AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald

April 11, 2013

Rachel Browne
Social Affairs Reporter

Australia’s inaugural National Children’s Commissioner, Megan Mitchell, has used her first major public speech to warn that there is a heavy toll for not listening to children, and to urge Australians to learn from past tragedies.

Speaking at the Child Aware Approaches conference in Melbourne on Thursday, she said young people need to have greater involvement in decisions which affect their lives.

“We must learn from the mistakes of the past, when children’s voices were ignored with devastating consequences,” she said at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.

“The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse will, I am sure, uncover stories where children’s voices were unheard, and even when heard, were deliberately not taken into account.

“We need to make sure our attitudes and our systems respect the child’s voice. This is one…