Right: The right of Australian parents to administer "reasonable chastisement" is qualified by the word "reasonable". For instance, NSW laws prevent a child being hit on the head or neck.
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Background information
(The following information is an edited version of a report prepared by the Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children in August 2011. The full text can be found at http://www.endcorporalpunishment.org/pages/pdfs/states-reports/Australia.pdf)
Corporal punishment in Australia
In the home
In Australia, corporal punishment of children in the home is legal in every state and territory, provided it is 'reasonable'. Parents who act unreasonably may be committing an assault. Tasmania is continuing to review the state's laws on the matter, and may seek to ban the use of corporal punishment by parents. The matter has also been under review in other Australian states and territories, most recently in the Australian Capital Territory. A 2002 public opinion survey suggested the majority view was in support of retaining parents' right to smack with the open hand but not with an implement, although as of 2010, there are no laws against using an implement.
Corporal punishment in the home is regulated at a state level, and is lawful throughout Australia under the right of "reasonable chastisement" or similar provisions (Australian Capital Territory under common law; Northern Territory Criminal Code Act s27; Queensland Criminal Code Act 1899, s280; South Australia Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935, s20; Tasmania Criminal Code Act 1924, s50; Western Australia Criminal Code 1913, s257; Victoria under common law rule).
Under s61AA of the New South Wales Crimes Act, as amended in 2001, physical punishment by a parent or caregiver is considered unreasonable if the force is applied to a child's head or neck, or the force is applied to any part of the body in such a way as to cause, or threaten to cause, harm to the child which lasts more than a short period; in such cases the defence of 'lawful correction' does not apply.
In schools
Corporal punishment in schools is regulated at state level. It is prohibited in government and independent schools in Australian Capital Territory (Education Act 2004, s7), New South Wales (Education Act 1990, s3 and s47), Tasmania (Education Act 1994, s82A) and Victoria (Education and Training Reform Act 2006, s4.3, and Education and Training Reform Regulations 2007, reg14). It is prohibited in government schools in Western Australia (School Education Regulations, s40), but the use of force "by way of correction" is lawful for schoolteachers under s257 of the Criminal Code Act and provisions for caning of boys in the Country High School Hostels Authority Act Regulations 1962 have yet to be repealed.
In Queensland, corporal punishment by schoolteachers is lawful under the provisions for reasonable force "by way of correction, discipline, management or control" in s280 of the Criminal Code Act. There is no explicit prohibition of corporal punishment in Northern Territory education law, where corporal punishment is lawful under the presumption of the delegation to a school teacher of the "power to impose domestic discipline" (Criminal Code Act, s11). In South Australia, provisions for corporal punishment were removed from the Education Regulations in 1991, but it was not prohibited.
Childcare centres
Corporal punishment is prohibited in childcare centres in Australian Capital Territory (Children and Young People Act 2008, s741), New South Wales (Children's Services Regulation 2004, s65), Queensland (Child Protection Act 1999, s122), South Australia (Children's Services (Child Care Centres) Regulations 1998, s39), Victoria (Children's Services Act 1996, s28) and Western Australia (Child Care Services (Child Care) Regulations 2006, s85; Child Care Services (Family Day Care) Regulations 2006, s69; Child Care Services (Outside School Hours Care) Regulations 2006, s66; Child Care Services (Outside School Hours Family Day Care) Regulations 2006, s52).
Corporal punishment is lawful in the Northern Territory under provisions for the use of force "to discipline, manage or control" a child (Criminal Code Act, s27) and in Tasmania under the authority to use force "by way of correction" (Criminal Code Act, s50).