This report proposes a public health approach to promoting safe and supportive family environments for children and preventing child maltreatment in Australia. According to the report, a public health approach focuses on the problem of child maltreatment (and its antecedent risk factors) as it exists on a continuum of severity, and aims to modify the risks for child maltreatment in the entire population, improving family environments more broadly.
The report describes the nature of a public health intervention and defines the importance of safe and supportive family environments for children, identifying the outcomes that are related to different types of family environments. The report also presents policy and programming implications, including those related to parenting support, public information campaigns, and targeted referrals for intensive family support.
