Children unattended in cars

Leaving a child unattended in a car (locked in vehicles on hot days) is one of THE most dangerous, irresponsible things that any person could do!

Leaving children in cars has some shocking statistics. In NSW there were almost 2000 kids locked in cars this year! 2000 is 2000 too many! That equates to almost 7 children a day in one state. In Victoria 53 children were left in cars between Monday and Friday in the heat wave of Victoria in one month in 2015.

A temperature of a car can reach high temperatures inside the car even if it is not what one would consider hot outside.

The temperature in a car can reach 46 degrees inside while it was just 22 outside.

There are a few non-negotiable ‘rules’ when you have kids and leaving a child in a car hits as one of them. There is also law which defines the fact that we should care for the child in our care. Anyone at the time that has parental responsibility of a child has a duty, by law, to provide children in their care with the ‘necessities of life’, which includes providing financial support, food, clothing, accommodation, healthcare and access to education.

Never leave a child unattended in a car!

There are many examples that make it to the news of children being left unattended in cars. There was a mother who had left her 8 month old in the car in freezing temperatures to go hunting!?! On another occasion a man in Victoria previously had left his two sons, both under the age of five, in a car while he placed a bet at the pub. Or a dad in Melbourne’s east left four children under the age of 10 unattended while he went into a bottle shop to buy alcohol. There was also a case of a baby boy who was left in the car and died in the front of the day care centre? Or there was the mum who left her child in the car to go shopping (can’t miss those Boxing Day sales!). That mother is being charged with an offence called ‘unattended child’.

A mother from Bendigo was committed to stand trial on a charge of manslaughter after she left her five month old baby daughter in a car for 2 ½ hours.

Thankfully, some progress seems to being made. Laws have been introduced with the aim to reduce the incidences of children being left unattended in cars and increase the legal consequences. The laws are not 100% clear in Australia. The law varies from state to state in regards to the actual legislation and consequences per state.

• A dad from Rockhampton back in 2011 pleaded guilty to manslaughter after his 8 month old dies after he had forgotten it in the car and left it in the driveway. He received 4 years jail.
• A QLD dad is on probation (2 years) as he was so busy playing the pokies at the pub (for nearly 1 hour!) and left his 14 month old son in the car with the windows wound up,
• A mum who left her baby in the car for 45 minutes to do a spot of shopping. She was fined $400 for leaving her baby in the car.
• A dad who left his 4 year old son in the car while he went to a massage parlour. He was sentenced to 6 months jail.
• A 31-year-old woman is likely to be charged for leaving her 9 month old son in the car while she did chores in a nearby unit.
• A Blue Mountains mother has been charged after she allegedly left her three-year-old daughter in the back of her car with the windows closed while she went shopping.

NSW: Parents are expected to make reasonable decisions about their children’s safety with fines up to $22,000. This is in accordance with Section 231 of the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998.

WA: If charged and convicted you can face jail for five years if they are found to have left a “child or young person” in a car without proper supervision, if they become emotionally distressed or ill. Penalty: A fine of $36,000 and imprisonment for 3 years.

NT: The NT Government ­refused to introduce legislation that will see the banning of children left unattended in ­vehicles. The Northern Territory is the only jurisdiction in Australia that does not provide specific legislation relating to children being left unsupervised. The police do have the power to remove children from cars and they have the power to potentially charge those involved, but unfortunately it appears only if there is an injury.

QLD: Jail terms of up to three years’ jail for the crime of “leaving a child under 12 unattended.

VIC: It is illegal to leave a child unattended in a vehicle under the Children, Youth and Families Act (2005). The penalties for leaving a child unattended in a car in Victoria: A fine (currently $3,690) and/or a maximum of 6 months jail