Checks on children slammed

Proposals for regular checks on all children have been dismissed as "Big Brother" tactics by community groups.

Children's Commissioner Cindy Kiro wants the Government to keep tabs on child welfare with four tests for every child in the country.

The initiative -- based on a Scottish pilot programme -- would have children's health, education and social situation assessed at birth, when they start school, reach their teens and leave the education system.

The proposal was slated by New Zealand Council for Civil Liberties, which said it would be an invasion of privacy.

Chairman Michael Bott said the idea had "shades of Big Brother".

"It would be completely disgraceful for any sort of interview to take place about things like abuse when they would be potentially gathering information about a crime. It's an affront to a presumption of innocence," he said.

It is not clear who would fund the potentially costly exercise or how children would be tested.

In 2003, the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) ranked New Zealand third worst for child abuse in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries and New Zealand also has one of the worst child-poverty rates in the OECD.

Barnados chief executive Murray Edridge said the proposal reflected concern that there were "still children falling through the cracks".

But while he welcomed any initiative aimed at helping families, he suggested that resources could be better invested in parent education and support and assistance for at-risk families "in a coordinated manner".

He said: "At the end of the day it's not about legislation, it's not about systems -- it's about giving people the skills to cope."

The proposal received cautious support from some community providers.

The director of The Family Help Trust, Libby Robins, said the suggestion was "worth a look" but she sounded a word of warning.

"Too often schemes are floated and they look like a good idea but once it has been implemented the infrastructure isn't in place to follow the idea through and make it work effectively," she said.

"We also need to look at the status quo. We need to improve current reporting processes for teachers, doctors, nurses and so on, who suspect neglect or abuse and then make sure the systems are in place to deal with the problem; not simply put children on a waiting list that never gets acted on."

She said the Plunket system of regular Well Child checks already worked well when there was enough money and support.

- NZPA