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Minister for Indigenous Affairs Mal Brough with the Little Children Are Sacred report into child sexual abuse in the Northern Territory.
(AAP IMAGE) |
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Compulsory health checks planned a year ago, leaked documents reveal
Thursday, 23 August 2007
By Chris Graham
NATIONAL, September 6, 2007: The federal government's plan to conduct compulsory sexual health checks of all Aboriginal children in the Northern Territory was secretly devised more than a year ago by Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Mal Brough according to confidential documents obtained by the National Indigenous Times.
But the government did not proceed with the plan, presumably after Brough was warned by his own officials that a sexual health screening program would not provide any "substantive outcomes/benefits".
Yet 13 months later, in a joint press conference on June 21, Brough and Prime Minister John Howard announced the strategy was part of the Howard government's 'emergency response' to the Little Children Are Sacred report, which documented child abuse among remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory.
Within two weeks, however, the federal government abandoned the compulsory nature of the health examinations, and within a month the health checks were downgraded to routine medical examinations that all Australian children undergo as part of a general health check-up.
The revelations are contained in an exchange of correspondence between officials at the Office of Indigenous Policy Coordination in mid-2006.
For legal reasons, NIT cannot name any of those officials.
However, their advice was clear - sexual health screening would not result in an increase in the identification of abused children.
One of the officials also makes it clear that the idea came directly from Mal Brough.
"I have thought carefully about the sexual health screening proposal and whether it would have any substantive outcomes/benefits.
"And I have confidentially discussed with my friend, Dr (Name withheld)... at Alice Springs Hospital.
"I did this under the strictest confidence and with no reference to the idea coming from the Minister or the Australian Government (I just asked (the doctor) what he thought about the idea).
"In a nutshell, it is unlikely that additional sexual health screening processes would pick-up more sexual abuse than what is already being detected."
The officials outlined a series of reasons why sexual health screening would not work.
"Children in the 3-7 years of age range who are being sexually abused are already being picked up because the physical trauma associated with penetration of their bodies does so much damage to them that they are brought to health workers with the obvious signs of abuse.
"Children in the 8-12 years of age range do not usually experience the physical trauma (tearing etc) of younger kids. Screening would not necessarily pick up any signs of abuse in this category.
"Girls from the age of puberty upwards are usually picked up because they present with pregnancy or serious STD infections.
"Screening boys in this age range would have minimal efficacy because they would not demonstrate any signs of physical trauma.
"Child neglect (rather than abuse) can be detected in the recently strengthened nation-wide health check process that is designed to puck up early childhood signs.
"This process, which has only just come into effect, will pick up discharging ears and faltering growth. These are effective proxies for poor parenting.
"The signs of sexual abuse are usually more insidious in older children (ie. over 7 years of age). Rather than demonstrating signs of physical trauma, such as tearing of the vagina, anus, abdomen etc, they demonstrate behavioural problems.
"Most of the violent sexual abuse of very young children is opportunistic.... Screening would not be an effective preventative mechanism because it would not necessarily be identifying and picking up the risk factors."
The officials then provide options for more effective ways to tackle the problems of abuse and neglect in Aboriginal communities.
"A more effective investment in addressing the problem would be to encourage proper adherence to existing laws concerning mandatory reporting of child abuse and neglect.
"Supporting teachers, youth workers, health clinic staff to report abuse and neglect would be a better investment than an additional screening program.
"This support could be made through training in behavioural characteristics of child sexual abuse.
"But most importantly, by authorities letting them know that they should report it and that they will be listened to and responded to.
"In addition to this, there is an acute need for investment in treatment facilities for victims and abusers.
"Finally, I would make the point that we must remove the perpetrators, not the victims.
"The violent criminals need to get the message that their behaviour will not be tolerated by the state and that they will be removed from their communities.
"The victims need to know that they will be 100 percent supported by the state and they (particularly the women) need to have their voice heard clearly.
"There needs to be clear, proper and well understood processes about this."
A spokesman for Mal Brough told NIT yesterday that the advice leaked to NIT never stated that sexual health screening would not work, even though it clearly did.
"The Minister receives a wide variety of advice and, as is the case for any government, is ultimately responsible for making a decision," the spokesperson said.
"The advice you referred to did not state that a sexual health screening program would not work. Rather it focused on the medical aspects of screening in relation to sexually transmitted diseases."
NOTE TO READERS: On Monday crikey.com.au reported that of 700 health checks, two children had been referred to authorities over suspicions of abuse.
* A NOTE TO OUR ONLINE
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