| Total
Child Labour |
NATIONAL
STATISTICS
* For the year
2000, 804100 children between 15-19 years were economically active.
(ILO, Yearbook of Labour Statistics, 2001)
* For the year
2000, the ILO projects that there will be 0 economically active
children between the ages of 10-14. (ILO,
International Labour Office - Bureau of Statistics, Economically
Active Population 1950-2010, STAT Working Paper, ILO 1997)
* 759,200 teenagers between
15-19 years are economically active. (ILO,
Yearbook of Labour Statistics, 1999)
* In 1995, there
were 0 economically active children between the ages of 10-14. (ILO, International Labour Office - Bureau of Statistics, Economically Active Population 1950-2010, STAT Working Paper, ILO 1997)
*
Some 57,000 15-year-olds and 78,000 16-year-olds are legally employed
nationally. (Phil
Gardner, "Child labour: A growth industry of the 1990s", World Socialist
Web Site, 21 November 1998)
GENERAL NOTES
AND OBSERVATIONS
* It is known that
there is some child labour, particularly in agriculture and in family enterprises.
(EI, EI Barometer on Human and Trade Union Rights in the Education Sector, 1998)
|
| Child
Slavery |
ADULT STATISTICS
* In 1995, about 300
Thai women were held in the sex industry under debt bondage in Sydney.
(CATW
Fact Book, citing Maria Moscaritolo, "Australia takes aim at Asian sex
slave trade", Reuters, 26 May 1998)
|
| Child
Trafficking |
GENERAL NOTES
AND OBSERVATIONS
* Malaysian women
are trafficked for sexual purposes mostly to Singapore, Macau, Hong Kong
and Taiwan as well as to Japan, Australia, Canada, and the United States.
(US
Dept of State, Human Rights Report, 1999)
* Many Thai
girls in their early teens, have been reported at various times
in brothels in Sydney, Australia. ("Survival
the name of the game", Bangkok Post, 3 July, 1998)
* Women are trafficked
out from Thailand to Australia, among other countries. (CATW
Fact Book, citing European Conference on Trafficking in Women, Trafficking
of Women to the European Union, June 1996)
* Malaysian children
are trafficked into Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia. (Lawyers
for Human Rights and Legal Action, The Flesh Trade Report, 1995-1996)
|
| Child
Prostitution and
Pornography |
NATIONAL
STATISTICS
* There are
3,000 children, some younger than 10, in the Australian sex industry,
which includes brothels, escort work, street prostitution, pornography,
sex for favours and stripping.(ECPAT,
CSEC Database, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/ecpat_inter/projects/monitoring/online_database/index.asp)
* 3,733 children
under the age of 18 are engaged in commercial sexual activities.
Most were from the state of Victoria, followed by New South Wales
and south Australia. ('Children
sell their bodies to survive', AFP, 11 November, 1999, citing International
Save the Children Alliance, Children's Rights: Reality or Rhetoric?,
1999)
* 59
of 2,992 prostitutes studied for a report conducted by ECPAT were
between 10 and 12 years old. 15 were under 10 years old. Two-thirds
were girls. (ECPAT,
CSEC Database, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/ecpat_inter/projects/monitoring/online_database/index.asp)
* More than
3,100 Australian children aged 12-18 sold sex to survive.
(CATW
Fact Book, citing Sarah Hudson, "Child sex soaring", Herald Sun,
30 September 1998)
* It was recently
acknowledged that paedophilia is a serious problem in Australia.
The Blue Room, an Internet bulletin board had 60% of its messages
about child pornography. There were more than 450 subscribers, more
than 100 in Australia. (CATW
Fact Book, citing Paul Robinson, "Internet use by abusers ring,
say investigators", The Age, 14 September 1997)
* A report has
identified 5,000 paedophiles who sexually abuse minors and traffic
in child pornography operating in loose networks across Australia.
They are linked to international paedophile groups including the
Spartacus Club, the Marlin Coasters and the Orchid Club. 30,000
girls and 11,000 boys are sexually abused in Australia each year.
(CATW
Fact Book, citing Paul Robinson, "Warning on child sex ring:, The
Age, 14 September, 1997, citing National Crime Authority Operation
Bodega Report, Victoria Child-Protection Unit)
LOCAL STATISTICS
*
More than 1,200 Victorian children are involved in prostitution
- the highest rate in the nation. (CATW
Fact Book, citing Sarah Hudson, "Child sex soaring", Herald Sun,
30 September 1998)
* 320 Queensland
children were involved in child prostitution. (CATW
Fact Book, citing Sarah Hudson, "Child sex soaring", Herald Sun,
30 September, 1998)
GENERAL NOTES
AND OBSERVATIONS
* The Philippines,
Thailand, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Hong Kong are some of the primary
Asian destinations for organised sex tours from Australia. Indonesia
and Taiwan are secondary destinations. (ECPAT,
CSEC Database, http://www.ecpat.net/eng/ecpat_inter/projects/monitoring/online_database/index.asp)
* Malaysian
women are trafficked for sexual purposes mostly to Singapore, Macau,
Hong Kong and Taiwanas well as to Japan, Australia, Canada, and
the United States.
