Young at risk of homicide

Ten per cent of all domestic violence homicide victims were children under the age of 15, according to new figures to be released today by the Australian Institute of Criminology.

The figures show that although the overall number of homicides dropped between 2006 and 2007, the proportion of deaths attributed to domestic violence remained the same.

In about half the cases the perpetrators were known to police as domestic violence offenders.

The Minister for the Status of Women, Tanya Plibersek, said she was very concerned that the numbers of people dying as a result of domestic violence were not diminishing.

The Federal Government is due to shortly receive a draft report from the council it appointed to investigate ways to reduce the levels of domestic violence.

The[re is a] continuing high number of cases of murders resulting from domestic violence despite increased public awareness of the issue.

The institute's report shows there were 266 victims of homicide in Australia in 2007, a decrease of 45 from the previous year. About a quarter of the victims died as a result of domestic violence.

In 43 per cent of those cases the perpetrator has a history of domestic violence that was known to police.

More women perpetrating domestic violence: statistics

In the 12 months to September 2003 police recorded 4918 women as persons of interest for perpetrating domestic violence. By 2006-07 that had risen to 6056, figures from the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research show.

Of the women arrested for domestic violence-related assault in the five years to last September only 32 per cent of the cases reached court, compared with 56 per cent of cases involving men, statistics show.

The bureau's director, Don Weatherburn, said the increase was likely to have been driven by more than one factor. Others could include an increase in binge drinking, or more men who were willing to admit they are victims.

"It's possible that people are becoming less tolerant of violence by females than they used to be," he said. More women are also being arrested for assault not related to domestic violence, which some attribute to a rise in alcohol abuse. Others say women can be as violent as men, and that in more than half of violent partnerships partners struck each other.

Related:

Domestic murders hit 10-year high
But when we write our article then we may need to leave out say, the statistics in relation to women who commit 'domestic murders'? That's if we are going to succeed changing public opinon that it's only the men. Another fact is that women don't commit domestic murders? Of course this is just a guess?

Bligh won't budge on smacking code
The Queensland Government says it will not change a controversial section of the criminal code that allows "reasonable force" to be used when disciplining children.

Anti-violence plan for children
Why not Violence Against ‘Everyone’ not necessarily just Against Women and their Children - If not then why not? This is supposed to be an article about educating children? Why educate children with a one sided view? Is it okay to violate men? The idea that we should only reduce Violence Against Women and their Children is a Zionist Tactic. Zionists maintain leverage by choosing to focus only on ‘women and children’ because that is how they undermine and divide the community the best. Anyone can search this blog under murder, violence, or domestic-violence and see that women also need help.

Police arrest a father over access dispute?
In a media report yesterday the ABC reported (see article below), that the police arrested a man over the abduction of children. But were these his children?

Court overcrowding 'inviting violence'
The Federal Government has been told that overcrowding at Newcastle Family Court is creating a volatile situation that invites acts of violence.

12yo drink driver gets probation

A 12-year-old Mount Isa girl has been ordered to serve 12 months' probation after pleading guilty to several charges, including drink driving.

The Mount Isa Children's Court heard the girl was more than three times over the legal blood alcohol limit when she stole and crashed a car.

As part of the probation, Magistrate Howard Osborne ordered the girl to undergo drug and alcohol testing, and Child Safety to stay in contact with her family.

Anti-violence plan for children

A Federal Government agency is developing a plan for anti-violence education programs for children.

Libby Lloyd chairs the National Council to Reduce Violence Against Women and their Children and spoke at a seminar in Adelaide last night.

[Why not Violence Against ‘Everyone’ not necessarily just Against Women and their Children - If not then why not? This is supposed to be an article about educating children? Why educate children with a one sided view? Is it okay to violate men? The idea that we should only reduce Violence Against Women and their Children is a Zionist Tactic. Zionists maintain leverage by choosing to focus only on ‘women and children’ because that is how they undermine and divide the community the best. Anyone can search this blog under murder, violence, or domestic-violence and see that women also need help.]

[We are all human beings and to solve any problem like domestic violence then we must go to the ‘root’ of the problem and not try to divide the root of the problem into parts.]

Ms Lloyd says the plan outlines ways to change the way school children think about relationships, to prevent them entering abusive ones later in life.

"As we've gone around the country we've been talking with people about what age that would mean and many are saying high school and then they're saying junior high school, saying university, but we're even into people saying we need to work with playgroups, so we'd be looking at doing a lot around education and better understanding," she said.

"To make sure that we offer perpetrators of violence those sort of services at a very early stage in their lives and this is going down to you know kids bullying in schools, right through to using violence in their homes."

Quote: Pretty much a one sided view though. Perhaps the men should just kill each other and leave the women and children here on earth by themselves? I guess it's okay for parents to smack their children too? Bad lesson! How can children who have been 'reasonably forced' learn by example 'Anti-Violence' from the person they love the most? See link below: Bad lesson! Alienating parents doesn't solve the problem of domestic violence either See link below. Furthermore: Police use violence and so does the military.

You see even authorities have to lead by some form of example and that means no violence NONE. If society really wants to fix the problem. And what about violence in sport? What about violence on TV? When is that going to stop? And what about all the dead civilians in the Middle East?

Clearly there is a violence epidemic in Australia and we have to start asking the question why?

YOU SEE IT IS SOCIETY THAT IS FAILING OUR CHILDREN THESE ARE PARENTS NOT CHILDREN AND SOCIETY HAS TO LEAD BY SOME FORM OF EXAMPLE OTHERWISE THE CHILDREN ARE DOOMED TO FAILURE.

Related:

More women perpetrating domestic violence: statistics

In the 12 months to September 2003 police recorded 4918 women as persons of interest for perpetrating domestic violence. By 2006-07 that had risen to 6056, figures from the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research show.

Of the women arrested for domestic violence-related assault in the five years to last September only 32 per cent of the cases reached court, compared with 56 per cent of cases involving men, statistics show.

The bureau's director, Don Weatherburn, said the increase was likely to have been driven by more than one factor. Others could include an increase in binge drinking, or more men who were willing to admit they are victims.

"It's possible that people are becoming less tolerant of violence by females than they used to be," he said. More women are also being arrested for assault not related to domestic violence, which some attribute to a rise in alcohol abuse. Others say women can be as violent as men, and that in more than half of violent partnerships partners struck each other.

Zionist Tactics and Manipulation in Australian Media…..

6) They hide and ignore the real truth.

11) They Divide and Conquer the general public.

