The National Child Protection Week (2-8 September) theme is promoting the belief that it is everyone's responsibility to make their community child friendly. Hunter New England Health staff say that a ‘child friendly’ community is one which strives to create a safe environment for all children, and this includes being free of child abuse and neglect.

Donna McGushin is the counsellor with the Physical Abuse and Neglect of Children (PANOC) service at Armidale Community Health Centre. Her role is to work with children, young people and their families who have experienced any kind of abuse, violence or neglect within the family.

Ms McGushin said a recent report by the Australian Childhood Foundation demonstrated that children’s sense of a safe and welcoming community is being eroded.

"The report presented findings of a national survey seeking the views of children themselves about childhood, family and the world in which they live. One of the key themes that emerged was that children’s sense of their community is under threat," said Ms McGushin.

"Half of the children surveyed did not feel welcome in shops and cafes and over a third believed that adults don’t care about what children think.

"Over half of the children worried about being teased, not fitting in with friends and being bullied. One in ten children were anxious about being called names because of their culture or nationality. One in 13 children were worried about being called names because of their religion. More than a quarter of children feared being a victim of crime," she said.

Ms McGushin said children are the most vulnerable members of our population, and abuse and neglect can happen because people live behind closed doors and many of us are reluctant to get involved.

"In child friendly communities, children are seen and heard and families don’t live in isolation and feel unsupported," said Ms McGushin.

"Protecting children is a responsibility shared by individuals, governments and the whole community. In child friendly communities, everyone accepts that the safety and wellbeing of children and young people is everyone’s responsibility," she said.

Violence, racism, poverty and other forms of social oppression have profound effects on people’s lives and relationships and Ms McGushin said it is sometimes difficult to parent well in the face of these effects.

"Parenting is a difficult job and all people have the potential to make positive changes, and to parent in ways that they would prefer. Parents who feel supported in the community tend to face the challenge of parenting in a more positive and effective way.

"The PANOC service has similarly found that therapy with children who have experienced abuse is most effective when parents or carers, therapists and other people in the child’s network adopt a teamwork approach," she said.

"So the challenge for all of us is how we as parents, carers, individuals, workers, businesses and service providers, along with ordinary members of the local community can make our community more child friendly and reach out to those isolated families in need of our support."