Australian Child Maltreatment Study

Investigators

Prof Daryl Higgins (Institute of Child Protection Studies, Australian Catholic University); Prof Ben Mathews (lead researcher, Queensland University of Technology); Prof Michael Dunne (Queensland University of Technology); Prof Rosana Pacella (Queensland University of Technology and University of Chichester); Prof David Finkelhor (University of New Hampshire); A/Prof Franziska Meinck (University of Oxford); Prof James Scott, A/Prof Holly Erskine, Dr Hannah Thomas (University of Queensland), Prof David Lawrence (University of Western Australia)

Funding source

National Health and Medical Research Council

Aims

To learn about the prevalence, health and economic burden of child maltreatment

Details

Reducing the prevalence of child maltreatment offers the greatest opportunity to prevent mental illness, suicide and other serious health problems in the Australian population. The Australian Child maltreatment Study (ACMS) is the first Australian prevalence study of child maltreatment. It looked at mental and physical health outcomes and surveyed 8,500 Australians aged 16 and over.

Led by a multidisciplinary team of international researchers, this comprehensive $2.3 million study of prevalence, health and economic burden of child maltreatment covered the five forms of maltreatment:

physical abuse
sexual abuse
emotional abuse
neglect
exposure to domestic violence

_{Source: Australian Child Maltreatment Study}

3 key dimensions of the study

Estimate the prevalence and co-occurrence of all five forms of child maltreatment with data on the location, frequency, severity and timing of these experiences and the child's relationship to the person who inflicted the harm.
Examine the major impacts on health outcomes associated with maltreatment, including:
Generate an estimate of the national burden of disease caused by child maltreatment.

Stakeholders from government, non-government and clinical sectors, including the National Office for Child Safety, were involved to maximise the potential of the study to produce relevant outcomes for government, not-for-profit organisations and clinicians.

Scientific findings have provided governments and policymakers with information on national public policy strategies about where, when and how to invest resources to reduce child maltreatment and respond effectively to it at an early stage.

The study also included national data about intimate partner victimisation including physical violence and multiple types of coercive control. Data collection began in April 2021 to find out for the first time how many Australians have experienced child abuse. Results have produced the first reliable evidence from a study of the national population about both exposure to domestic violence in childhood, as well as the experience of intimate partner violence as an adult.

Visit the Australian Child Maltreatment Study

Full publication list

Full presentation list

Ongoing analysis of data

Engagement with key stakeholders, including government departments and agencies involved in child protection, child and family welfare, child maltreatment prevention, mental health, and other health services continue to engage with the study findings and the team of researchers. A number of PhD students have been granted access to the data, under supervision of the Chief Investigator team. For example, at ACU, Gabrielle (Gabby) Hunt, Lottie Harris and Shayini (Dhatsayini) Rattambige have each included analyses of the ACMS as part of their doctoral studies. It is also being used by two Masters of Clinical Psychology students for their research thesis component.

Ongoing analysis is focusing on topics such as:

child maltreatment, childhood adversities and youth alcohol use
sexuality diversity, intimate partner violence and mental health disorders
intimate partner violence, health risk behaviours, and child maltreatment
criminal justice system involvement
non-suicidal self-injury and suicide attempts
child maltreatment, health costs, and burden of disease
effects of out-of-home care on mental health disorders
age of first experience of sexual harassment
domestic violence and other adversities
disclosure of online child sexual victimisation
childhood maltreatment and intimate partner violence victimisation in adulthood
peer and sibling bullying victimisation
nature and impacts of emotional abuse

Impact

The impact of specific research findings on government policy and investment and how it's shaping service delivery responses can be difficult to measure. However, many organisations are referencing findings in their strategic plans.

References indicating impact

Anderson, C., & Jakob, L. (2024b). Australian Child Maltreatment Study shows a large proportion of Australians experience maltreatment as children. FACSIAR Summary.facs.nsw.gov.au

Jakob. L. & Anderson, C. (2024). Child maltreatment: Evidence-based insights for policy and program design, Evidence Brief, Family and Community Services Insights Analysis and Research (FACSIAR) NSW Department of Communities and Justice

Maidment, K., Grummitt, L., Birrell, L. & Carbone, S. (2024). Preventing child maltreatment to prevent mental ill-health. Prevention United: Melbourne.

For a summary of the approach to generating impact, see:

Higgins, D. J., & Mathews, B. (2024). Research engagement and impact: The Australian Child Maltreatment Study and pathways to evidence-based policy and practice. Children Australia, 46(1), 3012. https://childrenaustralia.org.au/journal/article/3012/

Impact on strategies on the ground

Government departments responsible for strategic investments have been in contact with the ACMS team to understand how cross-portfolio investments can be used to align with strategies to address the major implications. Here are some examples of take-up of the findings by government and non-government agencies in a range of ways:

In the Northern Territory, there is an alliance focused on prevention, auspiced by NAPCAN, where the ACMS results have been showcased: https://www.napcan.org.au/about-us/northern-territory-prevention-alliance;
The evidence summary in relation to child maltreatment published by Respect Victoria draws on the ACMS data (Higgins et al., 2023a)
The AIHW launched a new data hub at the end of 2023 that features ACMS results as part of the context setting for understanding the extent of child maltreatment and to situate what their other data sources (the Personal Safety Survey, and the statutory child protection service activity data) also show: https://www.aihw.gov.au/family-domestic-and-sexual-violence
Organisations have included references to ACMS findings in strategic plans, as a rationale for delivery of programs and services to prevent child maltreatment, and to respond to its consequences (e.g. Cocks et al., 2024)
The ACMS team was awarded the 2024 Queensland Child Protection Week Award in the professional (non-government) category for 'Outstanding contribution to promoting child protection issues'
Based on the ACMS study, the Chief Practitioner of the Queensland Department of Child Safety, Seniors and Disability Services has advised that in late 2024, they will introduce 'Exposure to domestic and family violence' as an abuse type (M. Crawford, 30 August 2024, pers. comm.)
The justification for amendments to the Australian Capital Territory's child protection legislation in 2024 to expand harm types to include exposure to family violence is because of new evidence of the prevalence of multi-type maltreatment.