(US
Dept of State, Human Rights Report, 1999)
* Children younger
than 10 were involved in organised paedophile rings. (CATW
Fact Book, citing Sarah Hudson, "Child sex soaring", Herald Sun,
30 September 1998)
* Many Thai
girls mostly in early teens, have been reported at various times
in brothels in Sydney, Australia. ("Survival
the name of the game", Bangkok Post, 3 July 1998)
* Particularly
in Canberra, Victoria and Queensland, Asian women are to be found
in prostitution. (CATW-Asia
Pacific, Trafficking in Women and Prostitution in the Asia Pacific,
1996)
|
| Children
in Crime |
GENERAL JUVENILE
CRIME STATISTICS
* 2% of children
between 10-17 years were involved in crime. (International
Save the Children Alliance, Children's Rights: Reality or Rhetoric?,
1999)
|
| Child
Soldiers |
COMBINED
NATIONAL STATISTICS
* There are
650 children comprising 1% of the total force. (Rädda
Barnen, Childwar database, citing Rachel Brett and Margaret McCallin,
Children: The Invisible Soldiers, 1998)
RECRUITMENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS
* In 1998, the
government reported that in practice no one under age 17 is recruited
into any of the three services. But given the absence of legislation
setting a minimum age for voluntary recruitment, this policy is
not hard and fast. (CSUCS,
Global Report on Child Soldiers - 2001, 12 June 2001)
* Compulsory military
service was abolished in December 1972 by an administrative action, a decision
that became a legislation the following year under the National Service
Termination Act. There is no minimum age specified in the law. (CSUCS,
Asia Report, July 2000)
* According to the government,
in practice, no one younger than 17 years old can be recruited into any
of the three services. (CSUCS,
Asia Report, July 2000, citing the Australian Department of Defence, 5 January
1998)
* According to the Defence
Act 1903, in time of war, no one below the age of 18 years can be sent to
the front line. In time of peace, it had been a "long-standing practice
in all three services not to send members under 18 years to an area of hostility.
(CSUCS,
Asia Report, July 2000, citing world vision Australia, 12 April 2000)
* The minimum age
for conscription is 18 years. (Guy Goodwin-Gill and Ilene Cohn, Child Soldiers, The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts, A Study on Behalf of the Henry Dunant Institute, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994)
NOTES FROM PREVIOUS
ARMED CONFLICTS
Evidence emerged of cases of under-18s being deployed with Australian forces
in East Timor in September 1999. (CSUCS,
Asia Report, July 2000, citing World Vision Australia, 12 April 2000)
|
| Domestic
Child Servants |
- |
Other
Hazardous
Child Labour |
ASSORTED
STATISTICS
* Children are
working in horrific conditions and more than 1,600 child workers
being seriously injured or maimed each year. ("Aussie
sweatshops using child labour", The Straits Times, 27 October, 1998,
citing a joint investigation by The Sydney Morning Herald and The
Age newspapers)
SPECIFIC
SECTORS
* Chimney Sweeping
- It is still legal to send young children up the chimneys in New
South Wales and in Victoria, and to put children as young as 7 to
work for eight hours between 6.00 am and 11.00 pm, as long as a
permit has been obtained. (Phil
Gardner, "Child labour: A growth industry of the 1990s", World Socialist
Web Site, 21 November 1998)
* Garment Manufacturing
- Several children were discovered in clothing sweatshops in Sydney and
Melbourne. (US
Dept of State, Human Rights Report, 1999)
* Garment Manufacturing
- An estimated 70,000 children working up to 20 hours or more a week
in backyard sweatshops in the clothing industry, exposed to hazards.
("Aussie sweatshops using child labour",
The Straits Times, Singapore, 27 October 1998)
* Garment Manufacturing
- The Textile Clothing and Footwear Union estimates that 82,500
children under 16 years of age are now working in the clothing industry,
usually at home alongside their parents, out of a total workforce
of 329 000. (Phil
Gardner, "Child labour : A growth industry of the 1990s", World
Socialist Web Site, 21 November 1998)
* Garment Manufacturing
- Some 36,000 children are toiling in the backyard garment industry
in Victoria. (Phil
Gardner, "Child labour : A growth industry of the 1990s", World
Socialist Web Site, 21 November 1998)
* Retail Sector
- A major sector where children are employed in large number is
the retail industry. (Phil
Gardner, "Child labour : A growth industry of the 1990s", World
Socialist Web Site, 21 November 1998)
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