Children who are vulnerable to abuse could be better protected if procedures for reporting child harm were more standardised across states and territories, and took into account hospital admissions, a study released on Monday says.
Variation in mandatory reporting requirements, changing legislation and differences in child services’ resourcing all make it difficult to compare abuse statistics, the study published in the Medical Journal of Australia says.
Accurate data on child harm is essential for determining the amount, and types, of interventions and services needed to protect vulnerable children, it finds.
[For more of this story, written by Melissa Davey, go to http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/04/hospital-data-is-vital-to-better-child-abuse-prevention-strategies-study-finds]
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