This report has been submitted to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (Children’s Committee) by the Australian Child Rights Taskforce. In this integrated report, the views of children and young people across Australia sit in close association with the contributions of 93 non-government organisations (NGOs) and subject matter experts committed to improving the protection, promotion and fulfilment of the rights of all children and young people in Australia. The report presents the findings from a national consultation with children and young people, conducted by UNICEF Australia. UNICEF Australia met face to face with and heard from 527 children and young people ranging from four to 24 years of age, holding 58 consultations in 30 different geographical locations around Australia (see map on page 7).
Some of the issues revealed in this report include high rates of violence and abuse of children in familial and institutional settings; and insufficient investment in population-wide, early intervention to prevent future interaction with Australia’s failing child protection and youth justice systems. They also include the Australian Government’s punitive approach towards asylum seeker and refugee children, and the persistent, systemic, intersecting and entrenched disadvantage experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children across all areas of the Children’s Convention. The report includes the voices of children in out-of-home care (OOHC) and highlights the particular vulnerabilities of children in OOHC, indigenous children, LGBTQIA children, and more.
