End the “Reasonable Punishment” defence for children under five

Summary

We believe it should be standard to protect children under five who should receive the highest level of safety and legal protection from harm. The “reasonable punishment” defence currently allows parents and carers to legally hit children if the force used is judged “reasonable”. We believe adults should not decide what a toddler is capable of tolerating when they cannot fully grasp their developmental needs and experiences. These are vulnerable members of society, not yet able to regulate their emotions sufficiently or conceptualise the timeframe ‘next month’, and should not be expected to understand what it means when a parent hits them. Children under five would not recognise when the threshold of “reasonable punishment” has been exceeded, nor is it their responsibility to endure the long-term effects on their cognitive and emotional development, such as altered brain chemistry.

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Timeline

1. 2 July 2026

   Petition

   We believe it should be standard to protect children under five who should receive the highest level of safety and legal protection from harm. The “reasonable punishment” defence currently allows parents and carers to legally hit children if the force used is judged “reasonable”. We believe adults should not decide what a toddler is capable of tolerating when they cannot fully grasp their developmental needs and experiences. These are vulnerable members of society, not yet able to regulate their emotions sufficiently or conceptualise the timeframe ‘next month’, and should not be expected to understand what it means when a parent hits them. Children under five would not recognise when the threshold of “reasonable punishment” has been exceeded, nor is it their responsibility to endure the long-term effects on their cognitive and emotional development, such as altered brain chemistry.

   Source: Petition

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