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. The Act 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 the 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.