Understanding Child Protection Laws in Australia, Exams of Law

Download Understanding Child Protection Laws in Australia and more Exams Law in PDF only on Docsity! The legal framework Questions and answers In Australia's legal system, there are two kinds of law: CORRECT ANSWERS✅ • legislation (statute law/acts) • common law. Statutes, or laws, CORRECT ANSWERS✅ are the legislation enacted by either state/territory parliaments and/or federal/Commonwealth parliament. These are called Acts of Parliament, or Acts. Common law CORRECT ANSWERS✅ is a body of law built up over many years based on precedent or previous decisions made by courts and judges. It is sometimes called 'judge-made' law. Australian common law was inherited from English common law and later extended by decisions made in Australian courts. Duty of care is a part of common law (i.e. there is no 'Duty of Care Act'). Within Australia's legal system, there are two avenues for dealing with breaches of law: CORRECT ANSWERS✅ • civil courts • criminal courts. Civil courts CORRECT ANSWERS✅ deal with civil disputes, such as property disputes and lawsuits for negligence compensation or debts, and any matters where there is a dispute that does not involve a criminal offence. Focus: Focus is on the future: the child's safety and best interest Outcome: Decision is made about whether the child is in need of protection The legal framework Questions and answers Criminal courts CORRECT ANSWERS✅ deal with criminal offences, such as theft, assault, distribution of illegal drugs, public indecency or damage to property, and identity or financial fraud. Focus: Focus is on the past: judging the guilt of the accused Outcome: Punishment of the offender, which may involve incarceration International law CORRECT ANSWERS✅ Australia is committed to enhancing the adherence to international law to prevent conflict and restore peace and security. - Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Australia is also a party to the seven-core international Human Rights treaties, which means voluntarily accepting legal obligations under international law. Of the seven treaties listed in Table 16, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, charted by the United Nations in 1989 and adopted by Australia in 1991, contains internationally adopted children's rights principles that guide Australia's child protection legislation children's rights principles that guide Australia's child protection legislation including: CORRECT ANSWERS✅ • respect for the best interests of the child as a primary consideration • the right to survival and development • the right of all children to express their views freely on all matters affecting them • the right of all children to enjoy all the rights of the Convention on the Rights of the Child without discrimination of any kind (Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2018). The legal framework Questions and answers The Mandatory Reporter Guide CORRECT ANSWERS✅ The Mandatory Reporter Guide (Long URL: https://reporter.childstory.nsw.gov.au/s/mrg) supports educators and school staff in the reporting process. When mandatory reporters have concerns about the safety, welfare or wellbeing of a child or young person they are to use the MRG in deciding whether to report their concerns to the Child Protection Helpline or identify what alternative responses and supports should be provided. Other relevant legislation for NSW workers, who work with children and young persons, are: CORRECT ANSWERS✅ • NSW Work, Health and Safety Act 2011 (Long URL: https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-2011- 010#pt.8-div.1) refers to a worker's obligation to contribute to a Duty of Care. • Child Protection (Working with Children) Act 2012 (Long URL: Child Protection (Working with Children) Act 2012 No 51 - NSW Legislation) requires all adults, paid or volunteer who have access to children or young persons, in a service or school, to have a current Working With Children Check number. There is a different identification number for volunteers and paid employees. The WWCC is available through the Office of the Children's Guardian. The WWCC number must be shown on request at an educational institution or service. • Crimes Act 1990 (section 316 and 43B) refer to offences related to a failure - Further Child Protection Laws in NSW can be found at the Department of Communities and Justice website (Long URL: https://www.facs.nsw.gov.au/providers/children- families/interagency- guidelines/child-wellbeing-and-protection-laws-in- nsw/chapters/childrens- guardian-act-2019). Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) CORRECT ANSWERS✅ The main government department in NSW that puts this child protection law into practice is the Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ), which works in partnership The legal framework Questions and answers with non- governmental organizations (NGOs), other agencies, parents, families and the community who all share in the responsibility to protect children. To protect children, professionals who work with children and young people must adhere to: CORRECT ANSWERS✅ 1. The Australian legal system, including civil and criminal law, 2. The national framework 3. The state and territory child abuse legislation. 4. The organisation's own standards, policies and procedures which provide guidance on a number of critical matters (i.e. how to uphold duty of care, make ethical decisions, respond to disclosures of abuse and report a child or young person at risk of significant harm) (Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2015). What is duty of care? CORRECT ANSWERS✅ Australian common law imposes a 'duty' on all of us to take 'reasonable care' that our actions do not cause foreseeable harm or injury to others. In daily life, we should behave sensibly when we are around other people and avoid causing harm to others by being careless. Duty of care extends to the role of workers in relation to child protection. Workers in a range of job roles providing services to children and young people are bound by a duty of care that requires you to report any suspicions of abuse. For School Learning Support Officers, it is vital to ensure that your Educational Organisation's Duty of Care Protocols are followed. If a child or young person is at risk of significant harm, any member of the community, including mandatory reporters, should report their concerns. In NSW, The legal framework Questions and answers mandatory reporters and non-mandatory reporters, including the general public, should phone 132 111 ( (NSW Communities & Justice, n.d.). Aspects to duty of care: CORRECT ANSWERS✅ • legal - check state/territory child protection legislation • ethical/professional - What are the ethical considerations? • organisational - What does your organisation, service policies and procedures say? • community - What do the parents, family, carers and other community members expect you to do? • personal - What do your own beliefs and values suggest you do? What is negligence? CORRECT ANSWERS✅ Negligence is another word for carelessness. To be negligent means to fail in your duty of care by acting carelessly and causing harm to others, or to fail in acting in a way that is required in a particular role. The principle of duty of care is that you have an obligation to avoid acts or negligence that could be reasonably foreseen to cause harm to a child or young person. In child protection, if you are aware of indications that a child has been harmed and you fail to meet legislative or practice requirements for reporting this and for safeguarding the child, this is likely to be counted as negligence. It is now a criminal offence, under the Crimes Act 1990, for adults to fail to protect a child from abuse or report on a case of abuse. Duty of care relationship CORRECT ANSWERS✅ A duty of care relationship exists whenever one person's actions may reasonably be expected to affect another person. The key word here is 'reasonably' - we are not expected to predict unlikely or unusual outcomes of our actions. The legal framework Questions and answers legislation in each state/territory identifies the occupations in which reporting concerns about children at risk of abuse or neglect is mandatory. In NSW mandatory reporting is regulated by the Children and Young Persons Care and Protection Act 1998, which outlines that it is mandatory to report physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, neglect, and exposure to family violence. Who has to report? CORRECT ANSWERS✅ Mandatory reporters deliver the following services, wholly or partly, to children as part of their paid or professional work. In NSW, the following persons are legally mandated by Sections 23 and 27 of the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 (NSW) to report concerns about a child or young person at risk of abuse or neglect: • A person who, in the course of his or her professional work, or other paid employment, delivers health care, welfare, education, children's services, residential services or law enforcement, wholly or partly, to children. • A person who holds a management position in an organisation, the duties of which include direct responsibility for, or direct supervision of, the provision of health care, welfare, education, children's services, residential services or law enforcement, wholly or partly, to children. • A person in religious ministry, or a person providing religion-based activities to children. • A registered psychologist providing a professional service as a psychologist. What has to be reported? CORRECT ANSWERS✅ The NSW government requires that a mandatory reporter have suspicion on reasonable grounds that a child is at risk of significant harm due to: • physical abuse • sexual abuse The legal framework Questions and answers • emotional/psychological abuse • neglect • exposure to domestic violence (Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2020).