12) They MAGNIFY women and children offences to maintain their righteousness and credibility knowing that those who would attack a women or children as in the NT Aboriginal community, and as many media reports;

Sydney Morning Herald, Australia SOME Muslim religious leaders are condoning rape within marriage, domestic violence, polygamy, welfare fraud and the exploitation of women, a report on imam ... Imams condone rape, violence - report.

We all detest women and child offences but those accused being the 'most unpopular people' can then be undermined 'guilty or not' and mud sticks. But that is why we have a court of law.

Bligh won't budge on smacking code
The Queensland Government says it will not change a controversial section of the criminal code that allows "reasonable force" to be used when disciplining children.

Police arrest a father over access dispute?
In a media report yesterday the ABC reported (see article below), that the police arrested a man over the abduction of children. But were these his children?

Domestic murders hit 10-year high
But when we write our article then we may need to leave out say, the statistics in relation to women who commit 'domestic murders'? That's if we are going to succeed changing public opinon that it's only the men. Another fact is that women don't commit domestic murders? Of course this is just a guess?

Mayor seeks 'truth' over Mulrunji death
The Mayor of Palm Island, off north Queensland, says there are still too many unanswered questions about the 2004 death in custody of Mulrunji Doomadgee and the events that followed his death.

Torched man's killers get 24 years
Two people have each been sentenced to a minimum of 24 years in jail for burning a man to death in a hotel car park in Adelaide.

Psychiatric care for woman who killed
A Sydney woman charged with the stabbing murder of her father and sister has been found not guilty by reason of mental illness.

Lindstrom's murder plot sentence extended Swedish model
Charlotte Lindstrom's jail sentence for plotting the murder of two witnesses in a drug trial has been extended by at least another year.

Mother sentenced over her children's murders
A Victorian woman convicted of murdering her two sons has been sentenced to 24 years in a psychiatric hospital.

Psychic spirit sex murder accomplice jailed
A woman who helped her de facto husband after he murdered her best friend will spend at least 18 months in jail.

Woman jailed for 24 years for murdering teenage friend
Two Perth women have been sentenced to strict security life imprisonment, with a 24-year minimum, for what a judge has described as the evil and sexually perverse murder of a teenage girl.

Mother who threw baby convicted of manslaughter
A young mother has been found not guilty of murdering her baby daughter, despite admitting she caused the infant's fatal injuries.

On a dusty morning, our tiny Lake Angel finds peace
Two-year-old Dean James Shillingsworth was laid to rest in his father's home town of Brewarrina yesterday, a fortnight after his body was found dumped in a Sydney lake.

Mother found guilty of daughter's murder
A woman has broken down in the South Australian Supreme Court as a jury unanimously found her guilty of murdering her young daughter.

Teens to serve 15 years for 'gruesome' murder of friend
Two teenage girls have been sentenced to life imprisonment in Western Australia for murdering their 15-year-old friend who they then buried in a shallow grave in the south-west town of Collie.

Teens who killed taxi driver jailed
Two teenage girls who killed a taxi driver in western Sydney in January last year, have been jailed for at least three-and-a-half years.

Lawyers struggle to explain teenage murder motives
Lawyers for two teenagers have told the Perth Children's Court experts have been unable to determine why the girls turned into murderers.

Payouts for families of abused soldiers
The families of four young soldiers [diggers] who took their lives after suffering abuse in the army hope that government compensation is a step toward changing Australia's military justice system.

Day police just went too far
A man who challenged the right of police to remain in his home - only to be sprayed with capsicum spray, handcuffed and locked in a cell wearing only boxer shorts - has won his case in the High Court.

Girls gone wild
Women are drinking more and behaving more aggressively. Sonia Harford asks why. Not long ago, the women in Victorian prisons were there largely because of drug or property-related crimes. But that picture is slowly changing, with a rising number of women being convicted for assault and other violent crimes. Police statistics show that the rate of women arrested for crimes against the person - including homicide, rape, sexual assault, robbery and assault - increased from 2005 to 2007.

Court overcrowding 'inviting violence'
The Federal Government has been told that overcrowding at Newcastle Family Court is creating a volatile situation that invites acts of violence.

AFGHANISTAN: End the slaughter
An Afghan woman who lost family members weeps after air strikes on Friday in Azizabad district of Shindand August 23, 2008. An UN investigation suggested that 60 children were killed in the airstrike. Australian troops are not restoring peace in Afghanistan but working for oil company profits, amongst other things.

AFGHANISTAN: End the slaughter
On 22 August, 95 civilians were killed by NATO forces, 60 among them
were children. Yesterday 1 September another 70 civilians suffered the
same fate.

Casualties in Afghanistan:
Afghan troops killed: 8,587 Afghan troops seriously injured: 25,761
Afghan civilians killed: 3,485 Afghan civilians seriously injured:
6,273 U.S. troops killed: 534 U.S. troops seriously injured: 1,602
Other coalition troops killed: 402 Other coalition troops seriously
injured: 1,206 Contractors killed: 75 Contractors seriously injured:
2,428 Journalists killed: 6 Journalists seriously injured: unknown
Total killed in Afghanistan: 13,089 Total injured in Afghanistan: 37,270

Casualties in Iraq:
Iraqi troops killed: 30,000 Iraqi troops seriously injured: 90,000
Iraqi civilians killed: 658,227 Iraqi civilians seriously injured:
1,184,809 U.S. troops killed: 4,193 U.S. troops seriously injured:
30,634 Other coalition troops killed: 314 Other coalition troops
seriously injured: 942 Contractors killed: 917 Contractors seriously
injured: 10,569 Journalists killed: 159 Journalists seriously injured:
unknown Total killed in Iraq: 693,810 Total injured in Iraq: 1,316,954

War criminal Howard wants crackdown on school violence?
Discipline is not achieved by cracking down but by teaching better lessons that include self awarness, empathy towards others and insight into offending behaviour. Once more Howard couldn't possibly teach those lessons because he himself lacks all of the above. That's why he asked for a 'crackdown'.

Teen pregnancy, suicide rates a 'wake-up-call'

A report that shows Australia is not the lucky country for its youth should act as a policy wake-up call, the federal government says.

The Research Alliance for Children and Youth compared health, education, employment and family relationships of Australians aged up to 24 with those in other developed nations.

Overall, non-indigenous Australian youths fared relatively well in each category but not compared with youngsters from the best performing countries. And indigenous young people compared miserably on every indicator.

"Despite our economic prosperity, Australian children do not perform as well as modern society would like to think," the report said.

