Policy Forum Pod

Two-thirds of Australians experience one or more forms of abuse or neglect as children. Daryl Higgins, a co-author of a new ground-breaking study into child maltreatment, joins us to discuss the findings, and what needs to be done to stop the cycle of abuse.  WARNING: This episode discusses child abuse, sexual assault and suicide. The Australian Child Maltreatment Study published in The Medical Journal of Australia is the first national survey in the world to examine in detail the experiences of all forms of child maltreatment and the associated health and social consequences. To prevent children from suffering further, Higgins says there needs to be a focus on redefining the health care system as a trauma response service.  It is also vital we do not just concentrate on children, but on the parents too. “Parents themselves will come to this task of parenting having likely experienced their own child maltreatment,” he says. If this podcast has raised some issues for you, or someo