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The Institute of Child Protection Studies joined a steering group in April 2022 to begin a campaign to end corporal punishment in Australia. The campaign name is: Ending physical punishment of Australian children (EPPAC). This work, auspiced by the , has attracted a highly engaged multidisciplinary working group of over 100 researchers and community service leaders.

Details

Corporal punishment of children is legal in Australia. Recent data from 16-24 year olds who took part in the national shows that 61% of Australians experienced corporal punishment as children. This has lifelong adverse effects on mental health. However, international research from some of the 64 countries where corporal punishment is banned, shows that once legislation is introduced, parents use better strategies to teach their children acceptable behaviour.

This campaign will spearhead a movement to reform our current legislation, give parents access to alternative evidence-based parenting strategies, and increase public awareness of corporal punishment and its effects. Workshops and conferences delivered have addressed the following topics:

• the current state of legislation
• research on harmful impacts
• alternative parenting strategies
• international experiences of banning corporal punishment.

Key recommendations

• Legislative reform to ensure children are protected under law from any form of physical assault (in the same way that adults are) in all settings.
• A public health campaign to inform the population the law has changed.
• Ensure widespread access to alternatives to corporal punishment through widespread dissemination of evidence-based parenting programs and supports, including culturally appropriate parenting strategies.
• A national parenting survey to monitor the impact of legislative reform on corporal punishment in Australia.
• Ongoing evaluation of the impact of the change in legislation and access to supports for positive parenting strategies.

Get in touch with us to join the campaign, to learn about workshops and to contribute.

Publications

For a full list of publications go to the

Haslam, D & Joint Consortium (2025) .

Havighurst, S., Mathews, B., Doyle, F. L., Haslam, D. M., Andriessen, K., Cubillor, C., Dawe, S., Hawes, D., Leung, C., Mazzucchelli, T. G., Morawska, A., Whittle, S., Chainey, C., & Higgins, D. J. (2023). . Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health.

Higgins, D. & Havighurst, S. (2022). The Conversation, 26 July 2022

Higgins, D. & Havighurst, S. (2022). Corporal punishment of children in Australia: The evidence-based case for legislative reform, Briefing paper. PAFRA.

Conference presentations

November 2022, Tri-Peaks Partnership (2022). , Presented by Prof. Ben Matthews, Prof. Daryl Higgins (, )

September 2022: National Child Protection Week 2022, . Professor Daryl Higgins, Professor Ben Mathews, and Dr Divna Haslam, 8 September 2022

July 2022, Australian Institute of Family Studies, , Prof. Daryl Higgins

In the news

Print and online

7 May 2023: The Guardian (Donna Lu)

3 May 2023, Evidence-based paper calls for corporal punishment ban. ÌÇÐÄÔ­´´ News

3 May 2023, . Pursuit (Sophie Havighurst)

3 May 2023, . The Canberra Times (Neve Brissenden)

Television and radio

17 May: , (ABC Behind the News, produced by Joseph Baronio)

3 May 2023, . Perth Now (7 News)

3 May 2023, . 9News Melbourne (Dougal Beatty)

3 May 2023, . 9Now Today (Karl Stefanovic & Sarah Abo) 

14 April 2023, . The Wire (Netta Finney)

11 April 2023, . 88.3FM Southern FM Best Medicine (Health and well-being with Gaytana Adorna) 

More information

• : campaign to end physical punishment of Australian children
• : the prevalence of corporal punishment in Australia
• : downloadable resources
• : conference presentation
• Institute of Child Protection Studies: In the media (media output)
• : End physical punishment of Australian children

Get in touch with us to join the campaign, to learn about workshops and to contribute.