Federal Families and Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin said the report would be a "shock" to many people.

"We are falling far behind many, many comparable countries ... where we would have thought we were doing so much better," Ms Macklin said.

"We all know the shocking gap that exists between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians but ... I don't think that people are aware of the extraordinary differences between our children and children in other developed countries."

Pregnancy rates were much higher than the OECD average, and rates for indigenous Australians were the highest, the report found.

Youth road deaths are the third highest in the OECD and indigenous young people have the second highest suicide rate behind Finland.

Children of indigenous youths have the second highest infant mortality rate and recorded the lowest birth weights.

More than 15 per cent of Australians aged 18-24 years claim to experience high or very high levels of psychological distress.

Australia also performed poorly in the transition between education and employment, and family relationships.

Head of the study, Professor Fiona Stanley, said the findings suggested government policy had failed children for many years.

"If this was the Olympics, Australian's would be horrified that we've failed to bring home a single gold," she said.

Prof Stanley said Australia can do better and the indicator levels were "very policy sensitive and responsive".

Ms Macklin agreed, saying paid parental leave and a focus on early childhood education would help boost Australia's performance.

"It does need to be a wake up call ... as a nation we have to do better," she said.

Eleven-year-old Isha Menon, selected to be acting Children's Commissioner for the day, said one area of focus should be better work-life balance for families.

"Many children in my class have to go home alone and sometimes around 4.30 they are still hanging around and playing with friends," she said.

"They probably never see their parents because they work long hours.

"We must support parents to spend more time with their children."

The wellbeing of Australian youth compared to other Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) nations

Infant mortality: Australians 20/27

Indigenous Australians 26/28

Low birth rate: Australians 7/18

Indigenous Australians 19/19

Mental health: Australians 13/23

Indigenous Australians 23/24

Accidental injury: Australia 7/8

Education

Reading: Australians 6/29

Indigenous Australians 29/31

Maths: Australians 29/31

Indigenous Australians 29/31

Science: Australians 5/30

Indigenous Australians 29/31

Transition to employment: Australia 17/25

Peer and family relationships

Parents "just talking" with children: Australians 18/27

Indigenous Australians 17/28

Sense of belonging: Australians 11/29 Indigenous Australians 29/30

Teenage fertility: Australians 21/30 Indigenous Australians 31/31

Road deaths: Australia 20/23

Source: The Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY).

Related:

Rise in deaths of children at risk
THERE has been a surge in the number of deaths of children at risk in NSW in 2007, despite a $1.2 billion funding injection into the Department of Community Services over the previous five years.

Children needing protection 'has tripled'
The biggest increase in the number of notifications was in NSW. New research shows state governments have failed to put in place appropriate child protection measures despite a sharp rise in the number of children needing protection from violent and sexual abuse in the last 10 years.

Child removal rate similar to Stolen Generations
A Queensland Government report shows Aboriginal children are being removed from their families at a rate similar to the Stolen Generations of the 1920s.

Parents lack life skills, means, time: Stanley
ONE in five Australian parents are poor caregivers because they don't have the means or life skills, child health expert Professor Fiona Stanley says.

Mental illness more prevalent among youth
A new report on children's health shows that young people's mental health may not be improving, as was previously thought.

Taking the scalpel to DOCS
Overloaded on one front, the state's child protection agency fails all. When the body of a boy was found in a suitcase last year, and a girl was later found starved to death, the State Government could no longer ignore the calls for a major inquiry into the state's child protection system.

Formal sorry to child abuse victims
The Mullighan Inquiry recently exposed hundreds of cases of abuse, some dating back to the 1960s. Commissioner Ted Mullighan called it a foul undercurrent of abuse in SA institutions.

Principals agree: cut out social subjects
"The curriculum is far too crowded and we know from our research that not all schools can do what is being asked of them," she said. "The social responsibilities being placed on primary schools are ever increasing, taking time and resources away from our core business."

Compensation for wrongful detentions

The Federal Government may compensate as many as 191 people for wrongfully holding them in immigration detention centres, a parliamentary hearing was told on Tuesday.

A Government ombudsman last year reported that 247 Australian citizens, permanent residents and legal visa holders were incorrectly detained by the Immigration Department between 1993 and 2007.

The inquiry was sparked by the illegal detention of mentally ill Australian resident Cornelia Rau for more than 10 months in 2004 and 2005 and the wrongful deportation of Australian citizen Vivian Solon to the Philippines.

The chief lawyer for the department, Robyn Bicket, said the department had now reviewed all the cases.

"Currently we are at 191 cases [where] we believe there is risk of legal liability for compensation and 56 cases where we believe there is no compensatable risk involved," she told a Senate estimates hearing.

Ms Bicket said that the department had offered compensation in 40 cases and settlements had been reached in 17 instances.

The Howard government adopted a controversial policy towards asylum seekers and illegal immigrants, making immigration detention mandatory even for children.

Related:

Detention centre staff 'cracked'
More than 60 former staff at Australian immigration detention centres have reported long-term mental health problems associated with the stress of the job.

UN Torture Committee Blasts Australia
In its report on Australia, the Torture Committee was critical of Australia's prisons, counter-terrorism laws, mandatory immigration detention and of the way Australian officials have ignored torture and mistreatment overseas in places like Abu Ghraib.

Rise in deaths of children at risk

THERE has been a surge in the number of deaths of children at risk in NSW in 2007, despite a $1.2 billion funding injection into the Department of Community Services over the previous five years.

The revelation came at an estimates hearing at State Parliament yesterday, as an inquiry is finalising its recommendations as to whether the Government is doing enough to protect children at risk.

The Minister for Community Services, Linda Burney, said yesterday 156 children at risk had died in 2007, up from 114 in 2006. In all cases, the children were known to DOCS as being at risk.

For several years the number of deaths of children at risk has hovered at 100-110 a year. Criticism over the continued high level of deaths led last September to the Wood inquiry, headed by retired Supreme Court judge James Wood, QC. It is to report its findings by year end.

The number of deaths of children at risk is usually disclosed by the Ombudsman, Bruce Barbour, although Ms Burney said yesterday she had told him that if asked during the committee hearings, she would disclose the data.

Ms Burney pointed to the "significant increase" in the number of deaths, which would be of public concern.

"The most frequently-recorded risk factors in reports about children and young people who died in 2007 were domestic violence and parental substance abuse," Ms Burney told the parliamentary committee hearing. "These issues seriously erode our children's safety, accompanied by a third social problem, mental health issues for parents."

