Privileging the Voice of Children

Megan Mitchell
National Children's Commissioner

Early Childhood Australia Riverina Dinner Evening
25 August 2014

Check Against Delivery

Introduction

Good evening everyone and thank you for having me here. Thank you in particular to Julia Ham, Riverina Early Childhood Australia, for inviting me to attend and speak this evening.
Before I begin I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land we meet on today, and to pay my respects to elders past and present.
 

Role of the Commissioner

As you all may know I commenced my appointment as the first National Children’s Commissioner, over one year ago, on the 25th of March 2013.

To recap a little on my role, which is set out in the Human Rights Act, my duties are to:

• be a national advocate for the rights and interests of  children.
• embed mechanisms to ensure a focus on children’s interests and enables their participation.
• provide national leadership and coordination on child rights issues.
• Promote awareness of matters relating to the rights of children in Australia
• Undertake research and educational programs to promote respect for and the enjoyment and exercise of children’s rights
• Examine laws, policies and programs to determine whether they protect the rights of children.

A key part of the role involves submitting a yearly report to Parliament through the Attorney General Minister.
 

Work so far – The Big Banter

My initial priority in role as National Children’s Commissioner was to conduct the Big Banter listening tour - to hear from children and their advocates about what issues are most important for children, to inform my priorities for action, and to hear about how I could best engage in my future work.

Through the Big Banter I met with well over 1,000 children face-to-face, and heard from a further 1,300 or so children online and through the post. I’ve also heard from hundreds of children’s advocates like yourselves.

What I’ve learned will not be news for those of you here today: children want to be with their family and with their friends and be safe. Children enjoy their freedoms and they enjoy being able to play, be active and have fun, but they also appreciate fair boundaries and rules. They are particularly concerned about the level of violence, aggression and bullying in the community, and they would like to live in an environment that is free from drugs, alcohol and smoking.

Some children worry that they can’t afford to do or have the things they would like, and they want more things to be available for free.

Children also want people to show more respect for one another, and they want to be respected and listened to. And they definitely want to have a say and to have their voice heard.

The Big Banter officially concluded in September last year and the Children’s Rights Report 2013 has since been tabled in Parliament, the voices of children featuring heavily throughout.
 

Convention on the Rights of the Child

As National Children’s Commissioner, the Convention on the Rights of the Child provides the main impetus for my work.

The Convention is the most ratified international human rights treaty in the world. A ground breaking treaty, the Convention makes clear that children have the same human rights as adults, but that they also are entitled to special protection because of their unique vulnerabilities as children. By ratifying the Convention in 1990, Australia has promised to protect the rights of children.
 

Article 12

Fundamentally, children cannot exercise their rights if they are not recognised, have agency and be heard. Article 12 is one of four guiding principles of the Convention, because children’s right to have their views respected is a gateway to all of the other rights in the Convention.

Article 12 gives to every child, including very young children, the right to be taken seriously and be heard in matters affecting them. These views are given weight in accordance with the child’s age and maturity.

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child acknowledged that Australia has put some mechanisms in place for the participation of young people, but that significant gaps remain, in particular for children under 15. The Committee also raised concerns on the inadequacy of mechanisms that enable child participation in the policies and decision-making affecting them in schools in particular. However, I believe the challenge here goes well beyond the classroom.

I am especially interested in how we can promote meaningful participation of children in the decisions and processes that affect them. For example, individual complaints systems, which many adults use to address injustices or raise concerns, so often do not adequately engage children and young people. How can children who suffer injustice seek redress if mechanisms are inaccessible and inappropriate?

In my 2013 report to Parliament, I made a recommendation that the Government sign on to the Third Optional Protocol to the Convention, on a Communications Procedure. Signing on to this Protocol would allow individual children in Australia to submit complaints regarding specific violations of their rights across the whole spectrum of rights under the Convention.

This is especially important for children in vulnerable situations, like those involved in care and protection systems, juvenile justice, and family court proceedings where the decisions that are being made have a significant impact on their lives, both immediately and in the long term. I therefore encourage everyone here today to continue to advocate for Australia to sign up to this Protocol.

Being able to be heard, raise concerns, and be taken seriously also acts as a strong safeguarding measure for children. We would not be having to have a Royal Commission into sexual abuse against children in institutions today, if those institutions had had the best interests of children at heart, including ways to hear from and respect the views of children.

But hearing from children is not only empowering for them, it helps adults to get things right. Every day, policies, programs and laws are being shaped that impact directly or indirectly on children. As the experts in their own lives, ignoring their experiences and perspectives will invariably lead to interventions that just don’t work for them. On the Banter I was constantly blown away about the wisdom and knowledge that children hold. This is a rich resource that we need to harness to its fullest.

Privileging the voice of children, really listening to what they have to say and taking it on board, is a powerful message to children about their value. I have found that realising that they have rights and understanding that what they have to say will be respected is incredibly empowering for children. It’s like they have put on a coat of armour, grown a muscle or two, and stand up that little bit taller. It makes them feel both visible and valued.

Barriers to participation

I noted in my 2013 report that I see two main action areas in ensuring our children’s right to be heard:

• Genuinely Involving children in issues that affect them: There are a number of ways that governments and organisations can involve children in decisions and policy processes that affect them. When decisions are being made about an individual child, in certain contexts a legislative requirement to hear the views of children may be an option, as is the case in the family court system. Other mechanisms might be guidelines, information and education on the benefits of involving children in decisions. At the policy development level, there are a number of ways that governments can engage children in the process, including through schools, formal youth advisory boards, web and face-to-face consultations on specific issues, targeted focus groups as part of research projects, youth parliaments and forums, as well as working in partnership with community organisations with significant child and youth representation.
   
• Ensuring that existing mechanisms for resolving complaints and concerns are accessible and available to children: Children are particularly vulnerable to having their rights and freedoms abused or restricted. Existing processes for receiving information about breaches of rights and freedoms should be accessible to children. For example, young people who are workers are particularly vulnerable to exploitation and harassment in the workplace and should be able to understand their rights at work and have them protected. Young people are also entitled to full protection under consumer laws. For example, in relation to mobile phone services and billing, children should have ready access to clear information and support to ensure they are not overcharged. There should also be clear information about the rights of children in their interactions with police and law enforcement officials. Additionally, children should know the laws and their rights in respect of cyber safety and bullying, how they can be protected from online exploitation and abuse, and where they can go to for help.

Conclusion

To conclude, the vast majority of the children I have spoken to, let alone adults, are not aware that children have rights. Understanding, listening to, and valuing the views of our children and young people, is crucial to ensuring they can realise their rights and be active participants in society.

Thank you once again for inviting me to attend this evening’s dinner event, and for allowing me the opportunity to speak a little about my role, and some of my future plans moving forward.

Thank you.