Megan Mitchell National Children’s Commissioner 20 August 2014 Children’s rights in a changing world Association of Children’s Welfare Agencies Conference 2014

Children in the Middle Ages Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger, 1636 Portrait of a Boy aged Two

The child as the innocent - 18th Century Portrait by Arthur Devis of an unknown boy in a landscape, circa 1745.

Oliver asks for more food Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens, 1838

Children in the19th Century Children at Crumpsall Workhouse, circa 1895, National Archives UK.

The age of children’s literature “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there” Cheshire Cat (Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Caroll, 1865 ) 1957 Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne, 1925

The case of Mary Ellen McCormack

Four children bound for Fairbridge Farm School in Molong, 1938, National Archives of Australia) Out-of-home care - Australia

Geneva Declaration on the Rights of the Child (1924) Youth activists in a 1909 parade protesting child labour, George Brantham Bain Collection, Library of Congress. Child labour in the U.S, U.S Library of Congress.

Piaget’s theory of cognitive development – 1930s

Guiding principles of the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)  Non-discrimination (Article 2)  Best interests of the child (Article 3)  Right to life, survival and development (Article 6)  Respect for the views of the child (Article 12)

Optional Protocols to the CRC 1.Protection against the targeting of children in situations of armed conflict 2.Protection of the child from the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography 3.A communications procedure, to allow individual children to submit complaints regarding specific violations of their rights under the CRC.

UN Committee’s Concluding Observations on Australia  High levels of violence against women and children;  Serious discrimination faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children;  Lack of measures to address violence against children;  Inadequate programs for reintegration of child domestic violence victims;  Inadequate application of ‘best interests’ principle in treatment of asylum seeking children;  High number of children in out-of-home care.

Children in immigration detention

Australian child protection and out- of-home care statistics ( )  40,549 children in out-of-home care  135,139 received child protection services  Aboriginal children 8 times as likely to receive child protection services

Life would be better for children and young people in Australia if…

The changing nature of children’s worlds

The changing nature of children’s rights Article 16: “No child shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his or her privacy, family, or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his or her honour or reputation…”

What children and young people said about privacy “Children don’t know enough about privacy.” “There should be a lot of ways to stop people from breaking your privacy.” “Children might just think that everywhere they go they are safe.” “Privacy is important at school, home and online.” “Privacy should be everywhere because sometimes people don’t feel safe.”

Cyber-bullying experiences in children  4% of 8-9 year olds  21% of year olds  16% of year olds “Some young people send things around without you knowing for revenge or fun” “It’s really hard to get bad stuff about you taken down” Young people at a Brisbane Flexible Learning Centre, 2014

The CRC: A tool for empowerment