Of the 156 deaths, 72 were from natural causes, 18 were babies who died of sudden infant death syndrome, known as SIDS, eight were suicides, eight died in car accidents, five drowned, three died from fires, three from accidental choking or smothering, 11 died in uncommon circumstances such as from a snake bite, four died from fatal physical assaults, and the remaining 19 died due to causes unknown or undetermined.

In all, 55 per cent were involved either directly, or their sibling, in instances of domestic violence in the three years before their death, and there was also 55 per cent in cases where there was suspicion of parental substance abuse, and 24 per cent showing parental mental health concerns

"The Opposition has been calling for a royal commission into DOCS for quite some time," the Opposition spokeswoman on community services, Katrina Hodgkinson, said. She blamed the department for not working closely with other government agencies, a culture of bullying in the department, and a "revolving door of junior ministers" handling the portfolio for the chronic problems.

During the committee hearing, the director-general of the Department of Community Services, Jenny Mason, said that despite successes in hiring more case workers, staff turnover remains high, at 8.9 per cent in 2006-07.

Related:

Children needing protection 'has tripled'
The biggest increase in the number of notifications was in NSW. New research shows state governments have failed to put in place appropriate child protection measures despite a sharp rise in the number of children needing protection from violent and sexual abuse in the last 10 years.

Child removal rate similar to Stolen Generations
A Queensland Government report shows Aboriginal children are being removed from their families at a rate similar to the Stolen Generations of the 1920s.

Parents lack life skills, means, time: Stanley
ONE in five Australian parents are poor caregivers because they don't have the means or life skills, child health expert Professor Fiona Stanley says.

Mental illness more prevalent among youth
A new report on children's health shows that young people's mental health may not be improving, as was previously thought.

Taking the scalpel to DOCS
Overloaded on one front, the state's child protection agency fails all. When the body of a boy was found in a suitcase last year, and a girl was later found starved to death, the State Government could no longer ignore the calls for a major inquiry into the state's child protection system.

Formal sorry to child abuse victims
The Mullighan Inquiry recently exposed hundreds of cases of abuse, some dating back to the 1960s. Commissioner Ted Mullighan called it a foul undercurrent of abuse in SA institutions.

Principals agree: cut out social subjects
"The curriculum is far too crowded and we know from our research that not all schools can do what is being asked of them," she said. "The social responsibilities being placed on primary schools are ever increasing, taking time and resources away from our core business."

Children needing protection 'has tripled'

The biggest increase in the number of notifications was in NSW.

New research shows state governments have failed to put in place appropriate child protection measures despite a sharp rise in the number of children needing protection from violent and sexual abuse in the last 10 years.

A report from the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) has found that since 1997, the number of children needing protection - mostly from violent and drug-addicted parents - [alcoholics?] - has more than tripled nationally to more than 300,000.

[Unless deemed a drug? Why was alcohol left of the above list? And woudn't they be mostly from violent drunks? Seen as how drugs are illegal?]

While this was based on both substantiated and 'unsubstantiated' child-protection notifications, the number of substantiated notifications also increased dramatically - almost doubling from 29,833 to 58,563.

The biggest increase in the number of notifications (substantiated and unsubstantiated) was in New South Wales, where the figure in 1995-96 was 28,930 and the corresponding figure in 2006-07 was 189,928.

One of the report author's, James McDougall, says little has been done to prevent children suffering at the hands of abusive and violent parents.

"There's been a hell of a lot of concerns around prosecutions and notifications, but in terms of good public policy development it's become fairly clear to us that what we've missed out on doing is that ensuring children are actually protected in that process," he said.

He says it shows a lack of appropriate early intervention polices.

The report also calls for more support programs for parents with drug or alcohol problems, as well as mental health assistance for children.

Related:

Child removal rate similar to Stolen Generations
A Queensland Government report shows Aboriginal children are being removed from their families at a rate similar to the Stolen Generations of the 1920s.

Parents lack life skills, means, time: Stanley
ONE in five Australian parents are poor caregivers because they don't have the means or life skills, child health expert Professor Fiona Stanley says.

Mental illness more prevalent among youth
A new report on children's health shows that young people's mental health may not be improving, as was previously thought.

Taking the scalpel to DOCS
Overloaded on one front, the state's child protection agency fails all. When the body of a boy was found in a suitcase last year, and a girl was later found starved to death, the State Government could no longer ignore the calls for a major inquiry into the state's child protection system.

Formal sorry to child abuse victims
The Mullighan Inquiry recently exposed hundreds of cases of abuse, some dating back to the 1960s. Commissioner Ted Mullighan called it a foul undercurrent of abuse in SA institutions.

Principals agree: cut out social subjects
"The curriculum is far too crowded and we know from our research that not all schools can do what is being asked of them," she said. "The social responsibilities being placed on primary schools are ever increasing, taking time and resources away from our core business."

NSW in rights push for lesbian mums

The New South Wales Government wants a federal law amended so children of lesbian couples can seek child support if their parents separate.

State Attorney-General John Hatzistergos says co-mothers are not recognised in Family Court proceedings under the current laws.

Mr Hatzistergos says he will ask the Federal Government to change the Family Law Act to include lesbian parents at a meeting of attorneys-general this week.

"It's important that the laws be amended to ensure that these children are treated in the same way that children of heterosexual relationships are, so that in the event that the parents split up, there is an entitlement for that child to be able to seek child support from co-mothers," he said.

"It's important to recognise that these relationships exist and these children exist, whatever one might think about them.

"And bearing in mind those facts, it's logical to ensure that we have a civilised way of ensuring the economic security of these children."

The State Government last month expanded the rights of NSW children with lesbian parents, clearing the way for children from lesbian couples to inherit money from and receive workers' compensation on behalf of their non-birth parent.

The reforms allowed both mothers to appear on their child's birth certificate.

Children killed to punish me, says mother

Karen Bell...."very angry, very hurt, just disgusted"

GARY POXON killed his three children because he was [convinced he was going to jail and therefore] could not live without them and they could not live without him, his devastated wife has said, speaking publicly for the first time about the tragedy.

Karen Bell, who described her emotions as "very angry, very hurt, just disgusted", said the murder of her children by her violent husband was his revenge, to make her feel guilty for leaving him - "he was trying to make me feel guilty for the rest of my life, and I do".

The murder-suicide was triggered, she said, because Mr Poxon, 44, feared she would take the children away from him [if he was sent to jail.] She had taken out an apprehended violence order, the third one, just days before.

