Homogenising Australia’s child protection laws: Will the cream still rise to the top?

Abstract

This paper discusses the increasing similarity between Australia’s states and territories in their child protection legislation. The paper deals mainly with the principles underlying child protection laws, definitions of abuse and neglect, and the way legislation deals with the likelihood and severity of harm to the child. The trend is towards adopting a common set of principles, and definitions which are relatively precise in targeting particular ‘types’ of abuse and eliminating status offences. However there are significant differences even between states which broadly adopt this type of legislation, and some states adopt quite different approaches. There is still little consensus on how likelihood and severity of harm are dealt with. The paper, in welcoming the principle of common legislation, notes a wide range of issues in the developing legal paradigm which have been subject to little or no public debate. It is not clear that the increasing ‘homogenisation’ of child protection laws is enshrining the kind of legislation required.