Keeping things in perspective

New Zealand's rate of child abuse isn't good but neither is it far worse than other comparable countries. The rate of notifications needs to be kept in perspective.

Consider the following;

John Key said today, about the Bradford Bill, We all agree that the purpose of this legislation is to reduce New Zealand’s terrible rate of harming children.........

Australian statistics show; Notifications to child protection systems more than doubled from 107,000 in 1999-2000 to 252,000 in 2004-05, while indigenous children were over-represented in allegations of abuse, children's court orders and out-of-home care.

New Zealand had 53,097 notifications over the same period,

New Zealand's under 15 population is 867,576 = 612 notifications per 10,000
Australia's was 3,978,200 in 2005 = 633 notifications per 10,000

So loose calculations show Australia's rate of notifications is actually higher than ours. Are a majority of Australian politicians clamouring for a law change to criminalise smacking under the guise of reducing child abuse?

As far as I can ascertain this is the current legal situation in Australia, state by state; Corporal punishment in the home is regulated at state rather than at federal level, and is lawful throughout Australia under the right of “reasonable chastisement” or similar (Australian Capital Territory Child Welfare Ordinance, 1957, section 124; Northern Territory Criminal Code Act section 27; Queensland Criminal Code Act, 1899, section 280; South Australia Criminal Law Consolidation Act, 1935, section 39 and subsequent amendments; Tasmania Criminal Code Act, 1995, amended 2005, section 50; Western Australia, Criminal Code Act, 1913, section 257; Victoria under common law rule).

In New South Wales, under the Crimes Amendment (Child Protection – Physical Maltreatment) Act (2001, in effect 2002), inserting section 61AA into the Crimes Act (1900), physical punishment by a parent or caregiver is considered unreasonable if the force is applied to a child’s head or neck, or the force is applied to any part of the body in such a way as to cause, or threaten to cause, harm to the child which lasts more than a short period, and in such cases the defence of “lawful correction” does not apply.

Legal reform is being considered in Tasmania, where in 2003 the Law Reform Institute recommended the abolition of the defence of reasonable correction from criminal and civil law. As at December 2005, no changes in the law had been made.