In his suicide note he wrote he couldn't "live without the kids and the kids can't live without me and it's the end", she said in an interview. "He thought he was going to lose his kids [ if he was going to be sent to jail."]

[So why did the Sydney Morning Herald not mention this? Because it does not serve their corporate interests. However they should be more open minded to the truth because it serves the community better in terms of crime prevention, next time.]

She said: "I feel guilty that I wasn't there to protect my children. Anybody who has a child would know that. You know, that is all you live for … You do everything for them you can. You try to make the best life you can, and they've just been taken away."

The children - Jack, 9, Maddie, 7, and Bon, 18 months - died of carbon monoxide poisoning after their father sealed them in a four-wheel-drive with two hoses running into it. They were found last Friday week, but it is unclear when they died.

"The guy deserves to rot in hell," said Ms Bell's brother-in-law, Alister Haining. "We never thought he would do anything to the kids. We thought he was a doting dad. In public view he was calm with the kids, calm to Karen." He said Ms Bell was "strong and calm" before the children's funeral, to be held in Bega on Wednesday.

Ms Bell told how she called the police on Saturday, June 21, after another violent row with her husband. He was charged with assault, put on an apprehended violence order and released. "He calls me the next morning, says he's allowed to come home and needed to be picked up … I thought I could bring him home and I could take the kids and go, but as soon as he got home he wouldn't let me take the kids."

Ms Bell left the farmhouse in Pericoe, west of Eden, without the children, driving to her parents' home in Bega. She never saw them alive again.

"Ultimately, I don't think anything would have prevented him from doing it unless I had the children and he didn't see them," she said.

Mr Haining said Ms Bell was speaking out to encourage others to be vigilant. "I would just watch my neighbours, watch what is going on," he said. "Try to be vigilant and don't be scared of approaching the authorities if you think there is a problem with the kids."

Quote: But there was something that could have prevented this crime and that is if Gary Poxon did not fear he would go to jail. The fear of going to jail causes this crime.

There are other ways to discourage domestic violence other than cause a person to fear going to jail. The fear of going to jail is the ultimate embarrassment to any citizen in the community who has lived a life, besides being domestically violent, or even when they are not domestically violent, but just have a personality clash with their partner, otherwise living lawfully.

The fear of being sent to prison is made worse because of the stigma produced by the corporate media and of course the lack of opportunity to be with one's children.

Lack of consultation with people who have been in similar circumstances is another reason why the authorities fail to recognise this.

If you look into Gary Poxan's predispositions and history with his own parents you may find out that there were other reasons why he was so ridged and not flexible about not being able to live with his kids or the dilemma in his own mind about why he thought his kids could not live without him.

Gary Poxon could have been kept in jail but sooner or later he would have been released, possibly very raged and angry?

Karen and the children could have been taken into hiding by Task Force Harm, Google it, the states protection group, indefinitely or until the parents and children were cleard for unification because of better results and outcomes. Believe it or not people can and do get over the initial trauma caused by family breakdown and their personal history, the way they were each raised and how that changed their way of thinking about it and the future.

Or more community consultation could have been organised making Gary seek councelling instead of being threatened by the fear of prison.

Those are some of the options in these cases that could have prevented this 'triple murder' suicide.

Remember the punishment is the crime for a world without violence. Years down the track Gary would have got over it and learned like the rest of us, that 'violence does not win'.

Yet another predisposing factor could have been how he was raised as a child? Was he 'smacked' punished instead of being taught dialogue when disciplined?

Please note that the only person who can be legaly assaulted in our community is a 'child' below the neck. Why is that? Read the links and find out why that is so wrong.

I would encourage the 'authorities' to do a complete family history check on Gary Poxon to find out more about it and how to prevent this type of crime next time.

Question: Why did the STATE fail to protect Karen Bell and their children - Jack, 9, Maddie, 7, and Bon, 18 months after 'three' apprehended violence orders? Those were the significant indications that there may be further problems. One violent strike and you're out!. Two violent strikes is a serious threat!! Three violent strikes is definitely a possible crisis situation waiting to happen.

Also remember that the above scenario won't prevent the police family axe murders as mentioned at the start of last nights program on 60 Minutes, that will take another giant leap into the 69-year-old John Walsh family history, the events surrounding the circumstances of his fall and the severity of his crime. I wonder if 60 Minutes will do a story about that?

Lyricks The Future - can't remember the author.

Your high in your feelings, you care even more. But now i'll tell you something that I think you should know. You just can't believe me when I tell you, what you mean to me...the future. You cause me confusion. You told me you cared. The past is the present and the future is there.

Related:

Family homicides 'need monitoring'
The state's ombudsman has renewed his call for a special task force to investigate all domestic violence-related homicides in the wake of two family tragedies this week. In the first case, the bodies of a 44-year-old man and his three children were found inside a car in the driveway of their property on the NSW far south coast.

Family was troubled: neighbours
Neighbours of a man and his three children whose bodies were found in their driveway say it was well-known in the area that the family had problems.

Police arrest alleged police family killer
Police have arrested a grandfather accused of killing his wife and two grandchildren, and seriously injuring his daughter, with an axe in New South Wales

International Conference on Penal Abolition


The full agenda for ICOPA is now online, and pending any further changes, the line-up is looking like we're going to have a fascinating conference. With speakers coming to present papers from Brazil, Trinidad, Canada, Australia, USA, Belgium, Argentina, South Africa plus many more including the UK, we are really looking at a truly international conference.

Jailed after 'sex contract' with daughter

A north Brisbane couple have been sentenced to jail this afternoon, after a court heard about how they made a pregnancy pact to inseminate their 15-year-old daughter after bearing two biological children with congenital diseases.

The 35-year-old stepfather received an eight-year prison term. He already has served 164 days in pre-sentence custody.

The girl's 39-year-old mother was sentenced to six months' jail and three months' probation.

The couple, who cannot be identified under Queensland law, penned a handwritten "contract" with the girl, before the man began having daily sex with her over two-and-a-half months in late 2006.

The couple also tried to inject her with the man's sperm in a bid to conceive, Brisbane's District Court heard.

The pair both pleaded guilty to one count each of maintaining a sexual relationship with a child.

Lawyers say the case is the first of its type in Queensland.

Prosecutors told the court the man had begun sexually abusing the girl from the age of 12.

Three years later, the court heard the man and his wife, the girl's mother, struck a deal with the then-15-year-old that she would bear them a child because their two other biological children had been born with genetic defects.

They wrote the pact in a notebook and tried for several weeks to impregnate the girl using the man's sperm, which he had masturbated into a syringe.

