Govt plans new move to protect abused children

Press, 13 April 1984, Page 7

Govt plans new move to protect abused children

PA Wellington Social workers, the police, and primary health workers would have to report serious child abuse cases they discovered under changes being considered to the Children and Young Persons Act.

The Minister of Social Welfare, Mr Young said yesterday he had proposals that would mean a major review of the act.

Changes to the law would strengthen the protection against the abuse of a child in its many forms, he said in Palmerston North.

“In spite of a very thorough preparation before instructions were given to Crown counsel for drafting a new Children and Young Persons Act, I still face some difficulties in my efforts because of the substantial pressures on the law drafting office. “However, I intend the child protection part to be introduced and passed this year.”

Mr Young said he was totally convinced of the urgency of the section dealing with the prevention of child abuse.

Some might complain that the changes would' infringe on their rights, the right of parents to chastise their children, the right of doctors to keep confidential any information from patients, or the right of teachers and solicitors not to break similar confidentialities. “But let us not shrink from the defence of the defenceless — or the protection of the physically or emotionally vulnerable young from the ravages of exploitation. “Consequently I have few hesitations about introducing in the draft bill compulsory reporting by social

workers, the police, and primary health workers of a range of serious cases of child abuse and neglect which they come across. “This means that should incidents of abuse within that range be identified by them, they must notify the relevant people.” The “relevant people” would be small child-protec-tion teams, established in every social welfare district, Mr Young said. They would investigate all reports and decide what intervention was required and what assistance or treatment was needed to make the home safe for the child.