The Wire

Theresa Scott believes child abuse is Australia’s most serious social problem. The President of the National Association for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (or NAPCAN), likens its impact on the social fabric of society to that of climate change. And at the beginning of National Child Protection week, it’s an issue she says say deserves more attention. The Little Children are Sacred Report released earlier this year brought national focus to epidemic levels of child abuse in some Indigenous communities but as Scott explains, children in all communities around Australia, can be, and are, subjected to abuse – whether it be physical, sexual or psycological. Australia’s National Child Abuse Prevention Strategy was abandoned in 1990 with the role of Federal Minister for Children abolished after the 2004 election . With reports of abuse at a record high, Teresa Scott would like to see governments reinstate a national approach to something she says, effects all Australians.