Be aware

Understanding the statistics

One child is reported abused or neglected in Australia every 3 minutes.
The number of children reported abused or neglected in Australia has risen dramatically over the last 15 years from 42,468 in 1988-89 to 198,355 in 2002-03.
For every child reported abused or neglected, countless others remain unsafe, unprotected and unnoticed.
The most common form of abuse in 2002-03 was found to be emotional abuse (34%) followed by physical abuse (28%), neglect (28%) and sexual abuse (10%). Children usually experience more than one form of abuse at the one time.
Adults who were abused as children are at greater risk of experiencing problems in later life such as suicide, depression, drug and alcohol abuse, homelessness or be involved in crime.
Children of all ages experience abuse, but babies and young children are particularly vulnerable.
Children are most often abused by a parent or carer.
Child abuse seldom happens only once. It is usually repeated over periods of months or even years.
Violence in the home between adults has a devastating effect on children.