Andrew Murray (WA, Australian Democrats) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

That the Senate take note of the responses from the Premier of Queensland, the Premier of Victoria and the Northern Territory Minister for Family and Community Services regarding the Senate resolution calling on the state and territory governments to respond to the recommendations outlined in the Community Affairs References Committee’s reports Forgotten Australians and Protecting vulnerable children.

As the Deputy President will recall, those reports received a government response, and the government response indicated that many of the matters that the Senate committee had attended to were the province of the state governments. I am pleased to see that the state and territory governments have indicated that they regard these matters as very serious ones requiring further and detailed consideration, and that they intend to come back to the Senate with a much more detailed response.

The motivation behind the motion requesting this response from those governments was initiated by me, Senator Humphries and Senator McLucas, so it was a cross-party motion. The response we had as a group of people to the federal government’s response was one of disappointment. We were disappointed, and I am disappointed, that sufficient had not been done with respect to those reports. In my opinion, the federal government failed to take the lead and failed to avail itself of the opportunity to show leadership on the widespread problem of child abuse and its consequences.

We know that, constitutionally, child protection is a states and territories responsibility. Nonetheless, on a matter of such national importance to do with our nation’s most precious resource, its children, the coalition government let a golden opportunity pass by. I find it difficult, when faced with a government which is determined and quite forceful in implementing a national workplace relations system, to understand why it is timid and backward with respect to a national approach to child protection. That sort of attitude beats me. The only answer I can ever come up with is that the cabinet as a whole, unlike many members of the parties that represent the government, just do not get it. They do not get that if you hurt and break the spirit of a child, you will have decades of a harmed adult to deal with. By not getting it, by not doing the hard yards now, federal governments will continue to confront the long-term social and economic costs of child abuse, because an abused child results in decades of cost to the community.

I note that the government plans to discuss mental health at the next COAG meeting. This is important and very encouraging news, but it is far better to tackle the problem at its source. There is enough research available that tells us the mental health system is filled with survivors of prolonged, repeated childhood trauma. Judith Herman, in her book, Trauma and Recovery, wrote:

... abuse in childhood appears to be one of the main factors that lead a person to seek psychiatric help as an adult.

My fellow committee members—and I remind the Senate that those reports were unanimous—and all others involved in these inquiries know full well the tragic outcomes of abused childhoods. It is not an exaggeration to say that, of the hundreds of submissions received from those who had experienced out of home care as children, an overwhelming majority wrote of adulthoods plagued with mental health problems. Depression, post traumatic stress disorder and suicide attempts are common amongst those people.

Not surprisingly, such disorders have meant many ruined adulthoods and ruined relationships. Quite apart from mental health problems, there are a myriad of other associated problems which can follow on from abuse as a child, such as homelessness, welfare dependency, substance abuse, criminal behaviour and relationship problems. Even more tragic is the tendency for some of these people to produce yet another generation of victims. And I can assure the Senate that I have read submissions which indicate that such a generation will go back to great-grandmothers in some circumstances, so you have to break the cycle.

This leads me to another level of disappointment with the government’s response to, in particular, the recommendations of the Forgotten Australians report. Essentially, its general shrugging of the shoulders response means that the forgotten Australians feel that they are to remain just that—forgotten. There was the token acknowledgement that what occurred was tragic and that:

The suffering experienced by so many children placed in institutional care is a matter of shame for this country.

It is not just a matter of shame; it is one that needs to be remedied. It certainly warranted more concrete action by the federal government than the somewhat paltry response that they put up. Instead, time and again any responsibility was, on constitutional grounds again, handballed across to the states. The states have lots of areas of concern that the Commonwealth still takes leadership on, such as water, property rights, workplace relations and defamation law. There are numerous recent instances, and they should do the same on child protection.

Rather than taking up the recommendation to establish a national reparations fund, as exists in Canada, Ireland and even Tasmania, that measure was not considered necessary. How wrong the government has been on this issue. Having been denied justice for decades, such a fund would have meant so much to so many, and it would get us away from a litigious and open-pocket approach to one which is manageable and has a finite limit. But nowhere was the government willing to put its hand in its pocket. What a contrast when you consider the millions it splashes around on things that matter, like advertising IR! It has spent more on its advertising campaign on obesity alone than it has been willing to spend in this area. I look forward to hearing from the various states and the territories regarding this Senate resolution. I am glad of their interim response. I trust that the states and territories will end up showing a more dynamic, generous and perceptive response than in my view the federal government has. I seek leave to continue my remarks later.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.