Australian child welfare declines

Australian child welfare declines
AUSTRALIA lags behind most other developed nations in looking after its most vulnerable children, a UNICEF report says.
Australia's performance was below average in more than half of the 35 health, education and prosperity measures used in the report to compare countries that are part of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Despite being a wealthy country, Australia did not top any category.
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The UNICEF Australia chief executive, Norman Gillespie, said the report was a ''wake-up call'' that showed Australia was leaving behind children who fell in the bottom 10 per cent of its socio-economic make-up.
The most concerning areas were the resourcing and availability of early childhood development, comparatively high rates of youth suicide and low levels of immunisation.
''The prosperity that most Australians are enjoying is just not reflected across society … [most] Australian children are enjoying these high standards but the bottom 10 per cent are falling way off the pace.''

Despite being wealthy we did not top any category, shameful report for Australians. We are not taking care of our children appropriately.
All party leaders should urgently take action and the media should use their power to force change in our society. Our children do not have a voice and you could give them one.