ABSTRACT
This chapter starts by explaining the background to the children’s rights movement and the development of the UNCRC. Next, it considers the implications of respect for children’s rights as expressed in the UNCRC in general terms. Three areas of the protective care continuum in Australia are then reviewed through the lens of children’s rights: first, the state’s duties to support the care of children within their family; second, how the interaction of the guiding principles of the UNCRC can provide insight into decision making within different cultural contexts; and third, alternative care arrangements for children unable to be brought up within their birth families. Finally, the implications of commitment to the full realisation of children’s rights under the UNCRC for policy and practice in the protective care continuum are discussed.
