Premier Peter Malinauskas to reveal decision on smacking ban

Premier Peter Malinauskas has ruled on whether a royal commission recommendation to ban smacking will be brought in for South Australia. Have your say.

Smacking will not be outlawed in South Australia as the state government rejects a royal commission call to stop parents abusing children under the guise of discipline.

It is understood Premier Peter Malinauskas will on Friday release the state government’s response to a landmark inquiry into family violence, rejecting a key recommendation to ban smacking.

The Advertiser understands the response will argue that governments should be wary of intruding into households, unless a criminal offence has been committed.

Existing laws cover serious injuries caused to children, and others, by violent assaults, the response is believed to argue.

Premier Peter Malinauskas. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

The smacking ban was among 136 recommendations made by Natasha Stott Despoja, a former federal Australian Democrats leader, in her Royal Commission into Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence report released in August.

Ms Stott Despoja called on the state government to “ban the use of corporal punishment” by parents and remove an outdated “defence of reasonable chastisement”.

This common-law defence allows parents to use “moderate and reasonable physical punishment” to correct their child’s behaviour or punish wrongdoing.

But Ms Stott Despoja said children giving evidence to her inquiry “consistently called out the double standard” this set, when compared with “widespread condemnation of the use of violence by adults against other adults”.

One 10-year-old girl told the commission: “I’m a child, not a punching bag.”

Corporal punishment of children by parents is banned in 65 countries, but remains legal across Australia, as long as it is deemed “reasonable in the circumstances”.

The reasonable chastisement defence can only be used if the punishment is “not motivated by rage, malice or personal gratification”, and is appropriate “for a child’s age, size and health”.

Royal Commissioner Natasha Stott Despoja on August 19, with the-then newly released report of the Royal Commission into Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence. Picture: Kelly Barnes

In calling for a ban, Ms Stott Despoja said the government would need to also launch a parenting education campaign on “alternatives to physical punishment”.

Ms Stott Despoja’s report, titled With Courage: South Australia’s Vision Beyond Violence, revealed one in every 30 South Australian children experience physical or sexual abuse each year.

The report also recommended restricting the sale and delivery of alcohol overnight and imposing a two-hour delay between ordering and delivery.

The government drafted legislation but it did not pass before parliament broke ahead of the March election.

The delay has drawn criticism from the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE), peak advocacy body Embolden and abuse survivors.

“Alcohol is fuelling violence and harm in Australian homes every day and the scale of the problem should shock us all,” said FARE chief executive Ayla Chorley.

Other royal commission recommendations included:

SETTING up “vulnerable witness suites” to prevent victims having to confront their alleged perpetrators in court.

AUDITING available emergency housing for victims.

CALLING on the Police Commissioner to create a “separate pathway” for reporting allegations of domestic violence or abuse by serving officers.

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Originally published as Premier Peter Malinauskas to reveal decision on smacking ban