Right: Did he really? Kevin Donnelly's comments on his recollections of corporal punishment were pounced on by the print and electronic media, but there are some who claim that the commentators were "beating up" Donnelly's remarks.
 Found a word you're not familiar with? Double-click that word to bring up a dictionary reference to it. The dictionary page includes an audio sound file with which to actually hear the word said. |
Background information
(The information below is an abbreviated version of the factsheet titled 'Corporal punishment: Key issues' released by the Australian Government's Institute of Family States and last updated in March 2014.
The full text can be accessed at http://www.aifs.org.au/cfca/pubs/factsheets/a146742/index.html)
Definition of corporal punishment
Corporal punishment is defined as the use of physical force towards a child for the purpose of control and/or correction, and as a disciplinary penalty inflicted on the body with the intention of causing some degree of pain or discomfort, however mild. Punishment of this nature is referred to in several ways, for example: hitting, smacking, spanking, and belting. Although most forms of corporal punishment involve hitting children with a hand or an implement (such as a belt or wooden spoon), other forms of corporal punishment include: kicking, shaking, biting and forcing a child to stay in uncomfortable positions.
The desired outcome of physical punishment is child compliance with adult directives.
Corporal punishment or physical abuse?
The degree of physical punishment that a parent or carer can use with a child is subject to legal regulation in Australia. In most states and territories, corporal punishment by a parent or carer is lawful provided that it is carried out for the purpose of correction, control or discipline, and that it is "reasonable" having regard to:
the age of the child;
the method of punishment;
the child's capacity for reasoning (i.e., whether the child is able to comprehend correction/discipline); and
the harm caused to the child.
Corporal punishment that results in bruising, marking or other injury lasting longer than a 24-hour period may be deemed to be "unreasonable" and thus classified as physical abuse. As an example, the New South Wales Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) establishes that corporal punishment is unreasonable if the force is applied to any part of the head or neck of a child or to any other part of the body of a child in such a way as to be likely to cause harm to a child that lasts for more than a short period. Corporal punishment that is unreasonable in the circumstances may be classified as physical abuse and could lead to intervention by police and/or child protection authorities.
Corporal punishment by parents
In relation to corporal punishment by parents, it remains lawful for parents in all jurisdictions to use "reasonable" corporal punishment to discipline their children. New South Wales is the only state to have made legislative amendments concerning corporal punishment by parents. In 2001, New South Wales introduced the Crimes Amendment (Child Protection Physical Mistreatment) Act, which states that physical punishment should not harm a child "more than briefly" and specifies the parts of a child's body that can be subject to force. The development and implementation of this Act encouraged debate concerning the degree (if any) of physical force appropriate to use when disciplining children and, more generally, the status of children's rights in Australia (Milfull & Schetzer, 2000). While the New South Wales amendment sought to constrain parental use of corporal punishment, it does not ban the use of corporal punishment altogether.
Corporal punishment in early education and childcare settings
In 2011, the Education and Care Services National Law was introduced by way of an applied law system where the host jurisdiction (Victoria) passed the law (Education and Care Service National Law Act 2010) and other jurisdictions adopted that law or passed corresponding legislation (Australian Children's Education & Care Quality Authority (ACECQA), 2013a).
Under the Education and Care Service National Law Act 2010 (Vic.)section 166 it is an offence for a provider, nominated supervisor, staff member, and volunteer or family day care educator of an approved education and care service to subject a child to any form of corporal punishment. This prohibition is also contained within the National Quality Standards (ACECQA, 2013b). However, not all jurisdictions have specifically included corporal punishment as an offence under individual state and territory education and care services legislation.
Corporal punishment in primary and secondary schools
There has been considerable uniformity across Australian states and territories in either explicitly banning the use of corporal punishment in schools or removing provisions in education Acts that provided a defence to the use of reasonable chastisement by people acting in the place of a parent (e.g., teachers).
Legislation in Queensland and South Australia does not explicitly state that corporal punishment is banned in schools. However, the provisions that previously allowed for the use of corporal punishment in schools have been removed from the relevant education legislation. There remains some ambiguity in the Northern Territory, Queensland and Western Australian law, where amendments have been made to education legislation that previously allowed for the use of physical punishment, but not to criminal codes that still (in principle) give authority to a parent, or a person in place of a parent, to "use reasonable corrective force".
There is less consistency in the degree to which Australian jurisdictions have abolished the use of corporal punishment in non-government schools. New South Wales, Tasmania and Victoria are the only states where statutes clearly stipulate that corporal punishment is banned in both government and non-government schools. The Australian Capital Territory Education Act 2004 does not explicitly ban corporal punishment in non-government schools, however, the interpretation of the Act, which states that corporal punishment is banned in "all schools", is that the relevant provision applies to both.