Child abuse is everyone's business: govt

Attitudes need to be changed to realise that protecting children from abuse is
everyone's responsibility, the NSW government says.
New figures showed that violence against children has remained mostly unchanged but
the community is unwilling to report abuse.
According to the latest NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics, from April 2009 to March
2010, there were over 20,458 violent assaults against children, down only 117 on
last year.
About 70 per cent of the assaults, which include murder, domestic violence, sexual
assault and robbery, were committed by a person known to the child.
To mark National Child Protection Week beginning of Father's Day, NSW Community
Services Minister Linda Burney said children's wellbeing was everybody's business.
"It's not an issue where you can just walk away and say - I don't want to be
involved," Ms Burney told reporters in Sydney on Sunday.
"But we're talking about children that are being hurt.
"What we're really requiring not only among government agencies but also across the
community is a real cultural shift about taking responsibility for all children in
your neighbourhood, in your family."
A survey by the National Association for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect found
only 34 per cent of 22,000 respondents would call police if a child disclosed sexual
abuse.
The survey found that people wouldn't report suspected child abuse mainly because
they feared that they may be wrong and 42 per cent said it wasn't their business.