Research shows as many as one in Two Australian children are growing up in violent homes. It's a shocking statistic that has experts and advocates calling for more to be done to keep young people safe from harm. They say a good place to start is better equipping teachers and doctors to identify signs a child is at risk and support them to respond appropriately.
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00:00These doctors are learning how to spot signs a young patient is living in a violent home.
00:07Bedwetting and sleeping disorders, anxiety, stress, depression.
00:12And importantly, how to help.
00:15If clinicians can do that, then survivors and their children tell us that this is really helpful to them.
00:22They feel as if they have an ally.
00:24Do you ever feel afraid in your own home?
00:28It's a skill Melbourne GP Magdalena Simonis has mastered.
00:32As you go through your career you need to elect to upskill in this space
00:36and you need to actually make that conscious decision that this is something that you really need to learn more about.
00:42That's because family violence education makes up just three hours of a trainee doctor's curriculum.
00:49I don't think that GPs on the whole feel confident identifying the subtle signs of family violence
00:57because very few people will come in presenting with physical evidence of harm.
01:04That, Kelsey says, is a missed opportunity.
01:07After family and friends, doctors are the most trusted group victims confide in.
01:13They're perfectly placed to pick up on the signs and symptoms
01:18and to ask in a sensitive way and provide a first line response
01:23before referring on to specialty services.
01:26Thanks to state and federal funding, Kelsey and her team have trained more than a thousand health workers in recent years.
01:34It is not sufficient.
01:36We need more funding to equip such a large workforce.
01:41I think that training should be made available to all levels of the health profession
01:45because we're not just dealing with med students here and interns and GP trainees.
01:50We're dealing with the entire health sector.
01:53Family violence education is a compulsory component of teacher training in Australia.
01:58Once qualified, educators are given a refresher course every three years.
02:03But there's an unprecedented teacher shortage plaguing this country.
02:08Some teachers who spoke to the ABC said they were so stretched.
02:12It was not only impacting education delivery and their wellbeing,
02:17but also their ability to support children in crisis.
02:21What they're facing in schools is a systemic failure to actually provide them with the resources
02:27that they need to support and cater for those children,
02:30particularly around wellbeing and safety issues.
02:33Sue Wiebeck heads up a family violence crisis service in Canberra.
02:37She believes upskilling doctors and teachers makes sense,
02:40but says there is little point if services like hers aren't better resourced.
02:46Do not have to blame yourself.
02:48The community and the service system around children right now, we're letting them down.
02:53And young lives depend on that changing.