The Taskforce’s submission to the Industry Standards being developed by the eSafety Commission regarding Class 1A and 1B material, across Designated Internet Services and Relevant Electronic Services. The Taskforce called for strengthened protections for children in online spaces.
PDF DownloadThe Australian Child Rights Taskforce is urgently calling for a renewed commitment by all Australian governments to meeting international human rights standards in youth justice, after Queensland overturned its own Human Rights Act to detain children in adult watch houses
PDF DownloadA letter from the Child Rights Taskforce to the eSafety Commissioner regarding the draft industry Online Safety Codes
PDF DownloadThe Child Rights Taskforce has made a series of recommendations to the Productivity Commission through a submission to the Inquiry into Access to Justice Arrangements.
The Human Rights Law Centre has made a submission to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security in relation to the Australian Citizenship Amendment (Allegiance to Australia) Bill 2015. The submission outlines numerous human rights concerns with the Bill which proposes stripping dual citizens of their Australian citizenship in certain circumstances.
SNAICC recently submitted a response to the Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) on the Child Care Assistance Package. The submission focuses on how the proposed reforms to child care are likely to impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, families and services.
UNICEF Australia has recently made a submission to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security in which it expresses deep concern about the potential implications the Australian Citizenship Amendment (Allegiance to Australia) Bill 2015 could have on the rights of children.
On 13 May 2015, the Human Rights Law Centre and UNICEF Australia made a joint submission to the Senate Select Committee regarding recent allegations relating to conditions and circumstances at the Regional Processing Centre in Nauru.
UNICEF Australia has welcomed the Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop’s unveiling of its new policy and benchmarks for Australia’s foreign aid program.
UNICEF Australia Chief Executive Officer Norman Gillespie said the announcement was evidence of Ms Bishop’s commitment and conviction in ensuring every dollar of Australian aid was maximised.
Dr Gillespie said the benchmarks of Australia’s aid program were central to international development and humanitarian aid organisations, like UNICEF, in delivering accountability and transparency to donors, governments, corporate and NGO partners and the communities in which they work.
“We endorse the Foreign Minister’s efforts to adopt a similar commitment to transparency and accountability that keeps the focus on delivering development and rights to the most vulnerable, including children. We look forward to the Australian Government redoubling its commitment in striving to reach the poorest of the poor, an opportunity which this new framework enables them to do,” Dr Gillespie said.
Dr Gillespie said the Abbott Government’s move from a model of “donor-recipient” to economic partnership was an opportunity to tackle challenging dynamics across regions that were inclusive of all sectors.
However, he cautioned that policies must continue to focus on the most vulnerable.
“Any effort by a donor government to extend the hand of partnership should be strongly supported. Economic growth is crucial to tackling poverty but all aid and development organisations are acutely aware that aid is at its most effective when it is targeting the hardest to reach,” Dr Gillespie said.
Dr Gillespie said it was very encouraging to see a focus on advancing the interest of women and girls.
“It is an ambitious commitment to extend 80 per cent of the aid program to tackle gender equity, and when achieved, promises significant positive change as we know women and girls are so often the drivers of sustainable, holistic development,” he said.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Tim O’Connor, UNICEF Australia
(02) 8917 3247 / 0435 206 273
[email protected]
Kate Moore, UNICEF Australia
(02) 8917 3244 / 0407 150 771
[email protected]
Statement by Geraldine Atkinson, SNAICC Deputy Chairperson (Early Childhood)
SNAICC is extremely concerned that recommendations in the review of the Budget Based Funded (BBF) program have the potential to drastically change the program’s focus and have a detrimental impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families.
The BBF program funds some 270 Aboriginal early childhood services, which provide an array of services beyond child care — including nutrition, transport, family support, health and early intervention programs.
SNAICC identifies particular concerns across the following areas of the BBF review:
Service sustainability and the transition to Child Care Benefit
SNAICC is highly concerned about the emphasis placed on BBF services eventually becoming self-sustaining. While SNAICC believes BBF services should be supported to seek additional funding, this recommendation ignores the reality that many of these services operate in disadvantaged communities where a mainstream, self-sustaining child care model, that relies on the community paying, is not feasible. The review appears to contradict its own recommendation when it identifies that these services are usually located in communities where the market is unable to support the viable operation of the service.
Linked to this, SNAICC is extremely concerned with the recommendation that some BBF services be transitioned to Child Care Benefit (CCB) funding. While there are limitations in the current BBF model, simply shifting services to the mainstream childcare funding model is clearly not the answer.
Many services and sector experts have reinforced to SNAICC compelling reasons why the model would be incompatible for many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander early childhood services. Likely impacts include:
Requirement to charge fees
Key to BBF services’ ability to deliver culturally-centred care to some of Australia’s most vulnerable communities is that they generally charge little or no fee, recognising that this is critical to enable access for their families. However, among the review’s eight recommendations are that a service fee requirement be introduced.
SNAICC is highly concerned that charging fees will limit participation of the most disadvantaged families and children. Many BBF services do currently charge fees. Those that don’t, do this for a reason —namely that they understand that charging a fee would limit participation in vital early childhood and family support programs.
SNAICC does, however, support the recommendation that where services do choose to charge fees, the amount be set by the service based on the profile of the community and the families who attend the service.
Refocusing of program objectives
SNAICC is concerned that the review does not include a focus on urban centres in addition to regional and remote services. Evidence clearly indicates that there are still disadvantaged Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations within urban centres. We maintain that there is a strong need for culturally appropriate, integrated and affordable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander early years services within urban, regional and remote areas.
We are also highly concerned that the review recommends a shift of the program objective to be limited to child care and early learning services — this change ignores the need for multifunctional and integrated early years and family support services, such as the Multifunctional Aboriginal Children’s Services (MACS) model.
We also dispute the assumption that the existence of the National Quality Framework negates the need for culturally competent services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families. This need still exists, regardless of the existence of the NQF. The review has ignored the unique strengths of community-controlled services in family and community engagement, passing on culture, and supporting positive cultural identity for young children. It has also ignored the contribution of these services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community development and employment.
SNAICC does however support the emphasis on embedding quality and continuous improvement practices within BBF services, and agrees that measures need to be taken to “reduce administrative burden and improve the effectiveness of administrative obligations to benefit services and departmental management.”
In conclusion, SNAICC strongly believes that any reform of the BBF program must respond to and seek to address the persistently low educational, health and wellbeing outcomes experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.
Any changes to the current non-mainstream early childhood education and care model must ensure that they advance rather than undermine these outcomes.
Media inquiries:
Frank Hytten, SNAICC CEO, on 0432 345 652;
Holly Mason-White, SNAICC Senior Policy Officer, on 0405 827 274
Giuseppe Stramandinoli, SNAICC Media Officer, on 0419 508 125
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