An expert in child welfare believes that abusive parents should have access to medical practitioners who are exempt from reporting child abuse.

But this recommendation would not be applicable to extreme situations of child abuse.

Dr Adam Tomison, the Director of the Australian Institute of Criminology explained that while there was a location for the reporting of child abuse to proper authorities, parents should also be permitted to speak to a doctor without threats of legal repercussions.

Talking at a seminar marking National Child Protection Week in Melbourne, Dr Tomison demanded that the attention be shifted from enforcing sanctions to giving a non-punitive therapeutic option to families.

He said that parents get to address practitioners in total confidence only with the comprehension that they will work with the doctors and a team of experts to target any concern they may possess concerning the harming of their child.

In situations where the violence had been too extreme, where kids were at risk or where their parents wouldn’t co-operate, the case may then be passed to legal authorities, Dr Tomison said.

At the present time, police, nurses, doctors and teachers must report suspected child abuse cases in Victoria.

Dr Tomison, the former director of the Northern Territory’s Family and Children’s Services, claimed that Belgium had implemented a system many years ago where doctors sworn to confidentiality worked with parents who confidently turned to them with fears that they may be abusing their kids.

He explained that this plan had encouraged parents to voluntary come forward without fearing the loss of their children or a prison sentence.