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and Children are complementary to this.

An opportunity for progress exists through FaHCSIA’s consideration of the development of a National Children’s Roundtable for policy advice. A National Children’s Roundtable provides an opportunity for there to be an integrated National Action Plan (NAP) for Children and Young People in Australia – in particular to bring together the work currently facilitated by ARACY.

Good Beginnings is raising this issue for all involved with improving outcomes for children and young people between the ages of 0-24. If you are not aware of or working towards there being a NAP for Children and Young People then you are inadvertently working against Australia’s productivity agenda and more importantly Australia’s future.

Good Beginnings encourages all stakeholders to join together and demonstrate, with bipartisan agreement, support for Australia's future generation.

1)    www.canberratimes.com.au/news/national/national/general/australia-failing-its-children-report/2217299.aspx  – Australia Failing its children: report
2)    www.ARACY.org.au – National Action Plan for Children and Young People
3)    www.coag.gov.au/coag_meeting_outcomes/2007-12-20/index.cfm