Child Protection for Educators and Principals: A Moral and Legal Obligation

Abstract

Child maltreatment has reached 'epidemic' proportions globally. Defined in the Australian context child maltreatment refers to, "any non-accidental behaviour by parents, caregivers, other adults or older adolescents that is outside the norms of conduct and entails a substantial risk of causing physical or emotional harm to a child or young person. Such behaviours may be intentional or unintentional and can include acts of omission (i.e., neglect) and commission (i.e., abuse)"

Addressing cumulative harm: responding to chronic child maltreatment in the context of an intensive family support service

“…To assess the availability of cumulative harm measurement tools, the authors have conducted extensive database searches; reviewed current scholarly reviews and comparisons of cumulative harm assessment, practice and legislation (Bromfield et al , 2007; Frederico et al , 2008; Price-Robertson et al , 2013; Broadley, 2014; Bryce, 2018a, 2018b; Sheehan, 2019a, 2019b); examined the small but significant cache of resources that were developed in response to the labelling of cumulative harm between 2007 and 2014 (Victoria Government, Department of Human Services, 2007; Miller, 2007; Bromfield and Miller, 2007; Government of Western Australia, 2008; Benevolent Society, 2014); as well as drawing on their practice knowledge. Prior research has focused predominately on establishing the concept and terminology of cumulative harm (Bromfield et al , 2007), identifying the ambiguities of acknowledging cumulative harm in the legal and statutory system (Broadley, 2014; Bryce, 2018a, 2018b; Sheehan, 2019a, 2019b) or discussing the complexities of holistic risk assessment in child protection practice generally (Goddard et al , 1999; Price-Robertson et al , 2013).…”