When the method failed, however, prosecutors said the man began having sexual intercourse with his stepdaughter up to three times a day.

The couple were eventually arrested in August 2006 after the girl confided in the family of a friend who encouraged her to go to the police.

As he was being arrested, the man indignantly declared: "Did you not see the f---ing contract?"

He was described in court this morning by his own defence barrister as "disgusting" and "despicable".

Kiddy criminals, 8, let off with warnings

KIDDY criminals are being apprehended by police at an alarming rate of more than 50 a week for offences including assaults, car theft, malicious damage, armed hold-ups and drug dealing.

Figures on crime rates among 8, 9, and 10 year olds compiled by police show the distressing extent of the mayhem in some areas caused by children running wild.

Police logged 7724 offences by children under 10 between January 1, 2005 and September 30, 2007.

The crimes are very adult but police and welfare agencies admit they have no legal power to charge or punish these pint-size thugs, thieves, vandals and rapists.

The only option is a stern lecture and a call to parents, and possibly a referral to the Department of Community Services. Only when children are in the older 10-14 age bracket is there a possibility of an appearance in the Children's Court.

[No certainly not the only option. A better option for instance would be to teach all children 'equally' social skills in school or at the earliest intervention. Like, Social Responsibilities, Communication, Conflict Resolution, Self-Worth, and Life-Skills, now please read the links and don't be stupid all your life Daily Telegraph, That is if you want get out of the minimum security Prison Planet. PS) this world was not only made for the 'Takers' but also for the 'Leaver-Givers'. In Australia today up to three generations of parents don't have socials skills to pass on to their children. Publik and NSW Community News Network have been saying that for two decades, at least and why this society is falling apart is because of lack of understanding and ignorance - and not knowledge and understanding.]

The data was released following a Freedom of Information request and intervention by the Ombudsman after a nine-month delay.

The figures reveal:

* ONE murder last year by a 10-year-old, although details of the crime are not available;

* 141 sexual assaults and other sexual offences, including 31 by eight year olds;

* 41 robberies, including two involving firearms;

* 47 drug offences, including four where the children were dealing in cannabis, amphetamines or other drugs;

* 584 driving offences, including 113 by eight-year-olds;

* 355 break and enters, including 87 by eight-year-olds;

* 1109 assaults, including both domestic and non-domestic violence; and;

* 1613 cases of malicious damage to property, including 301 by eight-year-olds.

A police spokesman said children taken into ustody in this age group are returned to their parents without formal charging.

The youngsters do not face further action in court due to the presumption of doli incapax, the legal position that they are incapable of being held responsible for a crime.

"Children under 10 cannot be guilty of an offence. This is an unrebuttable presumption," the spokesman said.

It's not even automatic that the children's names are passed on to the Department of Community Services (DOCS). Only if there is a risk to the child's safety are police required to notify DOCS.

Former Children's Court Magistrate Barbara Holborow said there were more "feral" tender-aged offenders than ever. She said it's her experience that these children continue committing crimes until eventually they are old enough to appear in a Children's Court some years later.

"I don't know whether it's because so many parents are working by necessity, loss of parents' rights, poor discipline at home or whatever, but something is wrong," she said.

Victims of Crime Assistance League executive director Robyn Cotterell-Jones agreed.

"There's no fear any more in children about authority. They have the attitude that no one can touch me," she said.

Often the victims of child crimes were other children, especially in the area of sexual assault, she said. Ignoring the crime because the offender was under 10 may mean the victim does not get appropriate justice or help.

"The silencing mechanisms that are supposed to stop a child who does a crime being scarred for life may also mean horrible crimes are covered up," she said.

Related:

Government must do more to support families
The Federal Families Minister Jenny Macklin must do more to support families instead of neglecting them because of the acute child abuse levels that are alarmingly high.

Govt, union defend remote community schooling
The Centre for Independent Studies says Aboriginal students in the Northern Territory are finishing school with the numeracy and literacy skills of five-year-olds.

Laws will push teenagers into adult prisons
TWELVE young offenders who have brought a court challenge against their transfer from juvenile to adult jails have been dealt a blow after the State Government rushed laws into Parliament that may ensure they are moved. Seven were shifted to adult jails from juvenile detention centres in March and April soon after their 18th birthdays despite judges' orders that they serve their sentence in a juvenile facility until 21 because of special vulnerabilities.

Teachers urge Govt to stem school violence
New South Wales teachers say the State Government should be putting more resources into tackling violence in public schools, after it was revealed 252 official reports of assault or serious threats were made last year. The figures are contained in reports released by the state's Education Department, which show more than 10 per cent of the state's schools reported at least one serious incident in the six months to September last year.

Principals agree: cut out social subjects
"The curriculum is far too crowded and we know from our research that not all schools can do what is being asked of them," she said. "The social responsibilities being placed on primary schools are ever increasing, taking time and resources away from our core business."

Jail parents of truants, says Iemma
EDUCATION and welfare experts have ridiculed Morris Iemma's plan to send parents to jail if their children repeatedly miss school, saying the policy is "heavy-handed" and will only hurt the most disadvantaged students.

Children 'sexually abusing classmates'
The inquiry has spent the last two days in Boggabilla and Toomelah, where about 70 people gathered to give evidence yesterday.

Intervention 'a smokescreen for land grab'
A delegate at an anti-intervention conference being held in Sydney this weekend says the general feeling is that the intervention is all about taking land away from Indigenous people.

Girls gone wild?
While these figures point to a disturbing trend, those searching for the reasons behind it paint a complex picture of women's changing identities, and an apparent acceptance of an increasingly violent culture.

Girls broke law to see jailed friends: Police
Two 14-year-old girls from Carnarvon, in central western Western Australia, who pleaded guilty to several burglaries, told police they committed the crimes so they could spend time with friends already in custody.

2nd Renaissance - Beyond Industrial Capitalism and Nation States
The very notions of the rule of law and judicial punishment are socially corrosive and damaging to the spiritual consciousness of both the people subjected to them and those that practice them. The following diagram shows the choices we have, right now, as the 2nd Renaissance gathers pace and a Level 4 Civilization lies ahead of us.

International Conference on Penal Abolition


The full agenda for ICOPA is now online, and pending any further changes, the line-up is looking like we're going to have a fascinating conference. With speakers coming to present papers from Brazil, Trinidad, Canada, Australia, USA, Belgium, Argentina, South Africa plus many more including the UK, we are really looking at a truly international conference.

