Rowan Ramsey (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There was a report released today by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare benchmarking where Australia's children are today in relation to their safety and welfare. It highlights the fact that as a nation we need to seriously consider where we are going in relation to child welfare.

The report tells us that in the last three years child sexual abuse has risen by 26 per cent, substantiated cases of child abuse have surged by 30 per cent and there has been a 30 per cent rise in child neglect. This is all in the same period—the last three years. If alarm bells were not ringing, they should be now. It is time to stand up and bring parents to account for their responsibilities. We need to reflect on what role governments can play and, all too often at the moment, it is to the pick up the pieces at the end and try and rescue the child's life. We know too many grandparents, kinship parents and foster parents who are being asked to take up the role which is the direct responsibility of the parents. The great underlying questions here for us in this parliament are: 'What is going wrong with our family units?' and: 'Is this place contributing to their unravelling?'

Certainly, the time to deliver better education for prospective parents on what their responsibilities are and what bringing a child into the world means is well past. Most of us feel our way through parenthood by relying on the robust role model of our parents that has worked well for millennia. But, sadly, an increasing number of people starting families have not had the advantage of a stable, loving and nurturing upbringing, and in many cases, despite good intentions, they are just not equipped for the job or, indeed, they make the decision to put their needs before their children.

Over 43,000 children are not living with their families, with half of these in kinship care and the other half in foster care. The number of substantiated cases of child abuse have jumped by eight per cent in the last three years and, tragically, 25 per cent of those physically abused in the last three years are Indigenous. I do not want to get off the subject, but that statistic alone should convince any of those who may seek to frustrate the introduction of the cashless credit card trial in Ceduna that is before the Senate at the moment.

While we respect the differences in families and the right to nurture in different ways, there are some rules of parenting that are universal. Rule No. 1 will always be to love your children more than you love yourself. Putting children first is not buying them everything they want. It is not letting them misbehave. It is being there for them, taking the time to show them the difference between right and wrong and reinforcing their self-worth. Children need and crave consistency in their lives. They need to know what the rules and boundaries of their behaviour are within the family unit. They need to know both parents are on the same page. They need to attend school. They need a bedtime. They need parents who know where they are and who they are hanging out with.

There are some excellent parenting programs, and some are school based. And though I am loath to crowd our school curriculum even more, this has to occur where we can have the attention of young people who are our future parents.

As a society, we also need to say to parents, 'Your children are your responsibility, and it is not acceptable that you put yourself before your children.' I posed the question earlier as to what the driver is of the increasing breakdown of families and what part this place, the parliament, plays in that demise?

I am a conservative by nature, and you may well ask: what does that mean? Well, from my point of view a conservative resists change until convinced that whatever change proposed is going to lead to a change for the better—not that it may be a little better or at least different, or not that others have tried whatever remedy that may be proposed at that time and they like it. I must be convinced that it will—and with the emphasis on 'will'—make for a better outcome.

I am not going to round on any particular decisions that this or previous governments have made that have led to the breakdown of the family unit, but it is worth us all reflecting on the proposition that actions of the past may well have done so. Even more importantly, the actions of the future have the ability to add to the demise of the family unit, or perhaps particularly wise and inspired actions may lead to the arrest of its decline and to the resurrection of the family unit, with all the responsibility that in turn imparts on parents.

So it is, with these terrible figures released today, that the declining outcomes for children can only be arrested if families step up to the mark—if parents meet their moral responsibilities and know what those responsibilities are and how to execute them. The responsibility for that outcome, at least in part, lies with us here in Canberra.