Smacking children should be against the law because it is akin to beating wives and slaves, more than 100 health and welfare experts have told the nation’s first review of “domestic discipline’’ laws. The Queensland Law Reform Commission (QLRC) is reviewing Section 280 of the Criminal Code, which in line with other states and territories, provides a defence against assault charges for parents, carers and teachers who use “reasonable’’ corporal punishment. In a test case that could trigger changes across the country, the QLRC proposes giving children the same protection from assaults as adults – or else to limit the defence so that “parents using minimal force are not criminalised’’. It proposes banning the use of corporal punishment that injures a child; the use of implements such as wooden spoons or belts; or force applied to a child’s head, face or neck. Under the proposed reform, “force used in anger is not for the purpose of correction or discipline’’.
Bravehearts, the Daniel Morcombe Foundation and Triple P International are among 32 leading child protection organisations and research centres, along with 104 academics and child safety experts, who have signed a submission opposing corporal punishment as “ineffective, harmful and a violation of children’s rights”. The submission links the legal loophole with the historical treatment of slaves, “where the concept of a ‘master’s right’ to physically discipline subordinates, including children and slaves, was widely accepted’’. “Abolition is needed to send a clear message to parents and the community that violence is not acceptable,’’ the submission states. Smacking is a form of assault, child protection advocates have told a law reform review of corporal punishment laws. Pets enjoy greater legal protection than children, says the lead author, Associate Professor Divna Haslam of the University of Queensland’s Centre for Mental Health Research – who is also a member of the Queensland Child Death Review Board.
“Children are the only group in society in Australia that it’s still legal to hit or strike,’’ Professor Haslam said. “If you were to strike a dog or a partner, it would be considered assault, but to strike a child, there’s this defence that allows you to get away with that. I would argue that our most vulnerable population should have the highest legal protection, rather than the worst.’’ Professor Haslam said that smacking children taught them to use violence to dominate and get their own way and could lead to domestic violence as adults. “Children who experience corporal punishment are more likely to use it on their own children as adults,’’ she said. “They’re more likely to have positive attitudes towards violence as adults – they’re at a higher risk of intimate partner violence as both a victim and as a perpetrator.’’ Professor Haslam likened smacking children to domestic violence. “Originally, it was quite acceptable to beat your wife as a form of discipline and teaching your wife how to behave,’’ she said.
“I think the domestic discipline laws are a hangover of that; the law hasn’t caught up with our beliefs.’’ The academics who signed the submission include Professor Matt Sanders, founder of the Triple P positive parenting program, Emeritus Professor Michael Sawyer from the University of Adelaide, who led the first Australian child and adolescent survey of mental health, and Professor Vicki Anderson, the group leader of brain research at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. Dozens of criminologists, psychologists and health leaders also signed the submission, including Canterbury Hospital clinical nurse consultant in child protection, Rheannwynn Sneesby, and Professor Shanti Raman, the co-director of community pediatrics at the Southwestern Sydney Local Health District. The experts told the QLRC review that “domestic discipline’’ contravened the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and was “out of step with current societal beliefs’’.
“Children are entitled to the same legal protection from violence as adults,’’ the submission states. “Decades of research have shown corporal punishment is associated with a range of harms for children. These include increased aggression, anti-social behaviour, and poor emotional regulation, as well as anxiety, depression, and substance abuse later in life.’’ The submission cites Queensland Child Death Review Board findings that teenagers have suicided “in the context of harsh corporal punishment and family violence’’. “Legislation permitting corporal punishment exposes children to practices that are known to cause psychological and physical harm,’’ it states. “By legally validating the use of physical force by caregivers, the defence blurs the line between discipline and abuse.’’ Every state and territory give parents, and sometimes teachers, a defence against assault charges for smacking, slapping or pinching children. The NSW Crimes Act gives parents the defence of “lawful correction’’ for “reasonable’’ physical force used to punish children, so long as harm is for a “short period’’.
The NSW criminal law firm Lamont Law advises that “any force applied to a child’s head or neck will be found to be unreasonable’’. “Generally anything that causes bruising, scratches, muscle strain, or bleeding will be considered excessive and unreasonable, and the defence will not apply,’’ it states on its website. “In most cases, the court allows this defence for striking or “smacking” that causes only temporary ‘redness’ or physical contact that causes no marking or lasting pain.’’ In Queensland, the Criminal Code states that “it is lawful for a parent or a person in the place of a parent, or for a schoolteacher or master, to use, by way of correction, discipline, management or control, towards a child or pupil, under the person’s care such force as is reasonable under the circumstances’’. Victoria’s Criminal Code states that it is lawful for a parent or carer to use “reasonable force by way of correction’’.
Professor Haslam’s joint submission states that corporal punishment has been banned in 68 other countries, including New Zealand, Germany, Kenya, Japan and Sweden. It says the Queensland loophole – which is replicated across Australia – is used “as a bar of prosecution against a range of criminal charges, including common assault and grievous bodily harm’’. Queensland Family and Child Commission principal commissioner Luke Twyford called for a ban on smacking. “Decades of evidence shows violence is ineffective as a form of discipline,” Mr Twyford said. “It carries a risk of physical, emotional and social harm that can affect all areas of a child’s life, including their performance at school, their relationships with friends and family members, and their emotional and mental wellbeing. “In the long term, research tells us that children who experience corporal punishment can become adults who show aggression, have difficulty managing their emotions, or use violence against their own children.’’
Source: Compiled by APN from media reports
Print This Post
Comments are closed