Corporal punishment, including smacking, has been criticized as an excuse for “awful abuse” and should be outlawed, according to a royal commissioner in South Australia. The Royal Commission into Domestic, Family, and Sexual Violence released 136 recommendations on Tuesday, one of which calls for a ban on parents or caregivers using corporal punishment.
Royal commissioner and former senator Natasha Stott Despoja highlighted the double standards perceived by young children, stating, “We tell young people and children that it’s not OK to hit or smack, and yet it’s still considered an appropriate form of discipline,” she told ABC News. “We recognize smacking children or the use of corporal punishment doesn’t necessarily lead to abuse, but certainly, we heard stories where it’s used as an excuse for abuse and in some cases, awful abuse.”
Recommendations and Legal Context
The royal commission has recommended that the Attorney-General ban the use of corporal punishment by amending or repealing the defense of reasonable chastisement. The report, released publicly on Tuesday, states, “The reasonable chastisement defense relies on the use of force being not motivated by rage, malice, or personal gratification, and that the punishment be reasonable for a child’s age, size, and health.”
Physical punishment, including beatings, slaps, or threats, is often presented as acceptable parenting behavior to correct behavior or teach respect, reinforced by religious, generational, or cultural norms. This has made it difficult for young people to determine “whether what they experienced counted as abuse.”
“If you tell us ‘violence is not the answer,’ then stop abusing … I’m a child, not a punching bag,” a 10-year-old girl told the royal commission.
International Perspectives and Human Rights
Australia’s failure to outlaw the smacking of children is considered a United Nations human rights violation, according to a team of legal scholars and psychologists. In 2023, researchers found that Australia’s stance violates the UN Convention on the Rights of a Child treaty, with more than 65 countries having already outlawed the practice.
Ms. Stott Despoja expressed that the recommendation for a ban should not be controversial, although she acknowledged the strong feelings surrounding the issue. “I know a lot of people would say ‘a rap on the knuckles or the wooden spoon,’ it’s not just about the act itself, it’s the symbolism that we say in Australia today you can hit a child to discipline them,” she said. “Surely there are better ways.”
Current Legal Framework and Community Standards
South Australia’s Attorney-General Kyam Maher explained that under current law, any physical force to a person, including a child, is considered an assault. However, the reasonable chastisement defense allows parents or guardians to administer moderate and reasonable physical punishment to children in their care for correcting behavior.
Maher noted that courts consider various circumstances such as “the age, size, health of the child, the nature of the physical intervention, and community standards.” He added, “That sort of corrective smacking today is very limited. It’s moderate and reasonable force, and it depends on its nature of the acts involved, the level of force, et cetera.”
“We have evolved with community standards and norms over time,” Maher said, emphasizing that behavior such as uncontrolled rage and physical abuse of a child is “not reasonable corrected behavior” and “absolutely would not be covered by what is the common law defense at the moment.”
The Attorney-General mentioned that discussions with the premier have occurred occasionally, but “no government has seen fit to progress amendments previously.” He assured that the government would consider this and the remaining 135 recommendations carefully.
The announcement comes amid ongoing debates about child discipline and the evolving understanding of child rights and protection. As the community standards continue to evolve, the recommendations from the royal commission may prompt significant legal and cultural shifts in how child discipline is approached in Australia.
