Helen Kroger (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise this evening to speak about the urgent needs of adults surviving child abuse. As co-convenor of Parliamentarians Against Child Abuse, known as PACAN, I have taken a very keen interest in the critical work undertaken by ASCA—Adults Surviving Child Abuse. ASCA is a national charity which works to advance the wellbeing of Australian adults who have suffered any form of abuse or neglect in childhood. The time is long overdue for all governments to support some two million forgotten Australians. There is a very practical way for this to occur. Last year, on 16 November, Australia said sorry to the forgotten Australians and child migrants. Sadly, most abuse occurs in the home and family, perpetrated by someone the child knows.

Forget-Me-Knot Day is on 12 November this year. It is a national day on which ASCA asks all Australians to unite in support of the more than two million adults surviving child abuse. To support this worthy cause all Australians are encouraged to wear a tangled knot, the symbol of the day. This day brings together communities from around Australia and acknowledges those whose childhoods have betrayed them. There is still a need for ongoing community and government support in this vital area. All adult Australians abused as children deserve and need our help and support. For too long child abuse survivors have been forgotten by governments and the community. The cost to individuals, families and communities in social, health and economic terms is a national disgrace.

National and international research has demonstrated a number of adverse impacts of child abuse and neglect, many of which are associated with significant financial costs for individuals and the communities in which they live. These include future drug and alcohol abuse, mental illness, poor health, homelessness, juvenile offending, criminality and incarceration. While not all children who have suffered abuse or neglect go on to develop these problems, child maltreatment often comes at great cost to individuals and society.

A 2007 Australian university initiated study of over 21,000 older Australians found that over 13 per cent of those surveyed reported having been either sexually or physically abused in childhood or both. These figures do not include those who have been emotionally abused, neglected or forced to live in domestic violence situations. The study found child abuse survivors are almost 2½ times as likely to have poor mental health outcomes, four times more likely to be unhappy even in much later life, and more likely to have poor physical health. Childhood physical and sexual abuse increases the risk of having three or more medical diseases, including cardiovascular events in women. It causes a higher prevalence of broken relationships and lower rates of marriage in later life, lower levels of social support, an increased risk of living alone, and an increased likelihood of smoking, substance abuse and physical inactivity. ASCA is the key national organisation working to meet the needs of these people.

In 2008, the Australian Childhood Foundation, along with Child Abuse Prevention Research Australia, published a research paper entitled The cost of child abuse in Australia. The study estimated that the annual cost of child abuse and neglect for all people ever abused in Australia was $4 billion in 2007, while the value of the burden of disease—a measure of lifetime costs of fear, mental anguish and pain relating to child abuse and neglect—represented a staggering $6.7 billion and could be as high as $30.1 billion. The report also estimated that the lifetime costs for the population of children reportedly abused for the first time in 2007 would be $6 billion, with the burden of disease representing a further $7.7 billion and could be as high as $38.7 billion, including the monetary value of the pain and suffering that survivors experience.

ASCA relies on funding from a mixture of modest private sponsorship and government funding. The organisation wishes to secure a more stable, predictable and longer-term funding stream with which to sustain its much-needed support services for a population of child abuse survivors that are otherwise passed over by most government health or social justice budget allocations. A business case for funding has been submitted to the federal government, which I have further endorsed in correspondence to the minister. The need of this organisation over a three-year period is for about $500,000, which seems significantly small. When one considers the annual financial cost of dealing with child abuse in Australia versus the cost of funding this worthy organisation, I cannot find any reason for Minister Macklin and the government not to take up this cause.

Some of the work of this organisation includes the operation of a 1300 telephone line, which is operated between 9 am and 5 pm Monday to Friday. This line is manned by qualified and experienced trauma counsellors. It also produces a monthly newsletter, in both electronic and hard-copy versions, for members and subscribers and a quarterly e-health bulletin for health professionals. It also has a comprehensive interactive website with extensive resources for survivors, supporters and healthcare professionals.

ASCA’s other core service is its workshops. In 2008 their research and program manager developed a set of psychoeducational Creating New Possibilities workshops, following extensive literature research in the trauma area. These provide evidence based services designed specifically for adult survivors of child abuse. In 2009 these were delivered with the support of the federal government, which funded 20 of these workshops. The response was extraordinary and it served to reaffirm that there was an unsatisfied demand for these services, which continues today. Workshops were conducted in city and regional areas to consistently high acclaim. In 2009 ASCA delivered almost 50 workshops around Australia to survivors, their supporters and healthcare professionals.

Psychoeducational workshops for survivors provide information about how the abuse suffered in childhood may be impacting current and past behaviours and feelings as well as physical and psychological health. These workshops provide much-needed insight as well as tools for positive change. The workshops address the core underlying issues of abuse, promoting enhanced health and wellbeing and more meaningful engagement in the community. This reduces the social and health repercussions of unaddressed abuse and neglect. These include suicide, self-harm and other mental and physical health repercussions; substance abuse and criminality; and family dysfunction and breakdown. These programs help reduce disadvantage, chronic marginalisation and social exclusion.

Without further funding assurances, ASCA will not be able to sustain a skeletal support program—let alone expand its services to meet the clear demand. An urgent positive response to funding would mean the difference between fulfilling a community need and turning away adult survivors of child abuse. Without question, ASCA’s priority is the health and wellbeing of Australian survivors of child abuse. The latest round of workshops will finish in Canberra at the end of this month. When these finish, ASCA has no identified government funding to keep them going into 2011. Needless to say, this circumstance puts significant pressure on the operations of this organisation.

In conclusion, whilst some survivors show remarkable resilience and function well, many do not. Without the right help, many survivors continue to struggle in their daily lives. Untangling the knot of their child abuse can continue right into their old age. For the sake of these victims, I implore Minister Macklin to grant ongoing concurrent funding for ASCA.