MPs baulk at rules on sexualisation

CHILDREN are increasingly exposed to highly sexualised images, a Senate committee has found - but it has stopped short of calling for tougher government regulation, which has angered parent groups.

The issue has been thrown into the spotlight by controversies such as the publication of photos of the 15-year-old Disney star Miley Cyrus topless in the magazine Vanity Fair.

Although the committee rejected tighter standards on what television and advertisers can show, it recommended a national sex education program as a way to teach children about healthy relationships and to help them "deconstruct" sexualised images.

It singled out raunchy music videos and toys such as Bratz dolls, but said "it is the primary responsibility of parents to make decisions about what their children see, hear, read or purchase.

"These parental decisions can have a significant impact on the market for sexualising products and services."

The committee has also suggested that television networks consider a dedicated children's channel and that publishers of magazines such as Dolly and Girlfriend investigate putting content warnings on covers.

Parenting groups were angry the committee did not take a tougher position.

"The reliance on industry bodies to fix most of the issues is misplaced. If these bodies were willing to take effective steps to address the issues they would have done so by now," the vice-president of Young Media Australia, Elizabeth Handsley, said.

The professor of public ethics at Charles Sturt University, Clive Hamilton, said: "The report fails to understand or reflect the level of community concern about the ways in which children are being sexualised by the media and advertisers and has largely ignored the evidence of harm presented to the inquiry by psychologists and other experts working with children."

More than a third of the people who made private submissions to the inquiry identified themselves as parents or grandparents who were concerned that their children and grandchildren were being subject to sexualisation by the media.

The Democrats senator Lyn Allison, who instigated the inquiry, denied the committee had failed to take the issue seriously. "This is a call to industry to shape up or we'll get tougher," she said.

A national sex education program would help children make sense of the images they saw, she said.

"People link the resilience of children to their education about relationships and sex. It's not saying education would fix exposure to images, but it would give help kids deal with them."

The advertising and media industry largely welcomed the report.

Helen Willoughby, the chief executive of the Outdoor Media Association, said: "We are yet to see the detail but we have been speaking with the Advertising Standards Bureau to look at ways to address issues over the past six months about addressing content issues as they relate specifically to the outdoor medium."

A spokesman for PBL Media, the owner of ACP Magazines, the publisher of Dolly, said: "We will have a look at whether we put any age-appropriate information on the covers." The peak body for commercial broadcasters, Free TV Australia, said in a statement that it believed there were already "clear protections" in place for both content and advertising. "We are confident that these are in line with community standards and do not sexualise children," it said.

Suicide taunt to suspects

A DAY after one of the men arrested in a national pedophile crackdown tried to kill himself, a politician has sparked outrage by encouraging people accused of child pornography to commit suicide.

The comment was made as eight more men were charged and a former police officer pleaded guilty to accessing child pornography, saying he was addicted to using the internet and found it a challenge to locate difficult sites.

By late yesterday 98 men were facing charges, a figure expected to rise as many suspects are questioned over coming weeks.

Queensland's Opposition police spokesman, the Nationals MP Vaughan Johnson, told State Parliament: "I hope they bring these grubs to justice.

"One of them committed suicide yesterday, and another one had a big go, but he must not have had the courage to do it properly. If they all went and did it first up, we wouldn't have this problem. They must be guilty if they commit suicide."

A 59-year-old Sunshine Coast teacher charged with possessing child pornography killed himself on May 5, police said, while a 48-year-old teacher from Brisbane's southern outskirts attempted suicide on Thursday.

"As far as I'm concerned, they can all top themselves," Mr Johnson said. "If they are there, interfering with children, they are the lowest form of life on the planet."

A spokesman for Queensland's Opposition Leader, Lawrence Springborg, had no comment on Mr Johnson's views, but the state's police commissioner, Bob Atkinson, said suicide was a "huge concern" in child pornography cases.

Terry O'Gorman, vice-president of the Queensland Council for Civil Liberties, said: "Politicians are supposed to provide some leadership. He is happy to lead from the gutter and he should be seen in that light."

As an experienced politician, Mr Johnson was "a disgrace to engage in that sort of mindless comment", Mr O'Gorman said.

A former federal police officer charged with accessing child porn images, Michael Edward Hatch, 38, said he did it as "a challenge", and was not sexually interested in young girls.

Hatch told ACT Magistrates Court he had become obsessed with internet porn while depressed and had gradually moved from viewing adult women to pubescent girls.

"I feel absolute disgust at myself with what I did," he said. "It was vile … To me it was a challenge. That is what I got my excitement from."

Breaking down in court, Hatch said he had not seen the children as victims but now realised that his actions were "despicable".

Hatch's partner, whose name cannot be published under an order by the court, said she did not believe he was a threat to her four teenage children. A psychologist, Marshall O'Brien, said he did not believe Hatch was a pedophile. The case has been adjourned until Thursday.

Meanwhile, the AFP has denied it jeopardised the operation by revealing details before it was finished, saying it was important the public learnt of the danger.

It said it had an electronic record of all those who accessed the European site that sparked the global investigation. It also claimed three people had come forward since the operation was made public on Thursday to confess to accessing the images.

Queensland's Police Minister, Judy Spence, said many Queensland police were "puzzled" by the AFP decision to go public.

The child protection units of the AFP and Queensland police have been at loggerheads for years. Informed sources said there was considerable animosity and jealousy between them.

Rights win for lesbian families

The rights of New South Wales children with lesbian parents have been expanded under legislation passed by the State Government.

The law clears the way for children from lesbian couples to inherit money from their non-birth parent and receive workers' compensation on behalf of their non-birth parent.

It also allows both mothers to appear on their child's birth certificate.

NSW Attorney-General John Hatzistergos says the Bill is a big step.

"It means that the non-birth parent will have obligations to that child in the same way that every other parent has," he said.

"It also means that child will have the same relationship with the non-birth parent as they do with their birth parent."

Mr Hatzistergos says shadow attorney-general Greg Smith defied his own party in voting against the Bill.

"The Opposition is hopelessly divided on this issue but it's important to recognise that the vote was carried 64 to 11," he said.

"With Mr Smith being one of the few leading spokespersons within the Opposition voting against the legislation, he not only defied his leader but also the leader of the National party."

Emily Gray, from the Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby, says many Liberal MPs, who voted against the reforms, were confused about the meaning of reforms.

"A lot of that was stemming from the fact that they believed that fathers would be removed from birth certificates following these reforms and that's just simply not true at all," she said.

Ms Gray says the changes have been long-awaited.

