Date: Tuesday 4th July 2023
Time: 10.00am–12.30pm
Venue: Ionic Room, Sydney Masonic Centre
66 Goulburn Street, Sydney
ACWA is pleased to invite practitioners, policy makers and researchers to join us at a forum to explore the landmark findings of the Australian Child Maltreatment Study.
This is a fantastic opportunity to hear directly from one of the Study’s principal authors, Professor Ben Mathews, what the ‘gold standard science’ is telling us about child maltreatment in Australia, and how this research might align or further inform our approaches.
The event will be opened by The Hon. Kate Washington MP, NSW Minister for Families and Communities, and hosted by ACWA CEO, Maree Walk.
Guest speakers will include:
- Elaine Thomson, Acting Executive Director, NSW Office of the Senior Practitioner, DCJ
- Annette Michaux, Director, The Parenting Research Centre
- Dr Paul Gray, Associate Professor, UTS Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research
- Anne Hollonds, National Children’s Commissioner
On 3rd April 2023 the Australian Child Maltreatment Study team published the primary outcomes of the study in a special supplement of the Medical Journal of Australia and in a report. It found a large percentage of Australians have experienced some form of child maltreatment.
These findings also highlight that the harm associated with experiences of child maltreatment crystallise early, differences are evident by age 24, and appear to persist over life, with differences still being apparent in people 45 years and older.
The ACMS has found that Australians who experience maltreatment are substantially more likely to have
- mental health disorders
- health risk behaviours
- higher health service utilisation.
These landmark findings are deeply sobering for our nation, showing that child maltreatment is widespread in Australia and associated with early and persistent harm. They are the first national prevalence estimates of the five types of child maltreatment and associated impacts generated in Australia.
Join us in starting a critical discussion in the child and family area on how we shift the service system for parents, children and young people to meet the challenges that the ACMS poses for us all.