National framework for protecting Australia's children: Perspectives on progress and challenges
April 2011 marked the second anniversary of the announcement of the National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children 2009–2020 (“the National Framework”) by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG, 2009a). The aim of the National Framework is to make a substantial and sustained reduction in child abuse and neglect; such a goal is to be achieved through a series of three-year action plans to 2020.
Bad Apples, Bad Barrel: Exploring Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse by Catholic Clergy in Australia
This paper considers constructions of institutional culture and power in the cover-up of child sexual abuse (CSA) by clergy in the Roman Catholic Church of Australia. The issue of cover-up has previously been considered in international inquiries as an institutional failing that has caused significant harm to victims of CSA by Catholic Clergy. Evidence given by select representatives of the Catholic Church in two government inquiries into institutional abuse carried out in Australia is considered here. This evidence suggests that, where cover-up has occurred, it has been reliant on the abuse of institutional power and resulted in direct emotional, psychological and spiritual harm to victims of abuse. Despite international recognition of cover-up as institutional abuse, evidence presented by Roman Catholic Representatives to the Victorian Inquiry denied there was an institutionalised cover-up. Responding to this evidence, this paper queries whether the primary foundation of cover-up conforms to the ‘bad apple theory’ in that it relates only to a few individuals, or the ‘bad barrel theory’ of institutional structure and culture.
The role of forensic epidemiology in evidence-based forensic medical practice
Objectives This thesis is based on 4 papers that were all written with the same intent, which was to describe and demonstrate how epidemiologic concepts and data can serve as a basis for improved v ...