"With 71 per cent of the Australian population now supporting equal rights for same-sex couples, it's about time that this equality came through," she said. "We're really happy that it has."

SA commits $190m to counter child abuse

Abuse occurred in every type of care from the 1940s onward

The South Australian government will commit a record $190 million in the budget this week to protect children and combat sex abuse.

Families and Communities Minister Jay Weatherill told The Adelaide Advertiser the $190 million, over four years, was a record for funding in the area.

A total of $142.1 million of the $190 million will cater for the growing number of children needing care and protection due to increased notifications of abuse and neglect.

And $28.2 million has been allocated for early intervention, providing intensive support for families with children at risk of abuse or neglect.

"We have a duty to protect our most vulnerable children," Mr Weatherill said. "We have more than doubled child protection funding since 2002."

The spending represents the most significant government commitment towards combating the shock revelations in the Mullighan inquiry report.

Former Supreme Court justice Ted Mullighan released the results of his three-year inquiry into the abuse of children in state care on April 1, revealing abuse occurred in every type of care from the 1940s onward.

He made 54 recommendations, which the Rann government is expected to respond to by June 19.

Related:

Child abuse compo must be fairer: lawyer
The recent Mullighan inquiry investigated cases of abuse among former state wards and made a range of recommendations to the SA Government.

Compensation for SA sex abuse victims
The South Australian Government says it will focus on compensation for victims, now that the inquiry into the sexual abuse of children in state care is complete.

Child abuse compo must be fairer: lawyer

A lawyer says SA needs a fairer scheme to compensate abused former state wards

The lawyer for alleged victims of child abuse has written to the South Australian Premier urging that a fairer compensation scheme be set up.

Peter Humphries says his law firm is representing about 150 people who were former wards of the state.

He says the SA Government's current compensation scheme can result in discrepancies in payouts between victims of similar types of abuse.

Mr Humphries says pursuing compensation through the courts can be also be stressful for victims and he favours a statutory scheme.

"My guess is that even those who might have a reasonably good case to take to court would probably opt to get involved in some statutory scheme as I say if that was reasonably fair," he said.

The recent Mullighan inquiry investigated cases of abuse among former state wards and made a range of recommendations to the SA Government.

Related:

Compensation for SA sex abuse victims
The South Australian Government says it will focus on compensation for victims, now that the inquiry into the sexual abuse of children in state care is complete.

Kids used as bait over tobacco laws

Questions have been raised over the use of minors as bait to catch out vendors who are willing to illegally sell them cigarettes.

The Opposition claims the South Australian Government is breaching its own industrial relations laws by rewarding the undercover helpers with department store vouchers, rather than paying them.

Children as young as 14 are regularly sent in to try to catch out cigarette retailers who are selling to minors.

The Health Department offers $50 vouchers for the work.

But Opposition MP David Pisoni says the young people are being short-changed.

"The issue here is that we have the Minister for Health breaking his own State Government's industrial relations laws," he said.

Mr Pisoni says it is illegal to pay the children anything less than the appropriate award rate.

Dr Kevin Buckett of the Health Department disagrees, arguing the children are volunteers who perform a community service and are thanked with vouchers.

"We're consistent with the legal advice that we've had and we've run the program for six or seven years now and it's been a very successful program," he said.

"These are not volunteers, these are kids out there working for the government. Volunteers work for Meals on Wheels, volunteers don't work for government agencies."

The Health Department has ruled out any review of the program.

Sexual imagery banned in children's ads

Advertisements for kids' products must not include sexual imagery or imply that children are sexual beings, under changes to the national advertising code of conduct.

The Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA) has announced changes to the Advertising to Children Code, after considering 26 submissions from parental groups and health and government bodies.

Included in the changes are regulations which rule out the sexualisation of children - classed as anyone aged 14 or under - in advertising which is published or broadcast in any form.

The code says advertising to children must not include sexual imagery that breaches community standards, or imply that children are sexual beings.

Ads must also not state or imply that owning a product will enhance a child's sexuality.

AANA chair Ian Alwill said the changes would meet the expectations of the Australian community.

"The review has taken note of widespread community concerns, particularly around the sexualisation of children and the portrayal of body image, and we have responded accordingly," Mr Alwill said in a statement.

The changes come as a Senate inquiry, due to report by the end of June, investigates sources of premature sexualisation of children in mainstream media.

A broadening of the definition of alcohol also was included in the rule changes, to prevent any products associated with alcohol being advertised to children.

Another significant change to the code is a prohibition of ads that encourage children to pester their parents to buy a particular product.

Ads targeted at children must also not be placed in media unsuitable for kids.

Major food and beverage advertisers were currently working with international codes and nutrition guidelines to make sure ads directed at children aligned with industry standards, the AANA said.

The Advertising to Children Code is voluntary and compliance is self-regulated by advertisers.

Complaints were handled by the Advertising Standards Board and if an advertisement was found to have breached the code, it would be taken off air, an AANA spokesman said.

No jail for pregnant heroin dealer

The District Court in Adelaide heard that Hue Thi Le, 29, sold eight balloons of heroin to an undercover police officer in June 2006, in exchange for $700 in cash and cigarettes.

The deals were done at Arndale Shopping Centre at Kilkenny and premises at Mansfield Park equipped with security doors and surveillance cameras.

The court heard Le was probably easily manipulated by others to sell what the judge called the most harmful of dangerous drugs.

She has been given a non-parole period of three years, but Judge Wayne Chivell suspended the penalty due to her guilty plea and because of the woman's two young children and another on the way.

Parents of drunk children face fines

Parents of drunk children may be subject to counselling and fines as part of a NSW government program to crack down on underage drinking.

Nearly 1,700 children were treated in hospital for alcohol in the past year - some as young as 10.

At Sutherland, in southern Sydney, police are trialling a program that requires parents to attend counselling sessions with children who are caught drinking.

If they fail to attend, they could face fines of up to $500.

Up to 140 underage drinkers and their parents are attending the sessions.

"Parents have two chances of turning up," a police spokeswoman said. "If they don't end up attending the session, then the fine is issued."

Related:

Support for booze public education
A SURVEY of 1000 Australians found more than three-quarters of those questioned about attitudes to drinking said there was not enough public education about the dangers of alcohol, despite the Rudd Government's promise of a multimillion-dollar binge-drinking strategy.

Message on a bottle for binge drinkers
BOTTLES of alcoholic drinks could soon carry graphic pictures warning of the dangers of excessive alcohol consumption as part of the Federal Government's latest series of measures to cut down on under-age and binge drinking.