Media Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

29 June 2011

Specialist training is the key to stopping child abuse

Child abuse prevention organisation, Child Matters, supports comments by Dr Patrick Kelly at the Kahui inquest about health professionals still not being sufficiently trained to pick up child abuse. In fact, Child Matters strongly believes that a lack of training is an issue well beyond just the health sector.

Child Matters spokesperson, Amanda Meynell, says “There are numerous people throughout our communities that are in excellent positions to recognise when a child is being abused – not just in health but in education, early childhood, social services, community organisations and sport, to name just a few.”

“Within these sectors there is a huge need for people to engage in specialist training to recognise child abuse and know what to do when they are worried about a child. New Zealand is one of the few countries in the OECD that does not have compulsory child protection training for those working with children yet we have one the highest rates of child abuse in the OECD.”

“Child abuse prevention and child protection is a complex subject requiring specialist training. It is not enough to just ‘pass on information’. To be effective and actually create changes in people attitudes and behaviours, the training needs to be comprehensive. It needs to deal with the many barriers stopping people from being able to understand child abuse and act to protect children. “ Says Mrs Meynell.

Child Matters provides a number of specialist child protection training programmes throughout New Zealand. Over the last 16 years Child Matters has delivered this training to over 20,000 people working with children. “But we are only scratching the surface.” Says Mrs Meynell. “This training needs to be made compulsory for all people working with children, like it is in most other OECD countries. Importantly, this needs to happen before we introduce mandatory reporting so that those working with children have the skills and knowledge to know what to report and have the confidence to do so.”

Ends

About Child Matters:

• Child Matters is the only organisation in New Zealand solely focused on child abuse prevention.
• It works to prevent child abuse by 1) speaking up for New Zealand children; and 2) educating adults to identify child abuse and take the appropriate action.
• Child Matters is a catalyst in communities, working to connect organisations and build leaders who are making positive impacts on child abuse prevention.
• Child Matters is an independent charitable trust with a cross sector view and influence around child abuse in New Zealand. It has links to all organisations who work with children and enables them to tackle the issue of child abuse in their local communities.
• Every adult in New Zealand is affected in some way by child abuse and, therefore, Child Matters believes every adult has a role to play in protecting children. Its child abuse prevention educational programmes are a powerful solution.
• Child Matters believes child abuse prevention education must be made compulsory for all key organisations working with children.
• Child Matters works with a range of organisations to educate their staff to identify child abuse and take the appropriate action. It encourages organisations to adopt a child abuse prevention education and staff wellness programme to demonstrate they take child abuse prevention seriously.
• Child Matters operates nationally.
• For more information, visit: www.childmatters.org.nz

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